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ScamWatch: Red Flags To Watch For When Hiring A Marketing Company

Last Updated: October 22, 2025

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You’ve probably had at least a few smooth-talking marketing folks try to sell you on a “game-changing” package. They’ll throw out big promises and bigger price tags, hoping you’ll sign a long-term contract before you ask too many questions.

Here’s the thing: most of these folks are better at selling themselves than actually bringing you work. So how do you spot the ones who talk a big game but can’t deliver?

Here are six red flags to help you sniff out the BS before you step in it:

1. They Speak in Buzzwords You Don’t Understand

“We’re leveraging PPC to optimize your ROI while aligning your conversion funnel.” Sound familiar?

If someone can’t explain what they do in plain English, chances are they don’t fully understand it either. If they wouldn’t say it at a backyard BBQ, don’t let them say it to you in a sales meeting.

Sure, some jargon will slip into the conversation, that’s inevitable. The red flag is when it’s a steady stream of buzzwords and no effort to explain them (unless you press for it). If they can’t break it down like they’re talking to a relative, you’re not talking to a pro.

2. They Promise You’ll Be “Top of Google” Fast

Getting to the top of Google is like building a house, it takes time, tools, and the right crew. Anyone promising instant SEO results is either lying or using shady tactics that can hurt you down the road.

Now, if you’re running paid ads (PPC), you can buy your way to the top of Google, but that’s not SEO. And it gets expensive fast. A good strategy often uses both, but they need to be coordinated.

The real red flag? When someone talks about instant organic rankings. That’s not how SEO works. Those two go together like ice cream and pickles.

3. They Don’t Ask About Your Business Details

A good marketer doesn’t show up with a pitch deck, they show up with questions. The kind that prove they actually care about making your business succeed. Like:

  • Which jobs make you the most money?
  • Which towns, cities, or neighborhoods do you want to target?
  • Is your focus being low-cost, high-value, premium best-of-the-best, or something else?

If they skip all that and jump straight into a cookie-cutter pitch, they’re not marketing your business, they’re just selling theirs.

4. They Push You Into a Long-Term Contract on Day One

Why lock you into a year-long deal before they’ve proven anything? Simple: they want guaranteed money whether their strategy works or not. A confident, competent marketing partner will offer flexible terms and let their results do the convincing.

That said, it’s not unreasonable to ask for a short-term commitment, something like 3-6 months, especially with SEO campaigns. Results take time. You need content, links, and technical work to be created. Then platforms like Google have to find, index, and rank that content. None of that is instant.

Still, be cautious. Long-term contracts are a favorite tactic of low-quality marketers. They’re often used to lock in revenue without having to actually perform.

5. They Talk About “Brand Awareness” Instead of Leads

Brand awareness is nice, but unless it turns into calls, emails, or bookings, it’s not doing much for you. You’re not here to win design awards; you’re here to get jobs.

Clicks, traffic, and time-on-page are fine to monitor, but they’re not the goal. They’re just early signs that something might be working. A good marketer keeps the main thing the main thing: leads.

6. They Have No Track Record in Your Industry

If you run an appliance repair business and they show you case studies from hair salons or t-shirt shops, that’s a problem.

You need someone who knows how to get results for industries like yours, contractors, electricians, HVAC, plumbing, and so on. While 80% of digital marketing strategies are transferable, the other 20% is industry-specific. That part matters a lot.

Ask to see actual examples from businesses in the trades. If they can’t show you that, you don’t want to be their guinea pig.

Bottom line?

If your gut says something’s off, trust it. This industry is full of slick talkers, snake oil salesmen, and rookies trying to fake it till they make it. Good providers do exist, but this is shark-infested water, so you need to know how to spot a dolphin from a shark.

You’ve worked too hard to hand over your budget to someone who sounds smart but can’t show results. It’s better to have a simple website and a packed calendar than a slick setup that doesn’t bring in a dime.

