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Kindly Creative

Free playbook · Search visibility basics

The Small Business
AI Playbook

Start with accurate business information and useful website pages. These five checks help you see what customers and search tools can learn about your business.

See the five checks

Read it here. No signup or paid tools required to use this checklist.

Check what people can find about you

Use this as a starting checklist. Updating a listing may be simple; correcting website or account-access problems may require specialist help.

  1. Check 1

    Check your Google Business Profile

    Search for your business before creating a profile so you do not make a duplicate. If you are eligible, claim the existing listing and check its category, services, hours, phone number, and website. A service-area business should follow Google's address-display rules.

    Google's profile eligibility guidance

  2. Check 2

    Ask for genuine reviews and reply thoughtfully

    Invite customers to describe their real experience. Do not buy reviews, offer rewards for reviews, or screen out unhappy customers. Thank people and address concerns without exposing private customer information.

    Google's guidance on getting reviews

  3. Check 3

    Make each service clear on your website

    Give each distinct service a useful page. Explain who it helps, what the work includes, where you serve, and how to inquire. Add real examples and answers to customer questions. Check that the page works on a phone and that search crawlers can access its content, images, and scripts.

    Google's SEO starter guide

  4. Check 4

    Keep public business information consistent

    Check the profiles your customers actually use, such as relevant trade directories and local business organizations. Correct old phone numbers, website links, service descriptions, and hours. Prioritize accurate, useful listings over buying a large bundle of directory links.

    How Google describes local visibility

  5. Check 5

    Check AI answers against facts

    Ask a search-enabled assistant questions a customer might ask. Record the question, date, answer, and cited sources. If it gets something wrong, correct the source you control. One answer is only a sample: results can vary by wording, location, product, and time. Do not put confidential customer information into a public tool.

    Google's AI search optimization guidance

AI search does not replace the basics

Search engines and AI assistants can show multiple sources, recommendations, and links. No checklist guarantees a ranking or an AI recommendation. Google says its established SEO guidance also applies to AI search; special AI files or extra schema are not required.

Measure relevant search visits and genuine inquiries, not just whether an assistant mentions your name once. If you use AI to draft content or replies, give it accurate context and review the output before publishing.

Explore SEO help for your existing website

Want help choosing what to fix?

Request a free 30-minute call with TJ. He will email available times. We can discuss fit and priorities; a detailed audit or implementation is scoped separately. You do not need a new website or an AI project to ask about SEO.

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