Your customers ask Google and AI.
Does your name come up?

It's the setting that weighs the most on the map, and the one most often chosen poorly. “Restaurant” is too vague if you're a pizzeria.

• Choose the most specific category that describes your main business.
• Add 2 to 4 secondary categories for your other services, no more.

Adding “cheap hair salon Austin” to your name can give you a small boost… and then get your profile suspended if a competitor reports you.

• Use exactly the name of your business, as it appears on your storefront.

Watch out: A suspended profile disappears from the map, sometimes for weeks.

A customer who finds the door closed often leaves a negative review. And Google highlights businesses that are open at the time of the search.

• Enter your holiday hours ahead of time.
• Add special hours (delivery, appointments…).

A profile that gets new photos shows a business that's alive. And customers often choose based on photos.

• Storefront (to be recognized on the street), interior, team, products or past work.
• Add a few photos every month rather than 30 at once.

Google posts (current offer, something new, an event) appear on your profile and show you're active.

• One post every two weeks is enough: a photo, two sentences, a link.

The number, the rating and above all the regularity of reviews matter. Most happy customers don't think to leave one: you have to ask.

• Ask right after a positive moment (the customer thanks you, leaves happy).
• Give a direct link or a QR code: every click you remove counts.

Watch out: Offering a discount in exchange for a review, or only asking happy customers, is against Google's rules.

Your replies are read by future customers as much as the reviews themselves. A calm reply to a negative review is more reassuring than a perfect rating.

• Reply within 48 hours, thanking the customer and mentioning what they enjoyed.
• For a negative review: acknowledge, briefly explain, offer to talk privately.

“Men's haircut”, “color”, “beard trim”: one clear page per service helps Google show you for each of these searches.

• Put your city and neighborhood in the titles of these pages.
• Show your address, phone and hours at the bottom of every page, identical to your Google profile.

Yelp, Apple Maps, Bing Places, industry directories, social media: if your address or phone number differs from one site to another, Google and AI start to doubt.

• List the sites where you appear and make your name, address and phone number consistent.

When someone asks an AI for “the best florist in Austin”, it relies on reviews, local press, guides and “best of” lists.

• Aim for an article in a local newspaper or a local blog.
• Get listed in the recognized guides and “best of” lists for your city and your trade.