 

 

Marketing Agency Red Flags FAQs


Some common red flags include: the company only using jargon and buzzwords you don’t understand; promising instant top‑of‑Google rankings; not asking detailed questions about your business; pushing you into a long‑term contract immediately; focusing more on ‘brand awareness’ than actual leads; and having no track record in your type of industry.


If a marketing agency speaks in a steady stream of buzzwords and cannot explain their approach in plain English, it could indicate they lack true understanding or are relying on hype rather than proven methods.


No — while you can buy paid ads to appear prominently, genuine organic SEO takes time, tools, and a coordinated strategy. A promise of instant top‑of‑Google rankings is a red flag and may indicate the use of risky or “black hat” tactics.


A strong marketing partner will ask about your best‑performing services, target locations, business positioning (low‑cost vs premium), and other key details. If they skip this and present a cookie‑cutter pitch right away, it suggests they’re selling a generic solution rather than tailoring a strategy to your business.


Not always, but you should be cautious. SEO campaigns often take 3‑6 months to show meaningful results, so a short‑term commitment may make sense. However, being locked into a year‑long contract on day one before any proof of performance is a red flag.


While brand awareness has value, for many businesses the primary goal is generating tangible leads — calls, emails, bookings. A marketing company that emphasizes metrics like clicks or “awareness” without focusing on lead generation may be misaligned with your business needs.


It’s very important. While many marketing fundamentals are transferable, around 20% of strategy is industry‑specific. If an agency shows only case studies from unrelated industries (e.g., salons when you’re in plumbing or HVAC), that’s a red flag.


If something feels off, trust your instincts. The article states: “This industry is full of slick talkers, snake‑oil salesmen, and rookies trying to fake it till they make it.” Good providers do exist, but you need to know how to spot the sharks.

Why “Make My Site Better” Is the Wrong Way to Use AI

Last Updated: October 14, 2025

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Artificial intelligence has become a go-to tool for everything from writing blog posts to finding local businesses. It’s like internet duct tape…fast, easy, and feels like the kind of magic every small business owner could use more of.

But we’re seeing a growing trend that’s setting people up for disappointment: pasting your website’s URL into ChatGPT and asking it to “make it better.”

This is actually a symptom of a larger problem. There’s a massive difference between what people THINK ChatGPT can do, and what it actually CAN do. ChatGPT, like Gemini, Grok, and others, are LLMs (Large Language Models). The simplest way to describe what they do is that they guess the next most-probable word and use that to build responses to your questions. There’s no super-intelligent being behind it… it’s just word-guessing on steroids.

There are things that AI (specifically LLMs) is great at, but those tend to be very narrow use cases with specific parameters. And in those specific cases, it’s a very powerful tool. But if you venture even just a little outside of those narrowly defined cases, you’ll find frustration, disappointment, and very misleading information abound.

The Mistake We Keep Seeing

To continue with our example of the website, let’s be blunt: dropping your website into AI and asking it to “improve it” doesn’t work. Not because AI is bad, but because that’s not how it’s meant to be used, and therefore not what it’s been trained to do.

When you paste your site’s URL and ask a vague question like “How can this be better?” here’s what happens:

  • You give the AI a vague instruction with no context.
  • You ask a LLM (Large Language Model) to perform a task that it was never intended to perform.
  • It looks at all the text it’s ever seen related to your topic and then decides the most probable words to spit back at you.
  • You get back a mix of generic suggestions that don’t necessarily apply to your business and situation.

Worse, AI is programmed to always respond, and do so confidently, even when it doesn’t really understand what it’s looking at. So the advice might sound confident but be flat-out wrong or even contradict itself.

If you’ve done this and felt underwhelmed by the results, you’re not alone. But don’t give up on AI, just learn to use it the right way, and for the things that it’s good at.

Prompting Is an Art and a Science

The difference between a helpful AI experience and a frustrating one almost always comes down to how you prompt it.

People who get great results aren’t just lucky, they know how to write specific, detailed prompts. They treat AI like a smart but inexperienced assistant. It needs direction.

