# Guides: plain answers on local AI search | AiSeoCourse.net > All 32 guides from the free AI SEO course, grouped by the lesson they support. Each one answers a single question about getting a local business cited by AI search. URL: https://aiseocourse.net/guide/ would turn main into a scroll container and break every \`position: sticky\` inside it. --> Skip to main content [#main-content →](#main-content) 32 guides # Guides The lessons teach the sequence. These guides answer the single questions that come up while you work: what a term means, which option to pick, how often to do something, what to do when it goes wrong. Each one links back to the lesson it belongs to. Start with the lessons arrow\_forward [/lessons/ →](/lessons/) Open the glossary [/glossary/ →](/glossary/) ![Library grid of short reference guide cards grouped under eight lesson headings](/images/maps/flat-editorial-illustration-of-a-library-grid-of-s.webp) ## Across the whole course Pages that sit above any single lesson. Read the lesson [/lessons/ →](/lessons/) definition · 7 min ### AI Search Glossary: 10 Terms Local Business Owners Need GEO, AEO, RAG, grounding, citation, NAP, schema, entity and AI Overviews, defined in plain language, each with why it matters to you. [AI Search Glossary: 10 Terms Local Business Owners Need →](/glossary/) process · 8 min ### The 90-Day Local AI SEO Checklist Every task from the course sequenced into a dated 90-day plan, grouped by month, with time estimates and a definition of done for each. [The 90-Day Local AI SEO Checklist →](/checklist/) ## Lesson 1: How AI Search Picks Local Businesses The retrieval-and-citation mechanics behind every AI recommendation of a local business. Read the lesson [/lessons/how-ai-search-picks-local-businesses/ →](/lessons/how-ai-search-picks-local-businesses/) comparison · 5 min ### AEO vs GEO vs Local SEO: Which One Are You Actually Doing? One-line definitions of each, where they overlap, what a local business should actually care about, and why most vendor distinctions are marketing. [AEO vs GEO vs Local SEO: Which One Are You Actually Doing? →](/guide/aeo-vs-geo-vs-local-seo/) comparison · 6 min ### ChatGPT Search vs Google AI Overviews vs Perplexity: Where Each One Gets Local Business Facts Which sources each engine leans on for local queries, what a citation looks like in each, and where to spend your effort first. [ChatGPT Search vs Google AI Overviews vs Perplexity: Where Each One Gets Local Business Facts →](/guide/chatgpt-vs-ai-overviews-vs-perplexity-local-facts/) process · 6 min ### How Retrieval-Augmented Generation Decides Which Local Business to Name Query, retrieval, grounding, answer: walk the four steps an AI assistant takes, and see exactly where your business can intervene. [How Retrieval-Augmented Generation Decides Which Local Business to Name →](/guide/how-rag-decides-which-local-business-to-name/) definition · 5 min ### What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)? A plain definition of GEO, how it differs from classic SEO, and what a local business actually changes, without the vendor jargon. [What Is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)? →](/guide/what-is-generative-engine-optimization/) definition · 5 min ### Which AI Crawlers Read Your Site: GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and OAI-SearchBot What each named AI crawler is, who runs it, the difference between training and search crawls, and how to spot them in your server logs. [Which AI Crawlers Read Your Site: GPTBot, PerplexityBot, ClaudeBot and OAI-SearchBot →](/guide/which-ai-crawlers-read-your-site/) scenario · 6 min ### Why AI Assistants Recommend a Competitor Instead of You The usual causes, thin profile, no citable page, stale third-party data, how to check each one, and what to fix first. [Why AI Assistants Recommend a Competitor Instead of You →](/guide/why-ai-assistants-recommend-a-competitor/) ## Lesson 2: Google Business Profile for AI Search Making your Google Business Profile the clean, consistent fact source AI engines prefer. Read the lesson [/lessons/google-business-profile-for-ai-search/ →](/lessons/google-business-profile-for-ai-search/) comparison · 5 min ### Google Business Profile vs Apple Business Connect vs Bing Places: Which to Claim First Which assistants read which profile, the effort-to-payoff for each, and a claiming order for an owner with limited time. [Google Business Profile vs Apple Business Connect vs Bing Places: Which to Claim First →](/guide/gbp-vs-apple-business-connect-vs-bing-places/) frequency · 5 min ### How Often to Update Your Google Business Profile A realistic cadence for posts, photos, hours