0:00Right now, someone in your town is searching for exactly what you do. "Plumber near me." "Roof repair." "AC fixed today." The only question is whether they find you, or the next guy. So here's exactly what I'd do if I ran a local service business today to get more customers. Five steps.
0:20Every month, hundreds, or thousands, or even tens of thousands of people search for your exact service, depending on your trade and your town. Even if you've got great repeat customers, that's growth sitting on the table. And the front door to all of it is your Google Business Profile.
0:37Step one: fill out your profile, all of it. Your services, hours, service area, phone number, a professional email, and a link to your website. Add real photos: your crew, your trucks, your finished work. A profile with lots of photos looks busy, and busy looks trustworthy. Turn on the chat option so customers can text you straight from Google. Then post to it every week: a finished job, a seasonal tip, an offer. Google rewards profiles that stay active. And with AI tools, keeping a steady posting schedule has never been easier.
1:13Step two: reviews. Google ranks local results on three things: how relevant you are, how close you are, and how prominent you are. Reviews are a big part of prominence. That's your total number of reviews and your star rating, and local SEO pros consistently see that steady, recent reviews matter too. A business that got a review last week looks more alive than one whose last review was a year ago. So make asking for a review part of every job you finish.
1:43Step three: a real website, linked right to that profile. In a study of 45,000 business profiles, more than half of all customer actions were website clicks, not calls, not directions. If there's nothing there, or a page that looks like 2009, they hit back and tap your competitor. Your site should load fast, look great on a phone, and make it dead simple to call, text, or book.
2:10But a website only works if people can find it. That's search engine optimization: the right keywords for your services and your city, clean page structure, a sitemap, and making sure Google and Bing have actually indexed your site. Then there's the newer piece: answer engine optimization, or AEO. More and more customers ask ChatGPT, Gemini, or Grok things like, "Who's a well-reviewed roofer near me that does free estimates?" AEO means structuring your site so those AI tools can read your services, pricing, service area, and hours, and cite you as the answer.
2:49And here's where it's all going. Google's CEO has described the future of search as an "agent manager": AI that doesn't just answer questions, but gets things done for you. New standards are already rolling out that let an AI assistant book an appointment straight through your website, without the customer ever opening it. But all of that plugs into one thing: a real website, full of real answers about your business. Build that foundation now.
3:16Step five: put AI to work inside your business. Today an AI assistant can answer your texts and emails, reply to chats on your site, and book appointments. It can even answer the phone in a voice that sounds like you. You don't need it all on day one. Start with one piece, like answering after-hours texts. AI isn't here to replace you. It's here so you never miss a customer while you're on a job.
3:42Finally, tie it all together with social media: the same photos and posts, shared everywhere your customers scroll. Everything so far is organic, and it costs very little to run day to day. Once it's working, paid ads put you in front of even more of those searches. For most trades, the best first step is Google's Local Services Ads: the listings at the very top with the "Google Verified" badge, where you pay per lead instead of per click.
4:10So: a complete profile, steady reviews, a real website, SEO and AEO, and AI handling the busywork. You can absolutely do all of this yourself. That's why I made this video. If you'd rather have someone handle it for you, that's what I do at TJS Design. Either way, go get found.