For example:

  • Weak prompt: “Write a blog post.”
  • Stronger prompt:<task>Write a blog post</task>
    <topic>Preventative drain maintenance</topic>
    <business>Residential plumber in Chicago</business>
    <audience>Middle-income homeowners living in Illinois, age 35-60</audience>
    <goal>Show how regular drain cleanings prevent costly repairs</goal>
    <tone>Friendly and professional at a 12th grade reading level</tone>
    <cta>Encourage scheduling a service appointment</cta>

This may seem like overkill, but giving AI this level of clarity is what turns vague results into something you can actually use.

It’s a Process, Not a One-and-Done

Another issue with the “make this better” mindset is that it treats AI like a vending machine: put in a request, get a polished result.

That’s not how it works.

AI is more like a writing partner, editor, or assistant. You go back and forth. You ask for changes. You tweak it until it’s right. When we use AI to draft blog posts, we might go through 10 or more iterations before we land on something usable.

If you expect to paste your site into AI and get a brilliant new version in one step, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re willing to collaborate with the tool, it can absolutely help you move faster and get better results.

Think of AI Like a Teenager (For Now)

One way to think about today’s AI is to compare it to human development.

Earlier AI tools were like toddlers, repeating things but not understanding them. Current tools like ChatGPT are closer to a smart high schooler: they can write essays, summarize information, and hold a decent conversation. But they lack real-world experience, nuance, and judgment.

So when you ask AI to “improve your website,” you’re effectively handing a 15-year-old your marketing and saying, “Go figure it out.” 15-year-olds can be effective at menial tasks, but absolutely no one is hiring them to be a director, strategist, or CEO.

If you give it guidance, it can help. But if you expect mature, strategic decisions? You’re going to run into trouble.

What AI Can (and Can’t) Do Well

AI is powerful, but not all-purpose. Here’s where it actually shines, and where it doesn’t.

What It’s Good At:

  • Content creation: Drafting blog posts, ads, or emails, especially when you provide key points.
  • Repetitive tasks: Writing meta descriptions, summarizing reviews, cleaning or reformatting data.
  • Visual assets: Simple graphics or social images with tools like DALL·E or Midjourney.
  • Spreadsheet help: Writing or fixing Excel formulas and explaining them clearly.
  • Troubleshooting electronics: Wi-Fi issues, smart device setup, etc.

Where It Struggles:

  • Original thinking: It remixes patterns, it doesn’t invent.
  • Strategic judgment: It doesn’t know your goals, audience, or brand.
  • Contextual consistency: It has a hard time staying on-brand or visually consistent.
  • Factual accuracy: It often guesses when it doesn’t know, and sounds confident doing it.

Quick Reference: What to Use AI For (And What Not To)

✅ Good Use Cases ❌ Where It Falls Short
Writing blog posts or emails Strategic planning or business consulting
Creating social media captions Making decisions without your input
Fixing or writing Excel formulas Complex financial modeling or forecasting
Generating simple graphics or images Consistent visuals across a full brand package
Troubleshooting tech or electronics Understanding physical limitations (space, wiring, etc.)
Drafting website copy or ads Designing full websites without context
Summarizing reviews or survey data Giving legal, financial, or compliance advice
Brainstorming marketing ideas Verifying facts or statistics reliably

Final Thoughts

We love AI. We use it every day. But we’ve also seen too many people get misled by the idea that AI is a silver bullet, especially when they’re dropping in a whole website and expecting miracle advice from a vague prompt.

If you want to get real value out of these tools, you need to treat them like what they are: powerful assistants, not instant experts. Guide them. Iterate. Get specific.

And whatever you do, don’t just paste in your homepage and ask ChatGPT to “make it better.” You deserve better than the advice it’ll give you.

 

 

AI & Website Improvement FAQs


Asking AI to “make my site better” is too vague. LLMs work by predicting likely words based on training data—not by understanding your goals, audience, or brand. The result is often generic suggestions that don’t apply to your situation.


