How to get your business found in AI search
How ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI decide which businesses to mention, and the specific fixes: schema, llms.txt, reviews and consistent listings.
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Learn
All 25 of our guides on one page
Plain English answers to the questions business owners search before they hire anyone: how to get found, how to handle the leads that come in, and what any of it should cost. No signup, nothing gated, and the ones where a competitor is the better fit say so.
6 guides
Getting found and AI search
How Google and AI assistants decide who gets mentioned, and what to do about it.
Why ChatGPT doesn't recommend your business
Only 1.2% of local businesses get recommended by AI assistants. How the picks happen, and what helps.
Read the guide →What is SEO, and how AI just changed it
A plain English guide for business owners: what SEO is, why page one decides who gets the call, and what AI search changed.
Read the guide →Service area pages: a page for each town?
Why one homepage cannot rank in every town, what a good town page contains, and how to avoid the doorway-page penalty.
Read the guide →Do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?
Your Google Business Profile gets you found, not chosen. What a GBP does well and where it stops.
Read the guide →Why social media matters for your business in 2026
People now search social media the way they search Google. What social does for a business and what it cannot do.
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8 guides
Handling leads
Getting the inquiry, answering it fast, and following up until the job is won.
Why your leads are not calling back
Why quotes go quiet, what response speed does to your close rate, and how automatic follow-up quietly recovers jobs.
Read the guide →Why your website form gets spam, and how to stop it
Where contact form spam comes from, the DIY fixes that work, why CAPTCHA costs real leads, and what proper filtering looks like.
Read the guide →How to know if your website is working
Visits mean little on their own. Calls, forms and directions are the real score. What to track and how.
Read the guide →A website that answers customer questions while you work
Why after-hours questions go unanswered, what a scripted answers widget does that an AI chatbot cannot, and which ten questions to load first.
Read the guide →What is a leadgen website?
A second, focused site with one job: turning searchers into calls and forms. Explained in plain English.
Read the guide →How to write an estimate that wins the job
What belongs on a professional estimate, why customers compare quotes side by side, and how to make yours the one they trust.
Read the guide →How to follow up after sending an estimate
When to follow up on a quote, four short messages you can send word for word, and why a silent customer is usually not a no.
Read the guide →Is my marketing working?
Most owners cannot say. What a readable monthly report contains, and how to get real numbers out of any provider.
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4 guides
What things cost
Real numbers for every route, including ours, and the costs quotes leave out.
How much a small business website costs in 2026
The full guide: price ranges for DIY builders, freelancers, agencies and managed plans, and the ongoing costs quotes leave out.
Read the guide →Website cost in 2026, the short version
The same 2026 numbers in a quicker read, if you just want the ranges.
Read the guide →What website maintenance costs, and what it includes
Hosting, updates, backups, security and content changes: what each route really costs per month, and what neglect costs later.
Read the guide →What a done-for-you website means and costs
What done-for-you actually covers end to end, real ranges from budget services to agencies, and what to verify before you buy.
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2 guides
Before you hire anyone
The questions worth asking first, and the honest answers about what you need.
Do you own your website if someone else built it?
Who really owns your domain, files and design, what to ask before signing, and what happens when you cancel.
Read the guide →Do I need a new website?
The signs the answer is yes, the signs it only needs a tune-up, and an objective check so you can decide without a sales pitch.
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5 guides
Comparisons
Us against the alternatives, including the cases where the alternative wins.
Wix vs freelancer vs agency vs Gold Strategics
Real costs and timelines for all four routes, who each one fits, and who should not hire us.
Read the guide →A Hibu alternative with public pricing
Hibu compared on pricing, contracts and website ownership, with what Hibu does well and who should stay.
Read the guide →A Townsquare Interactive alternative
Townsquare Interactive compared on pricing, contracts and website ownership, on the same honest terms.
Read the guide →A GoDaddy Airo alternative
What Airo does well, the documented frustrations, honest pricing side by side, and who should stay where they are.
Read the guide →A Durable alternative
Durable compared on current verified pricing, what it does well, its documented limits, and who it genuinely fits.
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Next step
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The report card checks any website against the things these guides cover and shows you the gaps in about a minute. If everything passes, it will tell you that too.