Google's AI answers are showing up on roadside searches. Here is what they read about you
Google now writes AI summaries for more local searches, including some towing questions. Here is what those answers pull from and what a tow company should fix.
A driver stuck on the shoulder at night does not scroll. They search, tap the first name that looks like it will pick up, and call. For years that first name came from the map pack. More and more, there is a paragraph of AI text sitting at or near the top of the page, and it is quietly shaping which tow company gets the call.
Google has been expanding its AI Overviews and AI Mode to more everyday searches, and local service questions are part of that. Search something like "how much does a tow cost" or "who tows motorcycles near me" and you may see a written answer that names businesses or describes what to look for. You do not get to write that paragraph. But you do control most of what it reads.
What the AI answer is built from
Google has not published a recipe, but the pattern is consistent with how it describes these features: it summarizes information it already has about businesses and the web. For a towing company, that mostly means four things.
- Your Google Business Profile. Categories, services, hours, service area, and the description.
- Your reviews. Not just the star rating. The words customers use, like "came at 2 a.m.," "flatbed," "fair price," or "took forever."
- Your website. Plain text that says what you tow, where, and when.
- Other places your name appears. Directories, local news, and sites like Yelp or the BBB.
If those sources say clear, consistent things, the AI has something useful to repeat. If they are thin or contradict each other, it leans on whoever else is clearer.
Why towing is exposed
Look at where the industry sits. In our data on 23,074 towing companies, 36.7% have no website, so the AI has only the profile and reviews to work with. 30.7% list no hours at all, even though night and weekend calls are the core of the business. And only 50.7% show as open 24 hours.
A driver who asks an AI assistant "is there a tow truck open right now near me" is asking a question most profiles cannot answer. The few that can are the ones that get mentioned.
Reviews matter here too. The median tow company has 31 reviews and the average rating is 4.4. 20.5% sit under four stars. AI summaries tend to pick up recurring complaints, so a pattern of "never showed" or "price changed when he arrived" can follow you into the summary even if your stars are decent.
What to fix, in order
1. State your hours honestly. If you run 24/7, set it. If you run nights with an on-call driver, say that in the description: "On-call dispatch every night, including holidays." A clear answer beats a blank. The Google Business Profile guide shows where every field lives.
2. List every service as its own line. Light duty, flatbed, motorcycle, lockout, jump start, tire change, winch out, accident recovery, heavy duty if you do it. AI answers to specific questions need specific matches.
3. Put your service area in plain words. Name the towns and highways you cover. "We cover I-15 from [exit] to [exit] and every town in [county]" is the kind of sentence a summary can lift directly.
4. Get reviews that describe the job. When you ask, ask for detail:
Thanks for calling us tonight. If you have a minute, a Google review helps a lot, and it helps other drivers if you mention what we towed and how fast we got there: [link]
The reviews guide has more scripts sized for the cab of a truck.
5. Add a one-page site if you do not have one. It does not need to be fancy. Services, towns, hours, a rough price range, and a tap-to-call button. The website essentials guide lists the seven things that page should do.
6. Answer price questions in writing. Many drivers ask an AI what a tow should cost. If your site says "local light-duty tows usually run $[low] to $[high] depending on distance and time of day," you become a source for the answer instead of a name it skips.
What not to do
Do not stuff your business name with keywords like "24 Hour Cheap Towing Near Me." It violates Google's guidelines, it can get the profile suspended, and AI summaries are built to read meaning, not repeated phrases. Do not buy reviews either. The patterns are easy to spot and the risk is the whole profile.
How to check where you stand
Once a week for a month, search three questions a stranded driver might ask in your area, on your phone, with location on. Note whether an AI answer appears and whose name it uses. Then compare your profile to the companies it mentions. The gap is usually obvious: they list hours, services, and towns, and their reviews describe the work.
The benchmark report shows the rest of the numbers for tow companies like yours, and the calculator shows what a few extra night calls a week are worth.
If you want help getting your profile and site ready for the way search answers now work, there is a free 14-day trial of any service, no card, text or call (385) 249-3225.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, towing companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor