Doug's Field Guide
How customers find a local business now.
33 guides and 82 terms on Google, AI answers, your website, and booking. Each one ends with what to do this week.
Getting found on Google
Maps, your Google profile, reviews, and the answer boxes at the top of the page.
- Google Business ProfileYour free listing on Google Search and Maps, and the first thing a local customer sees.Read the guide
- Local packThe map and short business list at the top of a local Google search.Read the guide
- NAP consistencyYour name, address and phone number, the same everywhere they appear.Read the guide
- Local citationsMentions of your business on directories and other sites around the web.Read the guide
- Google reviewsThe star ratings and comments on your Google profile, and how to earn more.Read the guide
- People also askThe box of related questions in Google results, each with a short answer.Read the guide
- Featured snippetThe quoted answer Google shows from one page, above the usual results.Read the guide
- Google Search ConsoleGoogle's free tool that shows how your website does in Google Search.Read the guide
Getting found in AI answers
How ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google's AI decide who to name.
- Google AI OverviewsThe AI summary Google writes above the results, and how your pages get linked in it.Read the guide
- Answer engine optimizationAEO, GEO, LLM SEO: the work of getting named when people ask an AI instead of searching.Read the guide
- llms.txtA proposed file that points AI tools to your key pages. Cheap to add, unproven to help.Read the guide
- ChatGPT recommendationsHow ChatGPT picks which plumber, dentist or lawyer to name, and what you can fix.Read the guide
- AI citationsThe links under an AI answer. They show you exactly which sites decide who gets named.Read the guide
- Reddit in AI answersWhy forum threads get quoted by AI and Google, and how to join in without getting banned.Read the guide
- Google AI ModeGoogle's chat style search tab for longer questions, and how businesses get linked in it.Read the guide
Answering and booking
Turning the question someone asks at 9pm into a job on the calendar.
- AI receptionistSoftware that answers customers, takes their details and books them, day or night.Read the guide
- Speed to leadHow fast you answer a new inquiry. The first reply usually wins the job.Read the guide
- Missed call text backAn automatic text to a caller you missed, so they don't call the next shop.Read the guide
- Booking depositMoney paid up front to hold an appointment, so the customer actually shows up.Read the guide
- No-show rateThe share of booked appointments where the customer never shows up.Read the guide
- Human handoffWhen an AI agent passes the conversation to a real person on your team.Read the guide
Your website
The pages, fields, and markup that search engines and assistants read.
- Schema markupA short block of code that tells search engines your name, address, hours and services.Read the guide
- Service area pagesOne page per town you really serve, with something on it that is only true there.Read the guide
- Title tags and meta descriptionsThe blue link and the two lines under it in Google, written by you for each page.Read the guide
- Alt textA short written description of an image, for screen readers and for search engines.Read the guide
- Internal linksLinks from one page on your site to another, with words that say where they go.Read the guide
- Page speed and Core Web VitalsHow fast your page loads, reacts to taps, and holds still while it loads.Read the guide
- FAQ pagesThe questions customers ask on the phone, each with one short, clear answer.Read the guide
Inside Doug
How Doug learns your business, checks where you show up, and fixes it.
- How Doug learns your businessYour website, files, and Q&A pairs become the only place his answers come from.Read the guide
- The weekly visibility checkEach week he asks the assistants your customers' questions and counts your mentions.Read the guide
- The fix queueEach week's findings become drafted fixes you can publish, apply, or dismiss.Read the guide
- Getting listed in AI assistantsVerify your site and connect Stripe so ChatGPT, Claude, and Muse can book you.Read the guide
- Done for youOur team works your fix queue on your accounts and reports every Monday.Read the guide
The glossary
82 short definitions for the words you keep hearing, A to Z.
Open the glossary
Doug does the work in these guides for you, every week.
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