Matt Rowe makes an interesting point when he states that (…) “Recently released data from the International Data Corporation Worldwide New Media Market Model indicates that consumers are more rapidly moving away from traditional searches than previously thought.” (…) – The rest of the article is here–
Nonetheless, it might also be a good idea to mention that when people or potential customers are doing queries on their smart phones, what happens is that Google places is driving the results that show up on those maps. Therefore, it is still important –as a business- to have an optimized Google Places listing.
I would also bring attention to the fact that when people or potential customers are doing such queries (on their phones) the results are STILL based upon, not only being driven by Google Places. So if a business is interested in being mobile as you say, they need to make sure they have at least a basic SEO plan in addition to any other method they choose like staying on top of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare.