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SEO for small business: the five things worth an afternoon

You do not need an agency to cover the basics. These five checks cover most of what a small site gets wrong.

Author: HD6 min read

Table of contents
  1. Key takeaways
  2. 1. Can Google see the pages that matter?
  3. 2. Do the titles say what you do?
  4. 3. Does the first paragraph answer the search?
  5. 4. Is your Business Profile claimed?
  6. 5. Did it work?
  7. See it on your own site
  8. Sources

1. Can Google see the pages that matter?#

Use the URL Inspection tool in Search Console on your home, service and contact pages. It says whether each page is indexed.

2. Do the titles say what you do?#

"Home" is not a title. "Plumber in Bellevue, same-day repairs" is.

Put the service, the place and the next step in the first lines.

4. Is your Business Profile claimed?#

For local searches, Google's Business Profile shows hours, address and reviews. Claim and verify it.

5. Did it work?#

Compare the changed pages with the rest of the site over the same weeks, so a busy month does not pass for a win.

See it on your own site#

The free website check reads a site you name and reports what holds its pages back, with no account and no card. It changes nothing on your site.

Run the free website check

Sources#

What is AEO? Answer engine optimization, without the hypeAEO means being the page an AI answer quotes. Most of it is search work you already know, done with more care.Search and AI answersHD5 min readOctober 16, 2026Generative engine optimization: where the term came from and what holds upGEO was named in a 2023 research paper. Here is what the paper tested, and what a site owner can take from it.Search and AI answersHD5 min readOctober 16, 2026How to get cited by ChatGPT search: start with one line in robots.txtOpenAI documents which crawler feeds ChatGPT's search answers. If it is blocked, nothing else matters.Search and AI answersHD4 min readOctober 16, 2026