I'm not trying to insult anybody here but...
Local businesses are still the absolute slowest to adapt to things that'll actually help them grow quickly.
In one specific case it is costing them 10s of thousands of dollars every month.
If you are ignoring the free traffic + sales you could be getting from ChatGPT and Google right now, you will be playing painful catch up in 2026 and 2027.
Here is how to fix that without hiring expensive outside help.
And if you want the private ChatGPT and Perplexity cheat codes we have been testing, just Follow + RT + Comment “2025 Local Guide.”
You must do all 3 for the DM.
Alright, let’s start at the top.
Google and AI engines both rank based on authority and entity trust.
They use different methods but the core signals overlap.
For local businesses that means:
PR and backlinks from locally trusted sites
Brand mentions that reinforce your entity
NAP and schema consistency across the entire web
Structured, crawlable, and up-to-date business information
Skip authority and you won't exist even for ZIP level searches.
A few proven local authority plays:
Partner with complementary local businesses for link swaps (there's room for creativity here; DM me/reply with your local biz if you need some tips)
Pitch seasonal tips or cost data to neighborhood blogs and news outlets
Submit to high trust local directories
Sponsor school or charity events to earn recap backlinks
Get featured in “Best of [City]” and local guides
These placements are especially important now because a fairly large analysis from Yext in 2025 showed that a lot of AI citations come from brand controlled or brand adjacent sources.
This means local publications, directories, and branded pages matter more than ever.
Want a shortcut?
SEO Stuff’s Gold Plan places links only on sites already surfacing in AI search results and that have proven authority.
Check out the case studies I posted this week if you're interested.
That said, authority alone is not enough.
Your Google Business Profile is now one of the strongest signals for AI and Google combined.
As of late 2025, ChatGPT and Gemini both pull GBP fields into their AI Overviews.
This is backed by research from BrightLocal which shows GBP URLs and business sites appear heavily in ChatGPT local answers.
GBP optimization checklist:
Complete every field
Upload at least 100 geo tagged photos
Post weekly updates
Add Q and A entries
Reply to every review with service and location terms
Maintain NAP consistency across directories
GBP is now a required foundation for visibility in Maps, AI Overviews, and local ChatGPT recommendations.
Next, build high quality service and location pages.
AI Overviews often surface location pages above the map pack.
To earn those placements you need structured, local, query aligned content.
Every ZIP and neighborhood page should include:
Embedded Google Map
Local job photos and staff images
Videos
FAQ block with exact match city questions
Internal links to main service and contact pages
FAQ schema on all pages
Fast mobile first layout
Think of each page as an AI friendly Answer Hub.
Now on to reviews.
Gemini and Perplexity now pull review text into local summaries.
Yext research also confirmed reviews are one of the most common brand controlled citation sources in AI answers.
Your move:
Request reviews through SMS and email as soon as service is completed
Show top reviews on your site and GBP
Reply using keywords and location
Target 150 or more reviews per location
More reviews create more machine readable mentions, which increases AI citation likelihood.
Next, we need to talk technical SEO.
Google and AI systems both rely on clean, structured, fast, and crawlable sites. Slow or broken sites lose both human users and AI engines.
Local technical checklist:
Core Web Vitals within thresholds
Lazy load images and convert to WebP or AVIF
Submit XML sitemap to Google and Bing
Remove broken links and fix redirect chains
Implement LocalBusiness, Service, Review, FAQ and Event schema
Allow AI crawlers
A technically sound site improves crawl efficiency for Google and improves confidence scoring for AI systems.
Now let’s talk content.
Google and ChatGPT both prioritize city specific, structured content with clear takeaways.
Create:
Hub pages like “Complete Guide to [Service] in [City]”
Subpages for each ZIP
Seasonal posts
Cost breakdown posts
Local problem posts
“How it works in your city” posts
Always include a TLDR or Key Takeaways section.
Perplexity often surfaces these word for word.
Next, drive branded search.
