Getting found on Google and AI search in North Wales

Local search has three places you can appear: Google's map results, the normal results underneath, and AI answers. Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. You can't change distance, but you can improve the other two with a complete Business Profile, consistent details, reviews, mentions on other local sites, and a fast website that says clearly what you do and where.

The three places you can appear

• The map results. The three businesses Google shows on a map for searches like "electrician Abergele". Driven mostly by your Google Business Profile.
• The normal results. The list of websites below the map. Driven mostly by your website: its pages, speed and the links pointing to it.
• AI answers. Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Copilot and Perplexity summarising who to use. Driven by everything above, plus what other sites say about you. See AI search for local businesses.

What decides who appears

Google's own guidance names three factors for local results:

• Relevance: how well your profile and website match what was searched.
• Distance: how far you are from the searcher or the place they named.
• Prominence: how well known and well regarded you are, from reviews, links and mentions across the web.

That's why a business in a quieter area can rank well with relatively little effort, while busy towns like Llandudno are much more competitive. Being the clear, well-documented choice in your area beats being one of many in someone else's.

What you can control

• A complete, active Google Business Profile with the right categories.
• Identical name, address and phone number on every listing: Google, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Facebook, Yell.
• A steady stream of genuine reviews, each with a reply.
• A website with one clear page per service, mentioning the places you serve where it's natural.
• Fast, mobile-first pages with structured data describing your business.
• Mentions and links from other local sites: suppliers, community groups, local news, councils.

Measure it

Set up Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools from day one. They show which searches you appear for, where you rank and how many people click. I'm tracking this site's own progress from launch, and I'll publish it once there's a story to tell.