Carroll County Residents Use AI and Google in Tandem for Local Service Searches
CraigAds conducted a field study in July 2026 to understand how residents of Carroll County, Georgia search for local services. The survey involved 62 participants and generated over 5,800 local search answers across 94 real decisions.
The findings suggest that consumers are not abandoning Google for AI when making purchasing decisions as much as headlines might suggest. Instead, they're leveraging both tools: using AI to think through their needs and then Google to find and contact relevant local services in their area.
According to Craig Mcilvain, founder of CraigAds, the real question is not 'Google versus AI' but rather 'which door people walk through first.'
The study revealed that consumers rely more on AI for decisions requiring comparison and differentiation. Beauty was the most AI-searched category (24.2%), while plumbing emergencies generated opposite results, with consumers going straight to Google Maps.