Field Notes
How Do We Know You’re a Needle in a Haystack?
Short answer: Most shops look the same online. The ones that get picked set up for local first, tell the truth about their craft, and stop saying they’re “the best around.”
When I look up an owner’s business in Google and in AI, the first thing I check is technical SEO and local SEO. That tells me whether anyone has even paid attention. Most of the time the keywords are all wrong. They try to focus national and forget the real local items. Today, AI makes all of this very simple to analyze.
What makes one shop get picked over another that’s just as good? Again, this comes back to how well you set up for local dominance. You found my site. I do not spend on ads.
Where do small businesses hide the thing that makes them different without realizing it? In the truthfulness of their craft. In today’s world this is all about personal service. That is a huge win. Today AI is being put in place of talking with people. How does that make things personal or intimate? Electric feelings are useless. There is no empathy in a computer.
One thing owners think helps them stand out that really doesn’t: saying they’re “the best around.” Everyone does that. You need to separate yourself out. What makes you different? Why do I want to work with you? Things like this.
Besides the noindex fix, what did I change on my own site so I’d stop being lost in the pile? Getting control of my local presence. I know I won’t go national, and I don’t want to. I am not able to provide the intimate services if I am that widespread. Personalization is what matters. Everyone has a website, a YouTube channel, TikTok, whatever on social. That pushed us to be less social and more about me. Nothing out there is focusing on the outcome and what it will do for you.
If someone has ten minutes tonight, here’s the one thing to check. Look at the obvious. Reflect and say “why,” or even “so what.” Those need to be answered if you want to be different.
Getting named by AI is different from showing up in a list of search results. With search results, paid ads often sit on top of a generic list. With AI it has become more personal — focused on what we like and how we work or act. It is about letting you be seen by the overall searches. Think about how you search for things or services now. You put in your feelings, wants, and needs — not just a name or a service.
From the owners around Philadelphia I’ve talked with, in person or remote, what they get wrong about being found is this: they have become one and the same. There is not much differentiation between them and the competition.
If you want a second set of eyes on yours, that’s what the 15-minute call is for. In person or remote, your call. You leave with a short written plan of attack.