[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":884},["ShallowReactive",2],{"blog-google-business-profile-guide":3,"blog-related-google-business-profile-guide":326},{"id":4,"title":5,"author":6,"body":7,"description":300,"extension":301,"faqs":302,"heroImage":315,"heroImageDescription":315,"meta":316,"navigation":317,"path":318,"pillar":319,"publishedAt":320,"readMinutes":321,"seo":322,"slug":323,"stem":324,"__hash__":325},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-business-profile-guide.md","The Only Google Business Profile Guide You Need","Ben Wallace",{"type":8,"value":9,"toc":285},"minimark",[10,14,19,22,31,35,38,41,58,61,65,68,71,85,89,92,95,99,102,178,181,185,188,191,195,198,201,221,224,228,231,234,238,241,262,266,279],[11,12,13],"p",{},"A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business in Google Maps and in the panel beside local search results. To make it work, claim it at business.google.com, verify it, choose an accurate primary category, fill in your services, hours, and photos, then keep it alive with reviews and occasional updates. It takes an afternoon to set up and a few minutes a week to maintain, and you don't need to hire anyone to do it.",[15,16,18],"h2",{"id":17},"what-is-a-google-business-profile-and-why-does-it-matter","What is a Google Business Profile, and why does it matter?",[11,20,21],{},"Your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a local customer sees, before your website and sometimes instead of it. When someone searches \"bakery near me\" or your business name, the map, the short list of businesses, and the panel with hours, reviews, and photos all come from Business Profiles.",[11,23,24,25,30],{},"It's where many customers decide whether to call, visit, or keep scrolling, and its information feeds Google Maps, search results, and AI-generated answers about local options. A complete, accurate profile that matches your website makes your business easier to find and easier to trust. (Our post on ",[26,27,29],"a",{"href":28},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-geo-ai-search-small-business","what GEO is"," explains why that consistency matters for AI search.)",[15,32,34],{"id":33},"step-1-claim-your-profile","Step 1: Claim your profile",[11,36,37],{},"Go to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account you control long-term. Use an account tied to the business, not a personal account belonging to an employee or a past web designer. If you ever part ways with whoever set it up, you want the keys to stay with you.",[11,39,40],{},"Search for your business name. One of two things will happen:",[42,43,44,52],"ul",{},[45,46,47,51],"li",{},[48,49,50],"strong",{},"Your business already has a listing."," Google often creates listings from public data. Claim it rather than creating a new one, so you don't end up with duplicates.",[45,53,54,57],{},[48,55,56],{},"There's no listing."," Create one with your exact business name, the category closest to what you do, and your address or service area.",[11,59,60],{},"If someone else already manages the listing, Google provides a way to request access. Start that early, because you'll be waiting on the other party.",[15,62,64],{"id":63},"step-2-verify-your-business","Step 2: Verify your business",[11,66,67],{},"Google needs to confirm you're really the business before your profile goes fully live. Google decides which verification method to offer, and it varies by business. It may be a short video recording showing your location and proof of management, a phone call or text, an email, or a postcard mailed to your address.",[11,69,70],{},"A few things make verification smoother:",[42,72,73,76,79,82],{},[45,74,75],{},"Make sure your name, address, and phone number are exactly right before you start.",[45,77,78],{},"Use your real business name. Don't add keywords or city names that aren't part of your legal or trading name.",[45,80,81],{},"If you're a service-area business (you go to customers rather than them coming to you), say so, and hide your street address if it's your home.",[45,83,84],{},"If verification stalls, check for emails from Google and follow its instructions rather than starting over with a new listing.",[15,86,88],{"id":87},"step-3-choose-the-right-categories","Step 3: Choose the right categories",[11,90,91],{},"Your primary category is one of the most important choices on the profile. It tells Google what kind of business you are and influences which searches you show up for. Pick the most specific category that accurately describes your main business. \"Italian restaurant\" is better than \"Restaurant\" if that's what you are.",[11,93,94],{},"You can add secondary categories for other things you genuinely do. Don't