The new search reality on your mobile
Google has been testing a feature called 'Find results on' for several years following massive EU antitrust fines. However, under the new 2026 UK Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act, this feature is no longer just an experiment. The UK Competition and Markets Authority is actively forcing Google to prominently feature these third-party directory links at the very top of local searches.
Boxes pointing to sites like Yell, Friday-Ad, and Meetup are now a permanent fixture. Regulators are heavily enforcing strict new rules to stop Google from keeping all search traffic inside its own ecosystem.
The end of the Google Maps monopoly
For the past decade, local trades and service businesses in London could easily survive by relying entirely on a Google Business Profile. Getting a pin on Google Maps was enough to secure a steady stream of local leads. Because of these newly enforced regulations, those days are officially over.
Google is legally obligated to stop hiding competing third-party websites. They can no longer manipulate the search results to exclusively push their own Google Maps widgets. If your business only exists as a Google Maps profile, you are going to lose traffic as Google routes potential customers to external directories.
The necessity of an independent website
Building a dedicated website is the only way to insulate your business from these aggressive regulatory shifts. Your website is your foundational digital real estate. It cannot be demoted by a sudden legal ruling.
Furthermore, Google recently rolled out AI Overviews across the UK. These artificial intelligence systems do not scrape simple map pins. They require deep text and structured data to formulate an answer. A basic Google Business Profile simply lacks the descriptive text required to feed these new AI models. A well-structured website is now the bare minimum requirement to remain visible online.
Exploiting the local directory strategy
You must start diversifying your local citations to take advantage of these new laws. A website and a Google Business Profile are just the foundation. Since Google is legally required to send traffic to third-party directories, you need to ensure your business is listed on them.
I highly recommend submitting your business details to broad UK platforms like Friday-Ad. For businesses in our immediate area, you must also get listed on hyper-local directories like This Is Bromley. Claiming your space on these platforms guarantees you capture the exact traffic Google is being forced to hand over to third parties.