A strong prompt includes specificity and context. For example: <task>, <topic>, <business type>, <audience>, <tone>, <goal>, and <call to action>. These details guide the AI toward useful, relevant outputs.


No. AI works best as a collaborator through iteration. You’ll rewrite, refine, and adjust the output over several rounds to arrive at something accurate, on‑brand, and usable.


AI excels at tasks like drafting blog posts or emails (with guidance), writing meta descriptions, summarizing content, reformatting or cleaning text, simple graphic generation, and spreadsheet or data support.


AI struggles with original strategic insight, detailed brand consistency, factual certainty (it may hallucinate), and understanding nuances of your unique business or audience. It might confidently output incorrect or contradictory content.


Treat AI like an assistant or junior collaborator—not a final authority. Guide it with clear prompts, review and edit its output, and use it to accelerate your work rather than to replace human decision‑making.

Don’t Let AI Agents Book Your Competitors’ Jobs Before Yours

Last Updated: October 7, 2025

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AI Is Already Changing How Customers Find You, Agents Are Next

ChatGPT, Gemni, and other AI tools are already helping your customers find and select service-providers. As we’ve previously discussed, these AI tools are not just writing emails and spitting out dinner recipes. They’re researching options, comparing reviews, and suggesting the top 1-5 best matches to the user (Sorry, no more top-10 game).

Soon, the user will no longer need to be involved. That’s because of what’s called “AI agents.” In short, it means a user just has to make his/her wishes known, and the AI will find, book, and pay for the desired service…all by itself!  We’re not talking about 2035. This is going to start affecting you as soon as next year!

Gartner Inc. predicts that:

  • Search engine volume will drop 25% by 2026
  • 40% of enterprise apps will integrate task-specific AI agents by 2026.
  • 15% of all routine business decisions will be autonomously made by AI agents by 2028.
  • 50% of all business decisions will be AI-augmented or automated by 2027.

If your business isn’t AI-ready, you’re about to be invisible. But there’s a low-cost, low-effort way to avoid being slammed by this tidal wave…’

How AI Tools Work Now, and What Agents Will Demand

Today, customers ask AI like ChatGPT or Grok, “Find me a plumber in Dallas.” It scans:

  • Reviews: High ratings (4.5+ stars, 50+ recent) win trust. Stale or fake reviews? You’re out.
  • Google Business Profile (GBP): Your digital signpost. Missing hours or photos? AI ignores you.
  • Website Structure: Vague “services” page? AI can’t parse it. Clear pages like “Emergency Plumbing in Dallas” with schema markup? You’re in.
  • Trust Signals: FAQs answering “Are you licensed?” or “How fast can you fix my AC?” build credibility.

When agents arrive (likely next year), they’ll lean harder on these signals, prioritizing structured data and trust. Early adopters (e.g., a Seattle electrician with service-specific pages) report 35% more AI-driven leads already.

It’s important to remember that AI Agents don’t care about non-quantifiable, real-world things like reputation and word-of-mouth. They don’t have the discernment and wisdom of a human so they rely on things that can be calculated. They care only about the signals, the hard numbers, that it’s trained to calculate a decision on. Your hard-earned reputation in the community, built over decades, will be meaningless to the numbers-driven machine.

So how do you prepare? Scratch that. How do you prepare WITHOUT putting more on your plate?

Your 5-Step Plan to Win Now and Later

You’re slammed, so here’s the fast track to prep for AI tools today and agents tomorrow. Build on what you’re already doing… no overhaul needed.

