AI Isn’t Replacing Local Search — But It’s Rewiring How People Choose with Crystal Carter

AI isn’t killing search — it’s reshaping how people discover, evaluate, and choose businesses. In this in terview with Crystal Carter of Wix, we unpack how large language models, AI assistants, and emerging “agent” experiences are changing consumer behavior, local search, and brand visibility. From ChatGPT and Google’s AI-driven results to personalization, intent modeling, and task completion, we explore what actually changes — and what doesn’t. We also dig into: • Why AI acts more like a complement to search than a replacement • How “choice” and “consideration” evolve in AI-first experiences • What happens when interfaces collapse research, comparison, and action into one flow • Why local, reviews, and brand signals still matter — just differently • What businesses should prepare for as agents begin acting on behalf of users If you care about search, local, UX, or how consumers actually make decisions, this is the conversation you want to hear. 00:00 – Why AI isn’t “killing” search 02:10 – AI as a complement vs. replacement 05:40 – What changes when the interface answers for you 09:30 – Agents, tasks, and collapsing user journeys 13:45 – Personalization and “I am a gym person” signals 18:10 – Local search, reviews, and trust in AI answers 23:00 – Choice vs. consideration in AI-driven results 28:45 – What businesses should prepare for next 34:30 – The future: from research tools to action engines