Almost half of consumers now ask AI where to go. Up from 6% a year ago, per BrightLocal's 2026 research, backed by AP News. AI is now the #3 way people find a local business.
In Greenville, that's a customer typing "best plumber in Greenville" or "who does mulch in Simpsonville" into ChatGPT. If your name's not in that answer, you're not losing to a competitor. You're just not in the conversation.
Here's the gap: only 35% of small businesses have a Google Business Profile, and less than half of the businesses that rank in local search show up in AI recommendations (BrightLocal/SOCi 2026). Most of the market is unoptimized. That's an opening.
Open ChatGPT and Google. Ask for the service you provide in your town. If your name doesn't show up, that's your starting point.
The fix is boring and cheap. We run a free SEO + GEO audit that shows what Google and ChatGPT currently say about your business, plus the first three fixes that would move the needle. Written report, no monthly commitment.
We run a free SEO + GEO audit that shows what Google and ChatGPT currently say about your business, and the first three fixes that would move the needle. Written report, no monthly commitment.
Get Your Free AuditOpen ChatGPT and Google and ask for the service you provide in your town — "best plumber in Greenville", "who does mulch in Simpsonville". If your name does not come up, that is your starting point. Do it again in a month to see whether anything moved.
Mostly sources it already trusts: a complete and active Google Business Profile, recent reviews, and pages it can read cleanly with a consistent name, address and phone. There is no trick to it — the same signals that rank you locally are the ones that get you named.
Both. The profile gets you into the conversation; the site is where the customer decides. AI answers routinely cite the business's own pages, so a site with clear service pages and schema is what lets you be quoted rather than just listed.
Faster than traditional ranking, but not overnight. Profile corrections and schema can be picked up within days; broader visibility builds as reviews and content accumulate. It compounds in the same way SEO does.
The audit is free — we check what Google and ChatGPT currently say about your business and give you the first three fixes. A full build is $599 one-time, and ongoing GEO/AEO tuning runs $149/mo with no contract.