  1. Stack Reviews Relentlessly: After every job, ask clients to rate you on Google. Aim for 10/week.
    Check out this past article for ideas.
  2. Own Your GBP: Claim it (free). Update services, add 10+ weekly photos, answer all reviews in 24 hours. Post offers there too.
    Easy Mode: Get your marketing company to help with this. They can likely take most of the load off your plate.
  3. Make Your Site AI-Friendly: One page per service, per location (e.g., “Roof Repair in Austin”). Use clear headings, bullets, and schema.org markup.
    Easy Mode: We do this stuff all day, every day. We’ll take care of it so you can get back to doing actual work.
  4. Use Prospect Genius’s AI QuickStart: Built for busy business owners. It delivers:
    • LLMs.txt File: This is the AI version of the old site map. It’s just a special file that tells AI bots where to find the important stuff on your site. It helps make sure you’re actually showing up in AI search results and not getting skipped over.
    • AI-Optimized FAQ Page: We’ll give you a pre-written page with the exact questions AI looks for. Plus, it’s got the techie coding (schema) baked in to make AI trust and understand it better.

    The Result? As we proved last week, our clients are already getting hundreds of page views, every month, from these AI tools. Better still, none of them had to lift a finger because we handled it all.

  5. Test Your Visibility: Ask ChatGPT, “Recommend a [your service] in [your town].” Not listed? Time to get to work or call in the experts!

The Stakes: Leads Today, Survival Tomorrow

AI tools are already steering customers. Agents will soon close the deal, picking pros for them. Nail these steps to dominate both. Prospect Genius’ AI QuickStart can be your quick and easy edge.

Act now! When AI agents start booking, will they call you, or someone else?

 

 

AI Optimization & AI Agent Readiness FAQs


AI tools already research options, compare reviews, and present the top 1–5 local service providers instead of a long top-10 list. AI agents will go further by finding, booking, and paying for services with minimal user input. Because AI agents rely on quantifiable trust signals—not word-of-mouth—local service businesses need strong reviews, a complete Google Business Profile, clearly structured service pages with schema, and robust FAQs to win the AI shortlists.


AI Optimization QuickStart is a low-effort package for busy local service businesses. It implements an LLMs.txt file to guide AI crawlers, builds an AI-optimized FAQ page with embedded schema that answers the exact questions AI tools look for, and aligns your site structure and trust signals. Clients are already seeing hundreds of AI-driven page views per month without adding work to their plates.


LLMs.txt is the AI-era equivalent of a sitemap for language models. It points AI crawlers to your most important pages—service pages, locations, pricing, FAQs, licenses—so AI systems can reliably parse, trust, and surface your business in conversational search and in automated AI agent workflows.


Claim and fully complete Google Business Profile, list every service, maintain accurate hours, add 10+ fresh photos weekly, respond to all reviews within 24 hours, and post offers consistently. These steps strengthen the structured, machine-readable signals AI tools and AI agents use to select providers.


Aim to stack reviews relentlessly—target roughly 10 new Google reviews per week where possible. High average ratings (4.5+), recency, and authenticity are critical. Stale, sparse, or suspect reviews weaken trust signals and can remove your business from AI-generated shortlists.


Create one page per service per location (e.g., “Emergency Plumbing in Dallas” or “Roof Repair in Austin”), use clear headings and bullet points, add schema.org markup for Service, LocalBusiness, and FAQ, and publish concise answers to licensing, response time, pricing, and guarantees. This structure lets AI tools parse offerings and match you confidently to nearby searches.

Your Customers Are Already Using AI to Find Businesses Like Yours, Here’s the Proof

Last Updated: October 6, 2025

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AI is already changing how people search online. Tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and Google’s new AI Overview are quickly becoming the first stop for consumers looking for local services. This isn’t five years down the road. It’s happening right now.

If you’re like a lot of home-service business owners, you might be thinking things like:

  • “Nobody’s really using AI to find a plumber, right?”
  • “I tried it. Not impressed.”
  • “It feels like a fad. I don’t see how it affects my business.”

And hey, we get it. AI can seem like just another tech buzzword. But here’s the thing, your customers are already using it, and in growing numbers, to find businesses just like yours. The fact that more of them are using AI means, by definition, that fewer are using Google. If you are still chasing a Google-only strategy, your pool of possible customers is shrinking.

