Skip to content
//.search_trends_2026

Hawaii Small Business Search Trends. 2026 Edition.

A research report on how Hawaii's 144,375 small businesses are being searched for, found, and decided on in 2026 — across Google, AI engines, and review platforms.

All figures are drawn from public sources — DBEDT, U.S. Census Bureau, SBA Office of Advocacy, Hawaii Tourism Authority, BrightLocal, Whitespark, Pew Research Center, and Reuters Institute. No proprietary client data. Methodology and source URLs are listed at the bottom of the page.

Published: 2026-05-08. License: CC BY 4.0 — republication permitted with attribution.

//.headline_stats

Four numbers worth quoting.

144,375

Hawaii small businesses

99.3% of all businesses in the state — 49.6% of the private workforce.

— SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025 Hawaii Profile

+312%

YoY 'near me' surge

Hawaii holiday-season search spike, 2025 vs 2024.

— jbbrands Hawaii holiday tracking

45%

use ChatGPT for reviews

Up from 6% one year prior. Google's share fell 83% → 71%.

— BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026

+9.0%

Japan visitor recovery

Japan arrivals to Hawaii, Feb 2026 YoY — strongest signal yet.

— DBEDT Release 26-12
//.section_01

1. What Demand Signals Define Hawaii Search in 2026?

Two complementary public sources establish search demand inside Hawaii: Google Trends (relative search interest) and DBEDT economic indicators (the conditions driving that demand).

1.1 Google Trends (region: HI, 2024–2026)

Google Trends is the public, free interface to Google's normalized search-interest data. All values are relative search interest indexed 0–100 within the geographic region — not absolute volumes. Methodology: queries filtered to "Hawaii" region, time range "past 12 months" through April 2026, retrieved from trends.google.com.

  • "Near me" queries continue to grow. Independent local-SEO tracking documented a +312% YoY spike in Hawaii "near me" queries during the 2025 holiday season, with "restaurants near me," "shave ice near me," and "open now near me" leading the surge. Source: jbbrands Hawaii Holiday Local SEO 2025.
  • "Best [service] hawaii" pattern. Trends data shows steady, non-seasonal demand for "best [service] hawaii" formulations across home services, professional services, and hospitality — high-intent commercial queries that map cleanly to Google Business Profile and the review-driven ranking factors discussed in §4.
  • AI-search queries from HI users. "ChatGPT" and "Perplexity" queries from Hawaii IP addresses show step-function growth from 2023 into 2026, mirroring the national Pew Research adoption curve (§4.3). "AI search" as a generic phrase remains a low-volume query — adoption is happening through tool brand names, not the category.
  • Seasonal HI-specific patterns. "Hawaii vacation" peaks January–February (mainland planning window); "shave ice" and "luau" peak June–August (in-destination intent); "Christmas lights Hawaii" peaks late November through December.

1.2 DBEDT Economic Indicators (most recent)

  • Hawaii GDP forecast 2026: +1.7%, following an estimated +2.6% growth in 2025. Source: DBEDT 1Q 2026 QSER.
  • Civilian labor force, December 2025: 690,050 (+1.2% YoY). Non-agricultural wage and salary jobs: 661,800 (+1.0% YoY). Source: DBEDT Monthly Economic Indicators.
  • Honolulu CPI-U: +2.3% (H2 2025), below the U.S. average of 2.8%. January 2026: +2.4%. Source: DBEDT QSER.
  • Personal income forecast 2026: +4.4%. Source: DBEDT 1Q 2026 QSER.
  • Tourism, January 2026: 874,358 visitor arrivals; air visitor expenditures $2.3 billion (+19.1% YoY). Source: DBEDT Release 26-11.
//.section_02

2. Vertical Breakdown by NAICS

Where Hawaii's small business activity actually lives — by sector, by establishment count, and by employment.

2.1 SBA Office of Advocacy — Hawaii Profile 2025

The most authoritative annual snapshot of Hawaii small-business activity. Source: SBA Advocacy 2025 Hawaii Profile (PDF).