Branded search is now one of the strongest signals for both Google and AI systems.
Increasing branded search boosts entity trust.
Ways to lift branded search:
Post CTAs like “Search [Business Name] reviews on Google”
Share localized customer stories
Run retargeting with 5 star reviews
Offer city specific promotions
Even a small increase in branded search volume can significantly improve AI visibility.
Finally, track the right metrics.
Traffic means nothing if it does not turn into calls.
What to measure:
Branded search growth
GBP views, calls and directions
AI Overview and ChatGPT citation coverage
Review growth and keyword usage
Conversion rates on service pages
Off site brand mentions
These are the signals that correlate with AI citations and local bookings.
Mind you, most local businesses still:
Ignore GBP
Have under 50 reviews
Have trash technical SEO
Publish no city specific content
Which is why they are a non-factor in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
Follow this roadmap and you will own visibility where customers are actually searching.
Want the done for you version?
Try the Gold Plan at SEO Stuff dot com and see why more than 80 percent of customers return for multiple purchases.
If you want the private ChatGPT and Perplexity cheat codes we have been testing, Follow + RT + Comment “2025 Local Guide.”
You must do all 3 for the DM.
Don't use Smarty if you need receipts for taxes! @SMARTYMobileUK this is not good enough, it's 2024. I'll find another mobile provider if I can't just download them on the website.
@parcelforce Your tracking map is broken and useless. I'm due 2 parcels today; one van showed as near my house for over 90 mins and has now disappeared off the map. The other hasn't moved either. First parcel is over an hour overdue, just like yesterday. WTF?
@VodafoneUK@timhuckle@riyya_ox Tim is right. Stop directing people to DM - you don’t even reply, you’re just trying to cover up the problem. Just publicly admit there’s a widespread issue and post updates so people aren’t forced to ask individually.
@VodafoneUK So why haven’t you acknowledged it on your main feed? Why are you still making everyone waste their time checking individual postcodes when your NSC claims there’s no issue?
Ridiculous that with the whole @VodafoneUK network down, they’re gaslighting their customers with “check your postcode here for known issues” and it says things are fine. “DM us your details” - no reply.
They won’t publicly acknowledge there’s a widespread problem! FFS. 🤡
@VodafoneUK Why are you pretending nothing is wrong with the network and telling everyone to use the useless NSC page which says it’s all fine? It’s widespread. Admit there’s an issue on your feed, even if you don’t know when it’ll be fixed.
I’ve tried to go to an Oman air desk and none are open, no one at your ticket help desk, and nobody from other airlines can help me. Please let me know what to do, this hat was expensive :(
@omanair hello, I left my grey sunhat with pink hatband in the overhead compartment of a plane just now but I couldn’t get back to retrieve it. It was flight WY101 from Muscat to Heathrow today (7th Jan). How can I retrieve it please?
@TLRailUK I left my easel on a train today and can’t find a way of calling Bedford station at the end of the line! I’ve filled out your lost property form - isn’t there a way of getting in touch faster? I’m tracking it with an airtag…could the staff grab it at Bedford for me?
After weeks of research and development I finally managed to turn AI generated images into 3d scenes, refine them in real time in a non-destructive and streamlined workflow... It's beyond camera projection since you can make entire scenes viewable in any angles.. It's not a "magic button" solution but a tedious process and I think I'm like the first one to make this 🤷 It opens so much possibilities for real time experiences... I need to refine a little bit the technique behind this and I'll show you my first finished piece in the coming weeks... It's litteraly game changing ( and I'm exhausted tbh ) Hope you'll like it
@NoRedText@Abugay5Abugay@kittypurrzog I would say they’re both sensible and relatively considerate on trans issues. I don’t think they’re bigots, despite the occasional spicy out of context quote.
It’s very frustrating that I can’t open this beautifully researched art walk in my actual google maps app. Any tricks?
‘The Only Bangkok Art Walk You Need ‘ https://t.co/lBOMWIxyfn