High-Level Proof

We pulled traffic data from across all our clients’ sites and spotted a clear trend: AI bots are hitting websites in a big way. These aren’t random visits either. They’re from AI platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, and Grok that are out there actively gathering information to answer people’s questions.

Check out this chart. It shows a sample of the top traffic sources from millions of page views across our network.

Chart of Top Traffic Sources
Top Traffic Sources — 5 of them are AI

Five different AI platforms are showing up in the top sources of traffic. One of them, Claude AI, is actually sending more traffic than Google!

Why? Because these AI tools are in constant “research mode.” They’re crawling your site, learning what your business does, and figuring out whether to recommend you to users. And the demand from users is growing fast.

Now look at this pie chart. Nearly 1 in 3 page views is already coming from AI-driven traffic.

AI is Already 29.7% of Traffic Volume

This isn’t theoretical anymore. AI tools are already sending serious traffic to local business websites, and that number is only going up.

Up-Close Proof

To show what’s happening, we ran a simple test. We picked three of our own clients, from three different industries. Then we asked three major AI tools to recommend a business in their respective cities. Here’s what we found.

1. Affordable Heating & AC: Navien Boiler Installer in Pembroke, MA

  • Google (AI Overview): “Who is an experienced Navien boiler installer in Pembroke MA?”
    Result: Affordable Heating & AC dominated the AI Overview. They filled the entire top of the page. No map pack, no ads, no competition in sight.
  • ChatGPT: “Who can install a Navien boiler near Pembroke MA?”
    Result: ChatGPT returned 3 results. Affordable was #1.
  • Grok: “Who should I call to install a Navien boiler in Pembroke MA?”
    Result: Affordable was #1 again.
Affordable Heating & AC dominating the top of the page in Google's AI Overview section
Google
Affordable Heating & AC the top result in ChatGPT
ChatGPT
Affordable Heating & AC in the first position in Grok
Grok
Traffic impact: Affordable is getting 250 to 300 visits per month just from AI sources, and it’s climbing.

2. Daniels Landscaping: French Drains in Jacksonville, FL

  • Google (AI Overview): “Best French drain installer Jacksonville FL”
    Result: Daniels Landscaping was the entire AI Overview. No scrolling. Just Daniels, front and center.
  • ChatGPT: “Who is the best French drain installer in Jacksonville FL?”
    Result: Daniels was #1 on a short list.
  • Grok: “Who should I call to install a French drain in Jacksonville FL?”
    Result: Daniels was #2.
Daniels Landscape & Irrigation dominating the top of the page in Google's AI Overview section
Google
Daniels Landscape & Irrigation ranking #1 on ChatGPT
ChatGPT
Daniels Landcape & Irrigation ranking #2 on Grok
Grok
Traffic impact: Daniels is also seeing hundreds of visits per month from AI platforms, and that number keeps going up.

3. Empirical Renovations: Decks and Fences in Burlington, VT

  • Google (AI Overview): “Which deck contractor should I call in South Burlington VT?”
    Result: Gemini focused entirely on Empirical. They took over the whole top of the page.
  • ChatGPT: “I need a deck contractor in the Burlington VT area. Who should I call?”
    Result: Empirical was #3, in a list of just three.
  • Grok: “I need a fence contractor in the Burlington VT area. Who should I call?”
    Result: Empirical was #2 out of five.
Empirical Renovations dominating the top of the Google results page in the AI Overview section
Google
Empirical Renovations Ranking #3 on ChatGPT
ChatGPT
Empirical Renovations ranking #2 on Grok
Grok
Traffic impact: Empirical, still a newer account for us, is getting dozens of visits per month just from AI sources, and it’s climbing rapidly.

Great, But How Many People Are Really Doing This?

Turns out, it’s quite a few, and the number is growing month over month. These clients are seeing steady traffic from AI tools like ChatGPT, Grok, and Google’s AI Overview.