add ones for services you rarely offer; wrong categories put you in front of the wrong customers.",[15,96,98],{"id":97},"step-4-fill-in-every-relevant-field","Step 4: Fill in every relevant field",[11,100,101],{},"A complete profile gives customers fewer reasons to leave and look elsewhere. Work through each section:",[103,104,105,118],"table",{},[106,107,108],"thead",{},[109,110,111,115],"tr",{},[112,113,114],"th",{},"Section",[112,116,117],{},"What to put there",[119,120,121,130,138,146,154,162,170],"tbody",{},[109,122,123,127],{},[124,125,126],"td",{},"Business name",[124,128,129],{},"Your real name, exactly as it appears on your website and signage",[109,131,132,135],{},[124,133,134],{},"Address or service area",[124,136,137],{},"Your storefront address, or the areas you serve",[109,139,140,143],{},[124,141,142],{},"Hours",[124,144,145],{},"Regular hours, plus special hours for holidays and closures",[109,147,148,151],{},[124,149,150],{},"Phone and website",[124,152,153],{},"A number that's answered; a link to your homepage or most relevant page",[109,155,156,159],{},[124,157,158],{},"Services or products",[124,160,161],{},"Each service you offer, with a short plain description and price if you publish one",[109,163,164,167],{},[124,165,166],{},"Description",[124,168,169],{},"A few sentences on what you do, who you serve, and where",[109,171,172,175],{},[124,173,174],{},"Attributes",[124,176,177],{},"Accessibility, payment options, and other options Google offers for your category",[11,179,180],{},"Write the description the way you'd explain your business to a new neighbor, without slogans. Then check that the name, address, phone, and services match your website word for word.",[15,182,184],{"id":183},"step-5-add-real-photos","Step 5: Add real photos",[11,186,187],{},"Photos show customers what to expect, and a profile without them looks abandoned. Add your logo, a cover photo, the outside of your building (so people can find it), the inside, your team, and your work.",[11,189,190],{},"Use real photos, not stock images; an imperfect phone photo of your actual shop beats a polished photo of someone else's. Add new ones when something changes.",[15,192,194],{"id":193},"step-6-ask-for-reviews-and-reply-to-all-of-them","Step 6: Ask for reviews, and reply to all of them",[11,196,197],{},"Reviews are the part of your profile customers read most closely, and the only reliable way to get them is to ask. Ask customers at the moment they're happiest: after a job is finished, after a good visit, when they thank you. Google gives you a short link to your review form; put it in follow-up emails, on receipts, or on a card at the counter.",[11,199,200],{},"A few rules:",[42,202,203,209,215],{},[45,204,205,208],{},[48,206,207],{},"Ask everyone, not just the people you expect to be happy."," Selectively asking only happy customers runs against Google's review policies.",[45,210,211,214],{},[48,212,213],{},"Never pay for reviews or offer discounts in exchange for them."," Google prohibits it, and fake reviews can get your profile penalized.",[45,216,217,220],{},[48,218,219],{},"Reply to every review."," Thank people for good reviews by name. For bad ones, stay calm, acknowledge the problem, and offer to fix it offline.",[11,222,223],{},"Future customers read your replies, so a calm, thoughtful response to a bad review is worth the effort.",[15,225,227],{"id":226},"step-7-post-updates-and-keep-the-profile-current","Step 7: Post updates and keep the profile current",[11,229,230],{},"Google lets you publish short posts on your profile: news, offers, events, or a recent project. They show customers you're active. Pick a pace you can keep, weekly or monthly.",[11,232,233],{},"The bigger job is keeping the basics current. Update holiday hours before the holiday. Add new services when you launch them. Remove ones you've stopped offering. An outdated profile that sends someone to a closed door costs you more than a profile with no posts at all.",[15,235,237],{"id":236},"a-quick-monthly-maintenance-checklist","A quick monthly maintenance checklist",[11,239,240],{},"Once a month, spend 15 minutes on this:",[242,243,244,247,250,253,256,259],"ol",{},[45,245,246],{},"Confirm hours, including any upcoming holidays.",[45,248,249],{},"Reply to any new reviews.",[45,251,252],{},"Add a few new photos.",[45,254,255],{},"Publish a post if you have news.",[45,257,258],{},"Check that your services and description still match your website.",[45,260,261],{},"Look at the profile's performance numbers to see how people are finding you.",[15,263,265],{"id":264},"summary","Summary",[11,267,268,269,273,274,278],{},"A Google Business Profile is free, and for many local businesses it's the most-seen thing they