Local recommendations in AI arise when a user asks about a business, service or supplier in a specific town or area. In doing so, the model draws on map and directory listings, reviews, the websites of the premises, and recommendations in articles and discussions. For a company with physical premises, this means that what matters is not only the text on its own website but the completeness and consistency of data in external sources – name, address, phone number, opening hours, category and services offered. Discrepancies between sources reduce the model's confidence, and the company does not appear in the recommendation. The volume and content of reviews also carry weight, because the model derives from them what the business is good at. Updating data after a change is therefore a necessity, not a nicety.
See also: Directories and consistent company data, Local landing pages, Online review management.