Empirical Renovation Top 20 Traffic Sources
Empirical – Top Traffic Sources
Affordable Heating - Top 20 Traffic Sources
Affordable – Top Traffic Sources
Daniels Top 20 Traffic Sources
Daniels – Top Traffic Sources
AI results are often trusted even more than traditional search. If you’re showing up there, your leads are already primed to trust you, and ready to hire.

So How Do You Get Your Slice Of The Pie?

It’s as easy as calling Prospect Genius. Hate the phone, no problem! Just sign up online. These are the tools we deployed to make all this happen for these clients:

  1. CoreSite – We built their site to be highly SEO friendly with content written for search engines and for AIs.
  2. AI Quick Start – We added an LLMs.txt and FAQ content that is marked up and structured in the way the AIs want.
  3. Directory Dominator – We put them into tons of relevant, high-quality directories. This gives them visibility, credibility, and backlinks, which fuels their SEO and AI-Optimization.

As with all of our services, you can mix and match to suit your needs. If you’ve already got some parts of this strategy implemented, great! We can start from where you are and then take you to the next level. We can even go beyond this aforementioned strategy and start really optimizing for AI with our GEO and AEO Optimization services.

Let’s Talk About Google for a Second

Google still drives a big chunk of traffic, around 80% for many local businesses. But that’s starting to shift. Google’s rolling out “AI Overviews” because they see what’s coming.

If your whole marketing strategy is built around traditional rankings, you’re missing the next wave.

The Top 10 Game Is Dead

We broke this down in detail in our last post, but here’s the short version: AI platforms don’t give people a list of 10 blue links. Most of the time, they show just three results. Sometimes even fewer. If your business isn’t one of them, you don’t even exist.

That’s why now is the time to move. Show up early, and you’ll be harder to displace later.

You Don’t Need to *Use* AI, You Just Need to Show Up In It

You don’t need to understand the tech behind AI. You just need a digital presence that AI tools can read, trust, and recommend.

That’s exactly what we helped these businesses do, and now, they’re reaping the rewards.

Final Thought: This Isn’t a 5-Year Transition

The move from Yellow Pages to Google took a decade.

This transition? It’s happening right now, in months, not years. Businesses that act early get a real advantage. Businesses that wait will be playing catch-up.

Want to see how your business can show up in AI search? Let’s talk.

 

 

 

AI Search & Traffic FAQs for Local Service Businesses


Yes, consumers are increasingly using AI tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and Google’s AI Overview to find local service providers. These platforms research and recommend local businesses based on data they gather from websites, directories, and reviews. Local businesses featured in AI results are already seeing hundreds of visits monthly from these tools.


AI platforms are already sending significant traffic to local business websites. In some cases, AI traffic accounts for nearly 30% of all visits. For example, Affordable Heating & AC receives 250–300 monthly visits from AI sources alone, while other clients report similar or growing numbers.


AI tools are starting to replace traditional search by offering fewer, more targeted business suggestions. Platforms like ChatGPT and Claude don’t return long lists—they give just 1 to 3 top picks. Some AI tools like Claude are already sending more traffic than Google in certain cases, meaning if you’re not listed by AI, you’re missing out on new customers.


Google’s AI Overview is a new search format where AI summarizes the top answers to a query. It often replaces traditional search results and only includes a few recommended businesses. To appear in AI Overview, your website must have clear content, trusted reviews, schema markup, and structured service information. Services like Prospect Genius’s AI Optimization can help businesses show up there.


Prospect Genius offers AI Optimization Quick Start, CoreSite website design, and Directory Dominator. These services include implementing LLMs.txt files, creating AI-optimized FAQ pages, building SEO and AI-friendly websites, and listing businesses in trusted directories to boost credibility, trust, and visibility in AI tools.


The fastest way is to work with a provider like Prospect Genius. Their AI Quick Start service includes all essential tools—LLMs.txt, schema-enhanced FAQs, and optimized content—to help AI tools index and recommend your business. You don’t need to learn AI, just ensure your digital presence is AI-friendly and trustworthy.