own online. Claim it at business.google.com, verify it using whatever method Google offers, choose an accurate primary category, fill in services, hours, and description, add real photos, ask every customer for a review and reply to all of them, and keep it current. Make sure everything matches your website. Google Business Profile optimization is part of every site we build, alongside the rest of ",[26,270,272],{"href":271},"\u002Fservices\u002Fseo-geo","our SEO and GEO work","; see ",[26,275,277],{"href":276},"\u002Fservices","our services"," for the full list.",[11,280,281],{},[26,282,284],{"href":283},"\u002Fget-started","Talk to us about your website and Google Business Profile.",{"title":286,"searchDepth":287,"depth":287,"links":288},"",3,[289,291,292,293,294,295,296,297,298,299],{"id":17,"depth":290,"text":18},2,{"id":33,"depth":290,"text":34},{"id":63,"depth":290,"text":64},{"id":87,"depth":290,"text":88},{"id":97,"depth":290,"text":98},{"id":183,"depth":290,"text":184},{"id":193,"depth":290,"text":194},{"id":226,"depth":290,"text":227},{"id":236,"depth":290,"text":237},{"id":264,"depth":290,"text":265},"How to claim, verify, and fill out your Google Business Profile, then keep it working with photos, reviews, and updates. Free, and doable in an afternoon.","md",[303,306,309,312],{"q":304,"a":305},"Is Google Business Profile free?","Yes. Google doesn't charge for a Business Profile. If someone is charging you to set it up or manage it, you're paying for their time, not for the profile.",{"q":307,"a":308},"How does Google verify my business?","Google chooses the method based on your business, and it may be a video recording, a phone call or text, an email, or a postcard. Follow whichever option it offers you, and make sure your details are accurate before you start.",{"q":310,"a":311},"How often should I post updates?","Pick a pace you can keep, such as weekly or monthly. Keeping your hours, services, and photos current matters more than how often you post.",{"q":313,"a":314},"Should I reply to negative reviews?","Yes, calmly and briefly. Acknowledge the issue, offer to sort it out offline, and leave it there. Future customers read your reply as much as the review.",null,{},true,"\u002Fblog\u002Fgoogle-business-profile-guide","seo-geo","2026-10-19",6,{"title":5,"description":300},"google-business-profile-guide","blog\u002Fgoogle-business-profile-guide","jkrGYS8cgvWbb8Rxcmmou2_VHsplnPicxVgZEvSKwc4",[327,592],{"id":328,"title":329,"author":6,"body":330,"description":571,"extension":301,"faqs":572,"heroImage":315,"heroImageDescription":315,"meta":585,"navigation":317,"path":586,"pillar":319,"publishedAt":320,"readMinutes":587,"seo":588,"slug":589,"stem":590,"__hash__":591},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fseo-small-business-5-things-that-matter.md","Small Business SEO: The 5 Things That Actually Matter",{"type":8,"value":331,"toc":562},[332,335,339,342,345,371,374,378,381,431,439,443,446,449,466,469,473,476,483,487,490,528,531,535,538,544,546,557],[11,333,334],{},"Small business SEO comes down to five things: a clear topic and a single H1 on every page, a fast site, a mobile-first layout, a complete Google Business Profile, and local keywords placed where search engines actually read them. Get those right and you've done most of what matters. Most of the rest of the 50-item checklists out there is either a detail of one of these five or something that doesn't move the needle for a business your size.",[15,336,338],{"id":337},"_1-give-every-page-one-clear-topic-and-one-h1","1. Give every page one clear topic and one H1",[11,340,341],{},"Every page on your site should be about one thing, and its H1 heading should say what that thing is. Search engines try to match a page to a query. A page titled \"Welcome!\" that covers your history, three services, and a coupon doesn't match anything well.",[11,343,344],{},"In practice:",[42,346,347,353,359,365],{},[45,348,349,352],{},[48,350,351],{},"One H1 per page."," It's the main heading, and it should name the topic: \"Roof Repair in Westerville,\" not \"Quality You Can Trust.