I recently met with someone who's incredibly talented at what they do.
Experienced. Highly skilled. Produces amazing work.
And yet, when we looked at their Google Business Profile, together, it wasn’t working nearly as hard as it could have been.
It made me think.
How many businesses are in exactly the same position without even realising it?
Probably quite a few!
Because being brilliant at what you do doesn’t automatically mean Google knows you’re brilliant at it!!
In fact, sometimes Google might not properly understand everything you do at all.
And with the way people are now searching changing so quickly, I think that matters more than ever.
Google can only work with what it knows
Businesses often assume Google somehow “knows”.
It doesn’t.
You might have been doing what you do for 20 years.
Your customers might know exactly what you’re good at.
Most of your business might come through recommendations.
But Google hasn’t met you.
If you offer six different services but only two are properly explained online, how is Google supposed to make the connection?
If your business has changed over the years but your online information hasn’t, that doesn’t help either.
Perhaps you’ve moved into a different market.
Added new services.
Stopped doing others.
Changed your ideal customer.
Expanded the area you work in.
Or the business has simply grown up.
Does your online presence reflect that?
Google says complete and accurate Business Profile information makes businesses more likely to appear in relevant local search results.
It also says detailed information helps it understand how closely a business matches what somebody is searching for. (Google explains more about local search here.)
That’s pretty important.
It’s bigger than your Google Business Profile
I’ve written before about whether your Google Business Profile is winning or losing enquiries, including the practical things businesses should be checking, so, I’m not going to go through all of that again.
What interests me here is the bigger picture.
Google doesn’t look at your Business Profile in complete isolation.
It can draw business information from a number of sources, including information you provide directly, your own website, publicly available information and contributions from customers such as reviews and photographs. (Google explains where its business information comes from here.)
Therefore, think about your business as Google might see it!
Does your website clearly explain what you do?
Does your Google Business Profile support that?
Are your services described properly?
Is the information current?
Do your reviews reinforce the sort of work you actually do?
Does the whole thing make sense?
Or are there bits of your business scattered around the internet that don’t quite join up?
And now there’s Google AI
This is where I think things get particularly interesting.
The way people search is changing.
We’ve all been used to short Google searches.
“Marketing consultant Scarborough.”
“Dog friendly hotel Scarborough.”
“Beauty salon near me.”
But search is becoming much more conversational.
People can now ask far more specific questions.
“Who can help me sort out the marketing for my small business in North Yorkshire?”
“Where can I stay in Scarborough with my dog for a few weeks while I’m between houses?”
“Which local salon offers a particular treatment and has appointments outside normal working hours?”
Those are very different searches.
Google’s AI features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode, are designed to help with much more detailed questions.
And Google’s guidance for AI-powered Search still comes back to many of the same fundamentals: useful content, accessible websites and accurate, up-to-date business information (You can read Google’s guidance on AI features in Search here.)
I don’t think every small business suddenly needs an “AI strategy”.
But I do think every business needs to ask a very simple question: "Have I made it easy for Google to understand exactly what my business does?"
Google can’t fill in the blanks for you
This is probably the simplest way to look at it.
Google doesn’t know what you haven’t told it.
It doesn’t know that one particular service is now a major part of your business if you hardly mention it anywhere.
It doesn’t know that you want more work from a particular type of customer.
It doesn’t know you’ve stopped offering something that still appears on an old page.
It doesn’t automatically understand all the little nuances that someone who has actually met you would pick up in a five-minute conversation.
That information needs to exist.
Clearly!
And preferably in more than one relevant place.
Not copied word-for-word across your website and Google profile - that would be horrible.
But the overall picture should make sense.
Does your website still reflect the business you have today?
This is another one I see a lot.
A website gets built.
Everyone is delighted.
Then the business carries on changing.
Three years later, the website is still describing the company that existed when it was launched.
The Google profile might be even older.
Meanwhile, the owner is talking to completely different customers about completely different services.
Businesses evolve.
Your online presence needs to evolve with it.
If your website, Google profile and other online information are all telling slightly different versions of the story, you’re making Google work harder to understand you.
You’re making your customers work harder too.
And neither seems particularly sensible.
But don’t start writing for robots!
This is the other danger.
As soon as AI and search optimisation are mentioned, people start thinking they need to write everything for Google.
Please don’t!
The person looking for your business still matters most.
They want straightforward answers.
Can you help me?
Do you do what I need?
Do you work in my area?
Can I trust you?
What are you like to deal with?
How do I contact you?
If your website and Google presence answer those questions clearly, you’re helping the customer and giving Google better information to work with.
Good optimisation shouldn’t make copy sound robotic.
Quite the opposite.
It should make the business easier to understand.
And please don’t get carried away with AI jargon
There’s already a lot of noise around AI marketing.
AEO. GEO. AI optimisation.
Most small business owners don’t need to spend their time worrying about the latest acronym.
What matters is much simpler.
Making sure Google can clearly understand what your business does.
Google itself says there are no special additional technical requirements for appearing in AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond the normal fundamentals of good Search.
That’s actually quite reassuring.
So rather than panicking about the latest AI marketing trend, I’d concentrate on getting the basics right.
Is the information about your business accurate?
Is it clear?
Is your website useful?
Does your Google Business Profile properly reflect what you do?
Can Google understand your services?
Does everything still represent the business you have now?
That might not sound as exciting as the latest “AI hack”.
But I’d rather get those things right first.
Every time.
Look at your business through Google’s eyes
Try something. I know, l know, l've said it before.....
Search for your own business.
Then search for some of the services you really want to be found for.
Not only your business name.
Imagine you’re somebody who has never heard of you.
Would they understand what you do?
Would Google?
Does your website make it obvious?
Does your Business Profile back it up?
Are there important parts of your business that barely appear anywhere?
And then try thinking about a more conversational search.
If somebody asked Google: “Can you find me a business that does exactly what I need?”
Have you given it enough useful information to understand that YOU could be one of the answers?
That’s the bit I think more businesses need to start thinking about.
Final Thoughts
Search is changing. But I don’t think this needs to become another thing for small business owners to panic about.
You don’t need to suddenly become an expert in AI, AEO, GEO or whatever comes next.
What you do need is a strong digital foundation and clear information about your business.
Because being fantastic at what you do isn’t much use to Google if it can’t work out exactly what that is!
And sometimes the biggest marketing opportunities aren’t about doing something new.
They’re about making much better use of what you’ve already got!
Next Steps……
Take a look at your Google Business Profile and website together.
Not as the owner of the business.
As someone who knows absolutely nothing about it.
Is it immediately obvious what you do, who you help and why somebody should contact you?
If you’re not sure, it might be worth having someone else take a look.
At The Small Marketing Company, that’s often where I start, looking at the whole picture, finding the gaps and working out what genuinely needs doing before recommending where a business should spend its time or money.
Sometimes you need something new. Sometimes you don’t.
And sometimes a fresh pair of eyes can spot an opportunity that’s been sitting there all along!.
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