Easy-Mode For Using TikTok & YouTube Shorts To Boost Local SEO

Last Updated: September 23, 2025

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You’ve probably heard that social media and video content is important, but I’ll bet it just feels like yet another thing on your already overly full plate.

Luckily, you don’t need to spend hours dancing or editing to get real results. In fact, a simple 30-second video from the job site can help you show up in local searches and bring in real customers. No marketing degree required.

What to Do (Takes Under 3 Minutes):

  1. Pull out your phone while on the job.
  2. Record a 15-30 second video showing what you’re doing, no fancy editing needed. You don’t even need to be in the video if you don’t want…just show the work.
  3. Voice-over the video with something like: “Today we’re replacing a water heater here in Cleveland. The old unit’s heating element failed thanks to some sediment build-up over time. If you find yourself in this situation, just call Mike’s Plumbing. We service Cleveland and all surrounding areas!”
  4. Post it to TikTok, YouTube Shorts, or Instagram Reels.
  5. Add a short description that includes:
    • What service you’re providing
    • Your business name
    • The city you’re working in
  6. Link to your other social media profiles from your video account (YouTube, TikTok, etc.). This builds more credibility in the eyes of Google and other search engines.

That’s it. You’re done. And you just gave your business a little boost in local SEO.

Why This Works

Search engines (and AI-powered tools like Google’s AI Overviews) are starting to pull video content into local search results. If someone searches “best AC repair in [your city],” your short video could show up before they even see a map listing or website.

On top of that, social platforms like TikTok and YouTube are their own search engines now and people are searching directly on those platforms for local services. Being visible there gives you a serious edge.

Want to Level It Up?

If you want to take your videos from “basic” to “pro” without spending much time or money, here are a few bonus tips:

  • Use CapCut (free app) for quick, easy editing. You can trim clips, add captions, background music, or even your logo… no editing experience needed.
  • Pin your location and add hashtags like #plumbingin[city] or #HVACrepair[city]. This helps you show up in more relevant searches.
  • Cross-post your videos to your website or blog. Embedding them on your site helps with SEO and adds visual content to your service pages.
  • Assign a team member to be your “video guy.” Got someone on your crew who’s funny, personable, or always on their phone anyway? Let them take the lead. You’d be surprised how well this can work with just a little buy-in.
  • End each video with a simple CTA, like:
    “Call [Your Company] if you need [Your Service] in [Your Town]. Mention this video for 10% off!”

Start Small, Win Big

You don’t need to go viral. You just need to show up. A few short videos each month can increase your chances of showing up in search, getting into Google’s video results, and converting casual scrollers into actual customers.

And if you need help getting started (whether it’s setting up your TikTok channel, connecting your social links, or figuring out what to post) just reach out. We’re happy to help.

 

 

FAQ: Short Videos & Local SEO


Short 15‑ to 30‑second videos filmed on‑site, showing your work (even without fancy editing), with a voice‑over that states what service you’re doing, what problem you’re solving, your business name, and the city you serve help boost local SEO.


Posting short videos on platforms like TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels gives you multiple search visibility points. These platforms act as search engines themselves and are increasingly respected by Google and AI‑powered search results.


No. You can produce effective content with minimal tools. Use your phone to capture video, record a simple voice‑over explaining your service, and optionally use free apps (like CapCut) for basic editing, captions, or adding logos if desired.


Include your service type, business name, and the city where you’re working in the description. Use relevant hashtags and pin/indicate location (e.g. #plumbingin[City], #HVACrepair[City]) to help both the platform’s search and Google identify your local relevance.


You don’t need to post every day, but consistency helps. Publishing a few short videos each month can increase the chances of showing up in local searches, Google video results, and turning viewers into customers—even without viral content.


Yes. Embedding or cross‑posting videos on your website or blog adds visual content, enhances user experience, and aids SEO by keeping people on your site longer and giving Google more content to index.

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