Voice search has matured into a stable, ongoing share of local search behavior. Edison Research's 2024 Infinite Dial report found that 62% of Americans have used a voice assistant in the prior year. PwC's voice survey found that 71% of consumers prefer to use voice assistants for searches rather than typing whenever it's possible.
Voice search is essentially zero-position search — the assistant picks one or two businesses to recommend and ignores everyone else. Optimizing for it requires a slightly different lens than typed search.
How voice queries differ
Voice queries are longer, more conversational, and more question-driven. 'Plumber Dayton' becomes 'who's the best plumber open right now in Dayton'.
They're disproportionately mobile and disproportionately local. Google's research on voice queries found that 'near me' modifiers appear in over 50% of voice-driven local searches.
What voice assistants pull from
Google Assistant — Google Business Profile and the local 3-pack are the primary sources.
Siri — Apple Maps, Apple Business Connect, and Yelp are heavily weighted.
Alexa — Yelp historically, increasingly Bing Places.
Getting verified and complete on all of these is the baseline. Consistency of NAP across them is critical.
Tactics that lift voice visibility
Write FAQ content in natural language — full questions and conversational answers. This serves voice and AI Overviews simultaneously.
Add Speakable schema where it makes sense for news/announcement-style content.
Aim for sub-1-second TTFB. Voice assistants reward fast servers because their UX depends on instant response.
Maintain category accuracy on every listing. Voice assistants weight category match heavily.