The do-it-yourself local visibility checklist

This is your starting line, not a verdict. Use a fresh or temporary chat so your own history doesn’t color the answers.

• Open ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Perplexity.
• Ask like a customer: “Who’s the best [your trade] in [your town]?”
• Ask about your business by name: “Is [business] in [town] any good?” and “What are [business]’s hours?”
• Write down what each one shows: named or not, anything wrong, and which websites it says it used. You’ll compare against this in step 8.

Search engines, maps apps and AI tools all read the same thing: plain, consistent facts about your business. Make sure yours are on the site, in words, not only in pictures.

• Your business name, address and phone number written identically on every page (same spelling, same format).
• Your town and service area named in plain words on the homepage.
• One page for each main service you sell.
• Hours on the contact page and in the footer.
• An FAQ that answers what people ask before they buy: price range, how fast, what’s included, whether you serve their area.
• Real photos of your work and your people, your story, your reviews and any licenses.
• Fast on a phone: a score of 90 or better at pagespeed.web.dev.
• Loads over https (the padlock in the address bar), with no “not secure” warning.

Google’s AI answers are built on normal Google Search ranking, and they cited the Google Business Profile for about 94% of businesses in BrightLocal’s August 2026 test. It’s the one profile worth monthly attention.

• Claimed and verified at business.google.com.
• Your real business name only: no towns, keywords or taglines added to it.
• Name, address and phone exactly as they appear on your website.
• The right primary category, plus secondary categories for the services you sell.
• Hours filled in, including holiday hours.
• A full description that says what you do and where.
• At least 10 real photos, and new ones as you go.
• One post a month: an offer, a finished job, a seasonal reminder.

If you work at customers’ locations, hide your address and set a service area instead.

ChatGPT’s 2026 local answers leaned mostly on Yelp, and every maps app has its own listing. Claim each one with the exact same name, address and phone.

• Yelp for Business (biz.yelp.com). Claimed and correct is enough: don’t pay for ads and don’t ask for Yelp reviews.
• Apple Business (business.apple.com): your listing in Apple Maps.
• Bing Places (bingplaces.com): you can import your Google profile.
• A Facebook business page with the same name, phone, hours and website.
• Better Business Bureau (bbb.org): the free profile is enough.
• MapQuest.
• The top two or three directories for your trade (home services: Angi and HomeAdvisor). Search “[your trade] [your town]” and note which directories fill the first page.
• Remove or merge any duplicate listings you find along the way.

New listings can take up to six weeks to publish. Some fixes show within days.

A few data suppliers feed hundreds of maps, GPS apps and directories you’ll never log into. Apple Maps, for example, credits Foursquare and Localeze. Update these two once:

• Data Axle (expressupdate.com).
• Foursquare (business.foursquare.com).

• Ask for a Google review every month: a short text or email with your direct review link, sent to every customer, not only the happy ones.
• Reply to every review, good or bad, within a few days.
• Never pay for, trade for or write reviews. Google can remove them and restrict your profile.

• Keep your Facebook and Instagram pages current, with the same name, phone and website, and post now and then.
• Join your chamber of commerce and get listed in its member directory.
• Local press: answer journalists’ requests at helpareporter.com, and tell the local paper when you have real news.
• Set a Google Alert (google.com/alerts) for your business name so you see new mentions and wrong information.

• Repeat step 1 with the same questions and compare against your notes.
• Search your business name on Google, Apple Maps, Bing and Yelp. Fix anything that drifted.
• Confirm your hours and phone still match everywhere, then put the next check on your calendar.

AI answers refresh on their own schedule, so give changes time before you judge them.