Before your next customer calls you, there’s a good chance they’ll ask a computer about you first. The computer will answer whether you’ve told it anything or not.
On Wednesday I asked ChatGPT, the free AI tool millions of people now use in place of a Google search, three questions a visitor might ask: who’s the best canoe outfitter in Ely, where should I stay this winter, and where should I eat dinner tonight. It named 19 local businesses.
Then it picked favorites, and how it picked should matter to you.
It called one outfitter the best choice for paddlers on a budget because its published rates made comparing easy. It called a Sheridan Street restaurant the best value because its online menu listed real prices.
The businesses that didn’t post prices got guesses. “Estimated budget.” “Request a quote.” One outfitter’s hours came from an old travel listing, marked “historically.” A traveler reading that moves on to the next name.
Hours work the same way.
ChatGPT steered me away from one restaurant because its own fall schedule says closed Wednesdays, even though older listings say open. Your own words count most, if you’ve written them down.
These tools don’t favor the biggest business. They favor the one they can describe with confidence. That’s good news for a small business: clear, current facts can beat a bigger competitor with a vague website.
Think of it like a shipping label. Your photos and website are the wrapping, made for people.
The machine skips the wrapping and reads the label: who you are, where you are, what it costs, and when you’re open. Leave the label blank and your customer gets delivered to someone else.
This week: go to chatgpt.com (no account needed) and type, “Describe [your business name] in Ely, Minnesota. Who do they serve, what does it cost, and when are they open?” Write down anything that’s wrong or missing.
Then fix those facts where the machines look. Start with your Google Business Profile from the first column in this series: your winter hours and a price or price range. Put the same facts on your website’s homepage or your Facebook page, so all three say the same thing.
If you have a website, there’s one more layer.
Behind the pages your customers see, a site can carry a few lines of code that spell out your name, address, hours, and prices for machines. Web builders call it structured data. Visitors never see it, but search engines and AI tools read it.
Ask whoever built your site one question: “Is our business information marked up with structured data?” If they can’t answer, your label is blank.
Not sure who built your site, or can’t get a straight answer?
Send your web address to [email protected], and I’ll take a look under the hood and tell you what your label says.
Fix it this winter, and it’s working for you before the summer rush.
Richard Stuart builds websites and revenue systems for owner-operated businesses from his home in Ely. Have a question you’d like answered in a future column? Send it to [email protected]. If something’s quietly costing you customers, let’s talk: richardstuart.me.