  • 144,375 small businesses — 99.3% of all Hawaii businesses.
  • 251,556 small business employees — 49.6% of the private workforce.
  • Women-owned firms: 47.6% of all businesses; women are 46.2% of the workforce.
  • Veteran-owned firms: 7.1% of all businesses.
  • SBA 7(a) lending, FY2024: 230 loans totaling $55.6M in Hawaii.
  • Exports (2022): 677 identified Hawaii exporters shipped goods worth $341.0M; 86.6% were small firms — accounting for $194.0M (56.9% of identified exports).

2.2 Census County Business Patterns — Hawaii (2023)

The Census Bureau released 2023 CBP in June 2025; 2024 data is scheduled for summer 2026. Source: Census 2023 CBP release; CBP program page. CBP excludes most agriculture, rail transportation, government, and non-employer self-employed — totals run lower than SBA Advocacy's broader definition.

Top NAICS sectors by establishment count and employment in Hawaii (2023):

  • Accommodation & Food Services (NAICS 72) — Hawaii's largest visitor-facing employer.
  • Health Care & Social Assistance (62) — most resilient sector through 2020–2025 cycles.
  • Retail Trade (44–45).
  • Construction (23) — elevated demand from Maui rebuild and military housing.
  • Professional, Scientific & Technical Services (54) — fastest-growing white-collar small-business segment statewide.
  • Real Estate & Rental/Leasing (53) — heavily fragmented; tracks property-transaction volume.

DBEDT mirror release: 2023 Employment and Payrolls in Hawai'i (DBEDT/DLIR, October 2024).

2.3 Business Formation — A Forward Indicator

New EIN business applications are a leading indicator of small-business creation. Hawaii's series is published by the Census Bureau and mirrored on FRED: Business Applications: Total for All NAICS in Hawaii (BABATOTALSAHI). The most recent industry-detailed release (March 11, 2026) added complete 2025 data.

2.4 Largest Hawaii Companies

Hawaii Business Magazine's Top 250 Companies 2025 is the canonical ranking; Matson topped the list for the second consecutive year with more than $1 billion in net profit. DBEDT mirrors a public version: Largest Public and Private Companies 2024.

//.public_data_only cited · methodology · cc by 4.0

Sourced. Citable. Free to republish.

//.section_03

3. How Are Hawaii's Source Markets Shifting? (HTA Visitor Data)

Hawaii small businesses are shaped by the visitor economy whether or not they serve visitors directly — through retail, restaurants, transportation, and the wage spending of the people who do. The mix of where visitors are coming from, and how much they spend, drives demand patterns small businesses search-rank for. All figures retrieved from Hawaii Tourism Authority Monthly Visitor Statistics and DBEDT monthly visitor releases.

3.1 Arrivals — Direction of Travel

  • January 2026: 874,358 visitor arrivals, with air arrivals up 11.1% YoY. Source: DBEDT 26-11.
  • February 2026: Visitor arrivals and spending both rose YoY. Source: DBEDT 26-12.
  • Japan, February 2026: 52,377 arrivals (+9.0% YoY) — the strongest signal yet of Japan source-market recovery after 2024–2025 lows.
  • Canada, February 2026: 96,009 arrivals, down from 102,984 in February 2025.

3.2 Per-Person Daily Spend (2025 averages)

  • U.S. East: $291/day — the highest-spending market segment of full-year 2025.
  • Japan: $245/day (first 11 months 2025); $237/day in December 2025.
  • U.S. West: $268/day (October 2025).
  • Sources: DBEDT 25-44, 25-51, 26-04.

3.3 What This Means for Hawaii Small Business

The 2025 pattern across most months was fewer arrivals, higher spend per visitor — a structural shift visitor-economy operators (hotels, tour operators, restaurants, retail) should plan around. Booking-window detail is published in the HTA Annual Visitor Research Report series. The Japan market's recovery into early 2026 (+9.0% in February) is the single most actionable signal for Japanese-language SEO, signage, and concierge programs heading into summer 2026.

//.section_04

4. How Is Search Behavior Changing in Hawaii?

National data, with direct Hawaii implications. Where state-level breakdowns aren't published, U.S. national figures are used as the best available proxy — flagged where applicable.

4.1 BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026

Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026.

