03 / SEO / AEO / GEO
Local SEO and AI search optimization
Ranked in Google, quoted by AI search, named as the entity. The search presence your competitor skipped.
Updated
What does local SEO cost?
Local search work comes inside the published plans, not as a separate retainer. Most owners start with the free Google & AI Visibility Audit, a written report within 72 hours that names what is holding the business back and the fixes in order.
A Google profile that only needs fixing once is the Google Profile Fix at $199. Ongoing work comes in Local Growth at $297/mo (no setup fee — 3-month minimum, then month to month): the website, monthly Google Business Profile upkeep, up to 4 service or area pages, and a plain-English monthly report. A site that can't be fixed in place gets a quoted redesign.
What's included
- Technical SEO audit and remediation
- Entity strategy — one canonical fact set everywhere
- Answer-engine optimization (featured snippets, PAA)
- Generative-engine optimization (AI Overviews, Perplexity, ChatGPT)
- llms.txt and AI crawler access configured
- IndexNow integration for instant Bing/AI indexing
- Monthly rank and visibility reporting
What does local SEO include?
Local SEO is the work that puts a business in the map results and on the first page when someone nearby searches for what it sells. Here it means four jobs, done in order: a site the search engines can crawl, a page for each service and town, a Google Business Profile that matches the site, and facts that agree everywhere.
The technical layer comes first, because nothing else counts until it's right: pages indexed in Google and Bing, a clean sitemap, titles that say what each page is, and a site that loads fast on a phone. Then coverage: a plumber who does drain cleaning and water heater installs in Destin and Niceville needs a page for each, not one services page with a list on it. Then the profile: categories, services, hours, and service area set to match the website word for word. Last, the listings: name, phone, and service area kept identical across the directories that feed Google.
How do AI assistants pick a business to recommend?
They pick businesses they can read and verify. ChatGPT, Copilot, Perplexity, and Google's AI results pull from a live search index, read the pages they find, and quote the ones that answer the question plainly and agree with the rest of the web. A business missing from that index, or vague on its own pages, doesn't get named.
That changes the work in three ways. Bing gets the same attention as Google, because ChatGPT and Copilot lean on Bing's index: the site goes into Bing Webmaster Tools, and IndexNow pings Bing every time a page changes. Each page answers one question in its first lines, so an assistant can lift the answer without guessing. And the facts match: the same name, phone, hours, service area, and services on the website, the Google profile, the schema, and the llms.txt file. When those disagree, an assistant hedges or names a competitor whose facts line up. We learned how much the index matters on our own content site, BashSnippets; the Copilot write-up under Read next tells that story.
What do answer engine and generative engine optimization change?
They change how each page is written, not what the business is. Answer engine optimization (AEO) aims at the direct answers in search: featured snippets, People Also Ask, voice results. Generative engine optimization (GEO) aims at the paragraphs AI tools write. Both reward the same structure: a real question, a complete answer, then the specifics.
On the page, that means each heading is a question a customer actually asks, the first few sentences under it answer that question completely, and the details follow: what's included, who it's for, what it costs. Published prices go on the page, because an assistant asked "how much" can only quote a number it can find. Schema marks up the business, its services, and its FAQs so machines don't have to infer them, and an llms.txt file gives AI crawlers a plain summary of the business.
How does the work run?
In four steps, starting with a written read of where you stand today. Nothing changes until the audit says what is actually costing you, and the order of the fixes comes from that report, not from a package.
- Audit: your Google profile, website, technical SEO, schema, and what the AI assistants say about you today
- Fix the foundation: indexing in Google and Bing, the sitemap, titles, speed, and schema
- Fill the gaps: a page for each service and town you want to be found for, written answer-first
- Keep it current: Google profile upkeep, Bing and Apple listings, up to 4 service or area pages, and a plain-English monthly report, all in Local Growth
Common questions
What do you check first?
Whether Google and Bing have indexed the site at all, because no amount of new copy helps a page neither engine has picked up. Next, whether the Google profile's categories and services match what the website says. Then what ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, and Google's AI results say when asked about the business by name.
Do I need a new website to rank?
Not always. If the site is indexed, loads fast on a phone, and has a page for each service, the work goes into the Google profile and the content. If it's a template that can't carry schema or service pages, a rebuild is usually the faster path. The audit says which one you're looking at.
Why does Bing matter if my customers use Google?
Because ChatGPT and Copilot lean on Bing's index to find pages. A site that Google ranks but Bing never indexed can be missing from those answers entirely. Bing Webmaster Tools setup and IndexNow are part of the work here, not an extra.
Can you guarantee my business shows up in ChatGPT?
No, and nobody honestly can. The assistants decide what to quote. What the work controls are the inputs: whether your business is in the indexes they read, whether your pages are clear enough to quote, and whether your facts agree everywhere. The audit shows where yours stand today.
How long before I see results?
No one can promise a date, and anyone who guarantees a ranking is guessing. When Google and Bing crawl a page is on their schedule, not ours. What is in our control is the work itself: the audit's fixes done in priority order, and a monthly report that shows what moved.