The local businesses AI recommends have better-built websites
We checked 1,056 local business websites in six Canadian cities, then asked AI assistants for recommendations. The businesses they named had better-built sites.
Resources
Research we ran, guides built on what we measured, and a free tool to check your own website.
Research
Studies of real websites and AI answers, with the data to download.
Guides
Answers to the questions business owners search for, with numbers we measured ourselves.
ChatGPT SEO: how to rank in ChatGPT when people ask for a local business
When asked for a local business, ChatGPT cited the business's own site in 80% of 154 answers, plus Google Maps, lists and review sites. What to fix first.
Local SEO for small business: what to fix first, with data from 1,056 local websites
Local SEO starts with your Google Business Profile and reviews, then your website. What 1,056 local business websites and 614 AI answers show to fix first.
What is an SEO score, and what is a good one?
An SEO score sums up how a website does on one tool's checks. What it measures, what it leaves out, and the scores 716 local business websites got.
SEO for contractors: how to get found on Google Maps, search and AI answers
For contractors, Google Maps results come first. What decides them, what to fix on your website, and where AI assistants look, with data from 22 local searches.
What is llms.txt, and does it help AI search?
llms.txt is a Markdown file that lists a site's key pages for AI tools. Google Search ignores it, and we found no sign it gets a site cited.
Free tools
Check your own website with the same checks we use in our research and client reports.
Free SEO score checker
25 checks of how easily Google and AI assistants can find, read and trust your website, a score out of 100 and what to fix first. Free, with no sign-up.