  • 97% of consumers read reviews before choosing a local business.
  • 41% "always" read reviews — up from 29% in 2025.
  • 31% will only use a business with 4.5+ stars — nearly double the 17% in 2025.
  • 68% require 4+ stars (up from 55%).
  • Google's share of review discovery dropped from 83% to 71% in one year.
  • ChatGPT as a review-discovery surface: 6% → 45% of consumers.
  • Apple Maps nearly doubled, 14% → 27%.
  • 19% of consumers expect a same-day response to reviews (up from 6%); 81% expect a response within a week.

4.2 Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors 2026

Source: Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors (published November 6, 2025).

  • Google Business Profile is the #1 driver of Local Pack visibility.
  • Behavioral and engagement signals — posts, photos, clicks, calls, direction requests, review cadence — are the fastest-rising factor category.
  • Being open at the time of search is the 5th most influential Local Pack ranking factor.
  • Visible street address is the 7th most influential factor.
  • Social engagement is now confirmed as a measurable ranking factor.

4.3 AI Search Adoption — Pew & Reuters Institute

  • 34% of U.S. adults have used ChatGPT (Pew Research, June 2025) — roughly double the 18% reported in July 2023. Source: Pew Research Center.
  • Adults under 30: 58% have used ChatGPT.
  • Bachelor's degree: 51% / postgraduate: 52%.
  • Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025: across surveyed countries, weekly use of any generative AI rose from 18% (2024) to 34% (2025); 22% report weekly ChatGPT use. Source: Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2025.

4.4 Hawaii Implication

Combining the BrightLocal "45% of consumers now use ChatGPT for local discovery" signal with the Pew "34% of U.S. adults use ChatGPT" baseline produces this report's most actionable conclusion for Hawaii operators: a Hawaii small business that does not appear in AI-search answer engines is now invisible to roughly one in three of its prospective customers and nearly half of its review-shoppers — a gap that did not exist eighteen months ago.

//.section_05

5. Methodology + Sources

Every figure in this report links to a primary public source. Where a state-level breakdown is unavailable, national figures are used as the best available proxy and flagged.

5.1 Methodology Notes

  • Google Trends values are relative, not absolute. Scores 0–100 represent search interest within the chosen region and timeframe; comparing two queries returns relative interest, not query counts.
  • DBEDT releases are quarterly (QSER) and monthly (MEI). The 1Q 2026 QSER (March 12, 2026) is the most recent publication used; 2Q 2026 QSER expected on or about June 4, 2026.
  • U.S. Census County Business Patterns is annual with an ~18-month lag. 2023 vintage (released June 2025) is current; 2024 CBP expected summer 2026. CBP excludes most agriculture, rail transportation, government, and non-employer self-employed; SBA Advocacy's "small business" universe is broader.
  • HTA visitor statistics are released monthly in arrears, typically 4–6 weeks after the reference month. Per-visitor spend is reported in nominal dollars and is not inflation-adjusted.
  • BrightLocal LCRS 2026 surveyed U.S. consumers; sample composition is published in the report.
  • Pew Research ChatGPT data were collected Feb 24 – Mar 2, 2025, and reflect U.S. adults only.
  • Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors is an expert-survey methodology (47 local-SEO specialists in 2026); it measures perceived factor weight, not algorithm internals.
  • No proprietary or client data appears in this report.

5.2 Source URLs

5.3 Items Marked "Unable to Verify"

  • Whole-state 2024 CBP detail — not yet released by Census; expected summer 2026.
  • Hawaii-only ChatGPT adoption rate — neither Pew nor Reuters Institute publish state-level breakdowns; this report uses the U.S. national figure as the best available proxy.
  • Hawaii-only "near me" search volume in absolute terms — Google Trends does not publish absolute volumes; the +312% holiday-2025 figure cited is from third-party tracking (jbbrands), not from Google directly.
//.related

Related References.

Hawaii Marketing Report

How Hawaii businesses approach digital marketing — channels, budgets, tourism impact.

Hawaii AI Search Visibility Index

Open methodology + Volume 1 dataset on Hawaii business AI citations.

Digital Marketing Statistics 2026

SEO, AI search, local search, content, and social media data — all sources cited.

Hawaii Hospitality SEO Pricing

What hospitality SEO actually costs in 2026 — three tiered ranges.
TRENDS

Want This Tracked for Your Business?

We translate trend reports like this into measurable visibility work — Google Business Profile, AI search citations, review velocity. Start the conversation.

Talk to Nekko Digital →