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From AI answer to phone call. Make the next step easy.

Most people do not click through from an AI answer, so the answer itself has to carry the right phone number and hours. Put them as text on your page, keep them the same on every listing, and make the first screen of the page a place to call, text or book.

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Key takeaways

  • In Pew's 2025 data, people clicked a link in a Google AI summary in about 1% of the visits that showed one.
  • The phone number inside the answer matters more than the click. One test found a wrong number in 7 of 250 recommendations.
  • Keep one number, as text, the same on every listing.
  • Asking new customers how they found you is the only measure that catches people who never clicked.
The top of a business page on a phone: the name Desert Key Locksmith, an Open 24 hours label, and three large buttons to call, text and get directions.
On this page
  1. After the answer
  2. The right number
  3. Tap to call
  4. Hours
  5. Booking
  6. Measuring
  7. OnMap
  8. Sources

What do people do after an AI names a business?

No vendor publishes this for local businesses. One measured data point is about Google. Pew Research Center tracked 900 US adults in March 2025 and found people clicked a link inside a Google AI summary in about 1% of the visits that showed one.

Three paths from an AI answer that names a business. Path one: the person calls the number shown in the answer. Path two: the person opens the cited source page. Path three: the person searches the business name on Google or Maps.
Three ways a person can reach a business after an answer names it. Only one goes through a link.

Our inference: many people act on what the answer says. They call the number in it, or search the name. So the facts inside the answer matter more than the click.

How do I make sure the number in the answer is right?

An assistant repeats what its sources say. In Ryan Doser's test from October 2026, 7 of 250 recommendations gave a phone number that did not match the business's Google listing.

  1. Put one phone number on your page as text, not inside an image.
  2. Use the same number on your Google Business Profile, Yelp and every directory.
  3. If an assistant gives a wrong number, open the source it cites and fix it there.

How do I make the number easy to tap?

On your own page, make the number a phone link. A phone opens the dialer when it is tapped.

A line of HTML that makes a phone number a link: a href equals tel:+16025550118, with the visible text (602) 555-0118. Under it, the same number as a button a phone can tap.
The number stays visible as text, and a tap starts the call.

Whether a number inside ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude can be tapped is up to each app. A business does not control it.

Do hours matter?

Yes. People ask who is open now. Google's LocalBusiness structured data carries hours, address and phone, and Google's local ranking page says complete and accurate information makes a business more likely to show. Update holiday hours before the holiday.

Should the page have a booking button?

If you take bookings online, yes: link to your own booking page from the first screen. If people book you through a marketplace, see AI agents and booking.

How do I know AI is sending customers?

  • Ask new customers how they found you. It is the only method that catches people who never clicked.
  • Look at website analytics for visits from an assistant. Expect a low count.
  • Run the hand check each month.

Where does OnMap fit?

Every OnMap page has buttons to call and text the business, and the same number is on the page as text. Pro counts the calls and texts that start on the page. See the Lark Coffee example.

Sources

Sources were last read on November 14, 2026. Assistants change often, so a fact here can go out of date.

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