\"",[45,354,355,358],{},[48,356,357],{},"One service per page"," when the services are distinct. A roofer who also does gutters should have a roofing page and a gutters page, not one page that mentions both.",[45,360,361,364],{},[48,362,363],{},"A title tag and meta description that match the page."," The title tag is what shows up as the blue link in search results; it should name the topic and, for local businesses, the area.",[45,366,367,370],{},[48,368,369],{},"Subheadings that follow from the H1."," H2s break the topic into sections. They shouldn't introduce new topics.",[11,372,373],{},"This is the cheapest SEO fix there is, and it's the one DIY sites most often get wrong, usually because a template put the logo or a slogan in the H1.",[15,375,377],{"id":376},"_2-make-the-site-fast","2. Make the site fast",[11,379,380],{},"A slow site loses visitors before they read anything, and Google measures speed as part of how it evaluates pages. Google's Core Web Vitals give you concrete targets:",[103,382,383,396],{},[106,384,385],{},[109,386,387,390,393],{},[112,388,389],{},"Metric",[112,391,392],{},"What it measures",[112,394,395],{},"\"Good\" threshold",[119,397,398,409,420],{},[109,399,400,403,406],{},[124,401,402],{},"Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)",[124,404,405],{},"How long the main content takes to appear",[124,407,408],{},"2.5 seconds or less",[109,410,411,414,417],{},[124,412,413],{},"Interaction to Next Paint (INP)",[124,415,416],{},"How quickly the page responds to taps and clicks",[124,418,419],{},"200 milliseconds or less",[109,421,422,425,428],{},[124,423,424],{},"Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS)",[124,426,427],{},"How much the layout jumps around while loading",[124,429,430],{},"0.1 or less",[11,432,433,434,438],{},"You can check your own numbers for free with Google's PageSpeed Insights or in the Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console. The usual culprits on small-business sites are oversized images, too many plugins or third-party scripts, and heavy page builders. We wrote a whole post on ",[26,435,437],{"href":436},"\u002Fblog\u002Fwhy-your-website-is-slow","why websites are slow and how to fix them",". Every site we build loads in under 2 seconds.",[15,440,442],{"id":441},"_3-build-for-phones-first","3. Build for phones first",[11,444,445],{},"Your site should be designed for a phone first and then expanded for larger screens, not the other way around. Google indexes the mobile version of your site, so the mobile version is the one being judged. And for most local businesses, a large share of visitors arrive on a phone, often while standing in a parking lot deciding whether to call you.",[11,447,448],{},"Mobile-first means more than \"it technically fits on the screen.\" Check these on your own phone:",[42,450,451,454,457,460,463],{},[45,452,453],{},"Can you tap the phone number to call?",[45,455,456],{},"Are buttons big enough to hit with a thumb?",[45,458,459],{},"Is the text readable without zooming?",[45,461,462],{},"Does the menu work, and can you find your services in two taps?",[45,464,465],{},"Does anything pop up and cover the content?",[11,467,468],{},"If any of those fail, fix them before you worry about anything else on this list.",[15,470,472],{"id":471},"_4-claim-and-complete-your-google-business-profile","4. Claim and complete your Google Business Profile",[11,474,475],{},"For local searches, your Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees, ahead of your website. It's what appears in the map results and the panel on the right side of a search. It's free, and an incomplete one is a missed opportunity that costs nothing to fix.",[11,477,478,479,482],{},"The basics: claim and verify it, choose the most accurate primary category, list your services, keep hours current, add real photos, and ask happy customers for reviews and reply to the ones you get. Make sure the name, address, and phone number match your website exactly. We walk through each step in our ",[26,480,481],{"href":318},"Google Business Profile guide",".",[15,484,486],{"id":485},"_5-put-local-keywords-where-they-count","5. Put local keywords where they count",[11,488,489],{},"Local keywords are the words people actually type when looking for what you do where you do it: \"dog groomer Dublin Ohio,\" \"emergency electrician Columbus,\" \"bookkeeper near me.\" You don't need to stuff them everywhere. You need them in the handful of places search engines weigh most:",[242,491,492,498,504,510,516,522],{},[45,493,494,497],{},[48,495,496],{},"The title tag"," of each relevant page.",[45,499,500,503],{},[48,501,502],{},"The H1"," and at least one H2.",[45,505,506,509],{},[48,507,508],{},"The first paragraph"," of the page, in a natural sentence.",[45,511,512,515],{},[48,513,514],{},"Your structured data",", including your address and service area.",[45,517,518,521],{},[48,519,520],{},"Your Google Business Profile"," description and services.",[45,523,524,527],{},[48,525,526],{},"Image alt text",", where it honestly describes the image.",[11,529,530],{},"Write for a person first. \"We groom dogs of all sizes at our shop in Dublin, Ohio\" works for a customer and a search engine at the same time. \"Best dog groomer Dublin Ohio dog grooming Dublin\" works for neither.",[15,532,534],{"id":533},"what-you-can-skip-for-now","What you