Local buyers meet your Business Profile before they ever see your website, and the map pack algorithm reads completeness and activity as reliability. Precise categories, complete services, weekly posts, fresh photos, and answered reviews are not cosmetic; they are the ranking inputs most competitors quietly neglect.
For near-me intent, your Business Profile gets more impressions than your website. Complete every field, keep categories precise, post weekly, and answer every review; the algorithm reads activity as reliability.
Name, address, phone, categories, and service descriptions must match everywhere, site, profile, and directories, character for character. Mismatch is the quiet killer behind most map pack losses we audit.
Both search and AI recommendations quote review text. Prompt customers with specific questions so reviews contain services, locations, and outcomes in plain sentences worth extracting.
This exact method ships inside our client engagements at $45/hr, estimate in writing first.
Start a ProjectName, address, phone, and categories must match everywhere, character for character. Mismatch is the quiet killer.
AI assistants now name specific local providers with addresses and phone numbers. The signals overlap heavily with map pack work.
Most high-intent searches now end in an extracted answer, not a click. AEO is the discipline of being that answer.