Everything your business needs to get found online
Nine things. Eight of them are free. Here is the whole list, in order.
- 9
- platforms that matter
- 8 of 9
- are completely free
- 45%
- now ask AI to find local
Most new businesses are invisible for their first year. Nobody handed them the list.
- Not listed
Google Maps
No pin. No three-pack. No calls.
- Not listed
Bing and Copilot
Unclaimed, so ChatGPT reads nothing.
- Not listed
Apple Maps and Siri
Wrong hours on every iPhone in town.
The whole job is nine things
Not forty. Nine. Time and cost on every tile, so you can see the job before you start it.
Your website
The one thing you own. Everything else is rented.
Google Business Profile
The map pin. Your single biggest source of local calls.
Google Search Console
Shows you what people search before they find you.
Google Analytics
Tells you which pages turn visitors into calls.
Bing Places
Feeds Copilot and ChatGPT. Imports from Google in one click.
Apple Business Connect
Every iPhone. Maps and Siri.
Yelp
Feeds Apple Maps. Claim it, never beg for reviews on it.
Your listings everywhere else
Same name, address, phone. Every single time.
Reviews
The thing that decides whether anyone picks you.
Eight of the nine are free. The ninth is your website.
Now they ask AI first
used ChatGPT, Gemini, or Perplexity to find a local business this year
Up from 6% a year earlier. And AI is roughly thirty times pickier than Google about who it names.
- 1.2%
- Of businesses ChatGPT names
- 36%
- Get into Google's map pack
- 4.3 stars
- What AI recommends above
Twenty-three boxes
Tick them here or print the list. Your progress stays in this browser.
Website 7
Google 6
Everywhere else 6
Growth 4
The page is the summary. The PDF is the one you work through.
Look inside
Read the first 5 pages before you give us anything.
The cover, the full table of contents, and the first two sections. The other 28 pages come by email.
The finished edition is in Spanish. The English edition is being written now, and the preview below is the Spanish one.
What is inside
Every screen, every button, every field. Written for an owner who has never done this before.
- Every step with the exact screens, buttons, and fields
- The thirteen accounts to claim, in the order to claim them
- What you can and cannot do when asking for reviews in 2026
- The ten mistakes that keep a new business off the map
- The pitches to decline, from Google's own published guidance
- A 90-day plan broken into weekly tasks
- Copy-and-paste schema, plus review scripts in English and Spanish
- A worksheet for your name, address, and phone, and a tracker for every account
Questions people ask
Claim and verify your Google Business Profile, pick the right primary category, fill in every field, keep your name, address, and phone identical everywhere, and collect real reviews. Then make sure you have a fast mobile website with a page for each service.
It depends on the method Google assigns you. Video verification usually takes a few days to review. Postcards take longer. You do not get to pick the method.
There is no fixed number. More genuine, recent reviews help, and steady velocity beats a one-time burst. AI assistants tend to favor businesses averaging around 4.3 stars.
Yes. Bing feeds Copilot and ChatGPT. Apple Business Connect powers Maps and Siri on every iPhone. Both are free and take under thirty minutes each.
In a market like Salinas, usually yes. Spanish keywords are often less competitive. Use folders, add hreflang, research keywords in Spanish, and make sure someone can answer the phone in Spanish.
The listings and tools are free. Your real costs are a domain at roughly $12 to $20 a year, hosting at roughly $5 to $30 a month, an optional chamber membership, and your time.
Or have it done for you
Bilingual website, Google Business Profile, listings cleanup, review system, AI booking. Salinas, Monterey County, and the Central Coast.
- Spanish written, not translated
- 48-hour starter turnaround
- Founder-built in Salinas
- Every number sourced
- Sub-2-second loads
- Owned by you, hosted by us
- Built around your booked job
- One playbook, every city
- Spanish written, not translated
- 48-hour starter turnaround
- Founder-built in Salinas
- Every number sourced
- Sub-2-second loads
- Owned by you, hosted by us
- Built around your booked job
- One playbook, every city
Digital Vibes Design, Salinas CA. Bilingual web design and local SEO.
. Platform rules change. We update this guide.