can skip for now",[11,536,537],{},"Once the five fundamentals are in place, a lot of SEO advice becomes optional for a small business. You probably don't need a monthly link-building package, a 3,000-word blog post every week, or software that scores your pages against a checklist of keyword densities. A few useful pages that answer real customer questions will do more.",[11,539,540,541,543],{},"The one addition we'd recommend is making the site readable to AI assistants as well as search engines, which mostly means plain factual writing, FAQ sections, and structured data. Our post on ",[26,542,29],{"href":28}," explains it.",[15,545,265],{"id":264},[11,547,548,549,551,552,556],{},"Small business SEO doesn't have to be complicated. Give every page one topic and one H1, keep the site fast against the Core Web Vitals thresholds, design for phones first, keep your Google Business Profile complete, and place local keywords in titles, headings, opening paragraphs, and structured data. Every site we build covers all five; ",[26,550,277],{"href":276}," lists what's included, and ",[26,553,555],{"href":554},"\u002Fpricing","our pricing"," shows what it costs.",[11,558,559],{},[26,560,561],{"href":283},"Start your project with Made by Velocity.",{"title":286,"searchDepth":287,"depth":287,"links":563},[564,565,566,567,568,569,570],{"id":337,"depth":290,"text":338},{"id":376,"depth":290,"text":377},{"id":441,"depth":290,"text":442},{"id":471,"depth":290,"text":472},{"id":485,"depth":290,"text":486},{"id":533,"depth":290,"text":534},{"id":264,"depth":290,"text":265},"Skip the 50-item SEO checklist. Five fundamentals do most of the work for a small business website, and most sites still get at least one wrong.",[573,576,579,582],{"q":574,"a":575},"Do I need to hire an SEO agency?","Most small businesses don't need an ongoing SEO retainer to get the basics right. A well-built site with clear pages, good speed, a mobile-first layout, an active Google Business Profile, and local keywords in the right places covers the fundamentals.",{"q":577,"a":578},"How long until SEO starts working?","It varies with your market, your competition, and the state of your site, so be wary of anyone who promises a date. Fix the fundamentals, submit your sitemap in Google Search Console, and watch impressions there over the following months.",{"q":580,"a":581},"What's the single most important SEO fix for a local business?","If your Google Business Profile isn't claimed and complete, start there. For local searches it often shows up before your website does.",{"q":583,"a":584},"Should every page have one H1?","Yes. One H1 per page that states the page's topic is the clearest signal you can give about what the page is for.",{},"\u002Fblog\u002Fseo-small-business-5-things-that-matter",5,{"title":329,"description":571},"seo-small-business-5-things-that-matter","blog\u002Fseo-small-business-5-things-that-matter","yMK1eRJom7CdPDmIdRbpG6lbthmLUAHvL7f4AcI0hPw",{"id":593,"title":594,"author":6,"body":595,"description":865,"extension":301,"faqs":866,"heroImage":315,"heroImageDescription":315,"meta":879,"navigation":317,"path":28,"pillar":319,"publishedAt":320,"readMinutes":587,"seo":880,"slug":881,"stem":882,"__hash__":883},"blog\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-is-geo-ai-search-small-business.md","What Is GEO, and Why Does It Matter for Your Small Business?",{"type":8,"value":596,"toc":854},[597,600,604,607,614,618,621,653,656,660,663,666,736,739,743,746,749,753,756,759,770,774,777,780,788,791,795,798,812,815,819,822,842,844,849],[11,598,599],{},"GEO, or generative engine optimization, is the work of making your website easy for AI assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI answers to read, trust, and cite. Traditional SEO tries to get your page into a list of links; GEO tries to get your business named inside the answer itself. For a small business, most of GEO comes down to stating facts plainly, keeping your business information consistent, and adding structured data that machines can parse.",[15,601,603],{"id":602},"what-is-geo-in-plain-english","What is GEO in plain English?",[11,605,606],{},"GEO is SEO adjusted for a world where people ask a question and get a written answer instead of ten blue links. Someone asks an AI assistant \"what should a plumber's website include.\" The assistant reads a handful of pages, writes a summary, and often links the sources it used. GEO is everything you do to be one of those sources.",[11,608,609,610,613],{},"GEO is not a separate trick. It builds on the same foundation as SEO: a fast, crawlable website with clear pages about clear topics. Our post on ",[26,611,612],{"href":586},"the five SEO fundamentals that matter"," covers the foundation.",[15,615,617],{"id":616},"how-do-ai-assistants-decide-which-sources-to-cite","How do AI assistants decide which sources to cite?",[11,619,620],{},"Nobody outside those companies knows exactly how each assistant ranks sources, and we won't pretend to. What we can observe is the kind of page that tends to get quoted. Pages that get cited usually share a few traits:",[42,622,623,629,635,641,647],{},[45,624,625,628],{},[48,626,627],{},"They answer the question directly."," The answer is in the first sentence or two, not buried under an introduction.",[45,630,631,634],{},[48,632,633],{},"They're easy to crawl."," The content is in the HTML, the page loads quickly, and robots.txt doesn't block AI crawlers.",[45,636,637,640],{},[48,638,639],{},"They state facts plainly."," Prices, locations, hours, services, and timelines are written out as text, not hidden in images or vague phrasing.",[45,642,643,646],{},[48,644,645],{},"The business is clearly identifiable."," The name, address, phone, and description match across the website, Google Business Profile, and other listings.",[45,648,649,652],{},[48,650,651],{},"They use structured data."," Schema markup tells machines what the page is about in a format they don't have to guess at.",[11,654,655],{},"None of that is exotic. An AI assistant is a reader in a hurry, and these are the habits that serve any reader in a hurry.",[15,657,659],{"id":658},"why-structured-data-matters-for-ai-search","Why structured data matters for AI search",[11,661,662],{},"Structured data is a block of code on your page (usually JSON-LD using the schema.org vocabulary) that labels facts for machines. Instead of hoping a crawler works out your address and hours from the footer, you state them: this is a LocalBusiness, here is its name, address, hours, and services.",[11,664,665],{},"For a small business, the useful types are usually:",[103,667,668,678],{},[106,669,670],{},[109,671,672,675],{},[112,673,674],{},"Schema type",[112,676,677],{},"What it tells machines",[119,679,680,692,702,712,726],{},[109,681,682,689],{},[124,683,684,688],{},[685,686,687],"code",{},"LocalBusiness"," (or a more specific type)",[124,690,691],{},"Who you are, where you are, how to reach you, when you're open",[109,693,694,699],{},[124,695,696],{},[685,697,698],{},"Service",[124,700,701],{},"What you offer and where you offer it",[109,703,704,709],{},[124,705,706],{},[685,707,708],{},"FAQPage",[124,710,711],{},"Questions and their answers, already paired up",[109,713,714,723],{},[124,715,716,719,720],{},[685,717,718],{},"Article"," \u002F ",[685,721,722],{},"BlogPosting",[124,724,725],{},"Who wrote a post and when",[109,727,728,733],{},[124,729,730],{},[685,731,732],{},"BreadcrumbList",[124,734,735],{},"How your pages relate to each other",[11,737,738],{},"Structured data doesn't guarantee anything. It removes ambiguity, and ambiguity is what makes a source harder to trust and harder to quote.",[15,740,742],{"id":741},"why-faq-sections-work-so-well-for-geo","Why FAQ sections work so well for GEO",[11,744,745],{},"An FAQ section is the closest thing on your website to the format AI assistants produce. A good FAQ already pairs a real question with a short, direct answer, written by you.",[11,747,748],{},"The trick is to write the questions customers actually ask, not the ones that flatter you. \"Do you work with businesses outside Ohio?\" is a real question. \"Why are we the best choice?\" is not. Keep each answer to one to three sentences and mark the section up with FAQPage schema. Every site we build includes an FAQ section with FAQ schema for exactly this reason.",[15,750,752],{"id":751},"what-is-entity-clarity-and-why-does-it-matter","What is entity clarity, and why does it matter?",[11,754,755],{},"Entity clarity means that machines can tell exactly which business you are and can confirm it from more than one place. AI assistants and search engines build an understanding of businesses as entities: a name, a location, a category, a website, a set of facts. When those facts conflict, the entity gets fuzzy.",[11,757,758],{},"The usual culprits are a business name written three different ways, an old directory listing with a previous phone number, and a website that never says in plain text what the business does or where.",[11,760,761,762,765,766,769],{},"Fixing this is unglamorous. Pick one exact name, address, and phone format and use it everywhere. Say what you do and where you do it in a sentence on your homepage. Link to your official profiles from your site using ",[685,763,764],{},"sameAs"," in your structured data. Keep your ",[26,767,768],{"href":318},"Google Business Profile"," in sync with your website.",[15,771,773],{"id":772},"the-first-sentence-rule","The first-sentence rule",[11,775,776],{},"The most useful writing habit for GEO is to put the point of every paragraph in its first sentence. AI assistants, search snippets, and skimming humans all reward it. If someone, or something, reads only the first sentence of each paragraph on your page, they should still come away with the main facts.",[11,778,779],{},"Compare these two openings for a service page:",[42,781,782,785],{},[45,783,784],{},"\"At our company, we believe every customer deserves the very best, which is why for over a decade we've...\"",[45,786,787],{},"\"We repair and replace residential water heaters across Franklin County.\"",[11,789,790],{},"The second one can be quoted; the first has nothing in it to quote. The same applies to headings. Phrase them the way people search, as questions or plain descriptions,. This post is written that way on purpose.",[15,792,794],{"id":793},"two-technical-details-worth-checking","Two technical details worth checking",[11,796,797],{},"Two small files affect whether AI tools can use your site:",[242,799,800,806],{},[45,801,802,805],{},[48,803,804],{},"robots.txt."," This file tells crawlers what they may read. Some sites block AI crawlers by accident, through a plugin or a template default. If you want to be cited, make sure the crawlers used by the AI tools your customers use are allowed.",[45,807,808,811],{},[48,809,810],{},"llms.txt."," This is a newer, proposed convention: a plain-text file at the root of your site that summarizes who you are and points to your most important pages. Support varies across AI tools, but it costs almost nothing to add.",[11,813,814],{},"Every site we build ships with a robots.txt that allows AI crawlers and an llms.txt file.",[15,816,818],{"id":817},"what-a-small-business-should-do-first","What a small business should do first",[11,820,821],{},"If you're starting from nothing, here's the order we'd work in:",[242,823,824,827,830,833,836,839],{},[45,825,826],{},"Make sure your site is fast, crawlable, and not blocking AI crawlers.",[45,828,829],{},"Make your name, address, phone, and service area consistent everywhere.",[45,831,832],{},"Rewrite your homepage and service pages so the first sentence of each section states a fact.",[45,834,835],{},"Add an FAQ section built from real customer questions, with FAQPage schema.",[45,837,838],{},"Add LocalBusiness and Service structured data.",[45,840,841],{},"Ask the AI assistants your customers use about your category and your area, and see who gets cited.",[15,843,265],{"id":264},[11,845,846,847,482],{},"GEO is the practice of making your website easy for AI assistants to read, trust, and cite. It rests on ordinary SEO, then adds plain factual writing, consistent business information, structured data, FAQ sections, and crawler access. None of it requires a big budget; it requires being clear about who you are and what you do. If you'd rather have it built in from the start, see what's included in ",[26,848,277],{"href":276},[11,850,851],{},[26,852,853],{"href":283},"Tell us about your business and we'll get started.",{"title":286,"searchDepth":287,"depth":287,"links":855},[856,857,858,859,860,861,862,863,864],{"id":602,"depth":290,"text":603},{"id":616,"depth":290,"text":617},{"id":658,"depth":290,"text":659},{"id":741,"depth":290,"text":742},{"id":751,"depth":290,"text":752},{"id":772,"depth":290,"text":773},{"id":793,"depth":290,"text":794},{"id":817,"depth":290,"text":818},{"id":264,"depth":290,"text":265},"GEO is the work that makes your website easy for AI assistants to read, trust, and cite. Here's what it is and what a small business can do about it.",[867,870,873,876],{"q":868,"a":869},"Is GEO replacing SEO?","No. GEO sits on top of SEO. A page that search engines can't crawl or understand won't get cited by an AI assistant either, so the SEO basics still come first.",{"q":871,"a":872},"What's the simplest GEO change I can make today?","Add an FAQ section with the plain-language questions your customers actually ask, answer each one in a sentence or two, and mark it up with FAQPage schema.",{"q":874,"a":875},"Do I need to block or allow AI crawlers?","If you want to be cited in AI answers, allow them. Check your robots.txt to make sure it isn't blocking the crawlers used by the AI tools your customers use.",{"q":877,"a":878},"How do I know if AI assistants are citing my site?","Ask them. Put the questions your customers would ask into the assistants they use and see which sources come back. Your analytics may also show visits referred from AI tools.",{},{"title":594,"description":865},"what-is-geo-ai-search-small-business","blog\u002Fwhat-is-geo-ai-search-small-business","fuItQ2ZRa9hM9zlAcz-dXF5TX8N309V1pYNQZ9ZbcVA",1792426631916]