and review replies, plus a 20-minute monthly routine and what is just busywork. [How Often to Update Your Google Business Profile →](/guide/how-often-to-update-your-google-business-profile/) process · 5 min ### How to Pick Your Primary Google Business Profile Category Why primary category outweighs every secondary one, how to research what competitors use, and what happens after you change it. [How to Pick Your Primary Google Business Profile Category →](/guide/how-to-pick-your-primary-gbp-category/) definition · 6 min ### NAP Consistency Explained: Why One Wrong Phone Number Breaks AI Answers What NAP consistency means, how one mismatch spreads through data aggregators, and a simple audit pass you can run this week. [NAP Consistency Explained: Why One Wrong Phone Number Breaks AI Answers →](/guide/nap-consistency-explained/) scenario · 6 min ### Service-Area Businesses With No Public Address: What to Do How hiding your address changes what AI can verify, how to set service areas correctly, and what to put on your site instead. [Service-Area Businesses With No Public Address: What to Do →](/guide/service-area-businesses-with-no-public-address/) ## Lesson 3: Local Site Content AI Can Cite What on-page content AI assistants are willing to quote, and how to write it. Read the lesson [/lessons/local-site-content-ai-can-cite/ →](/lessons/local-site-content-ai-can-cite/) process · 6 min ### How to Write a Service Page an AI Will Cite A section-by-section structure for the pages that matter most commercially, with a worked example you can adapt. [How to Write a Service Page an AI Will Cite →](/guide/how-to-write-a-service-page-an-ai-will-cite/) comparison · 5 min ### Long-Form Guides vs Short Answer Pages: What AI Search Actually Pulls From Why passage-level clarity beats word count, when a long guide is justified, and how to split a bloated page. [Long-Form Guides vs Short Answer Pages: What AI Search Actually Pulls From →](/guide/long-form-guides-vs-short-answer-pages/) definition · 5 min ### What Makes a Page Quotable by an AI Assistant Self-contained answers, specific verifiable facts, clean headings and dates: the properties that make a passage citable, with examples. [What Makes a Page Quotable by an AI Assistant →](/guide/what-makes-a-page-quotable-by-an-ai-assistant/) ## Lesson 4: Schema and Structured Data for Local AI SEO Machine-readable facts so AI engines can resolve your business as an entity. Read the lesson [/lessons/schema-and-structured-data-for-local-ai-seo/ →](/lessons/schema-and-structured-data-for-local-ai-seo/) decision stage · 5 min ### Do You Need Schema to Appear in AI Overviews? A direct answer: what schema demonstrably helps with, what it doesn't, and who should skip it and do content work first. [Do You Need Schema to Appear in AI Overviews? →](/guide/do-you-need-schema-to-appear-in-ai-overviews/) process · 6 min ### How to Add JSON-LD to a Local Business Site Where the script tag goes, how to do it on WordPress or a site builder, how to validate it, and the mistakes that silently break a block. [How to Add JSON-LD to a Local Business Site →](/guide/how-to-add-json-ld-to-a-local-business-site/) scenario · 5 min ### Marking Up areaServed When You Serve Several Towns areaServed shapes, how many places to list before it stops helping, and keeping schema consistent with your profile service areas. [Marking Up areaServed When You Serve Several Towns →](/guide/marking-up-areaserved-when-you-serve-several-towns/) process · 5 min ### Using sameAs to Link Your Business to Wikidata and Your Real Profiles What sameAs does, which profiles to list and in what order, whether you need a Wikidata item, and how to check the links resolve. [Using sameAs to Link Your Business to Wikidata and Your Real Profiles →](/guide/using-sameas-to-link-your-business-to-wikidata/) definition · 6 min ### What LocalBusiness Schema Is and Which Fields Matter The LocalBusiness type and its subtypes, the fields worth filling, the ones that change nothing, and a minimal working example. [What LocalBusiness Schema Is and Which Fields Matter →](/guide/what-localbusiness-schema-is-and-which-fields-matter/) ## Lesson 5: Build a Local Site AI Can Find The technical baseline that lets AI crawlers reach and read your site. Read the lesson [/lessons/build-a-local-site-ai-can-find/ →](/lessons/build-a-local-site-ai-can-find/) definition · 5 min ### llms.txt for Local Businesses: What It Is and Whether It Helps What the proposed standard is, which engines consume it today, a minimal example, and an honest verdict on effort versus payoff. [llms.txt for Local Businesses: What It Is and Whether It Helps →](/guide/llms-txt-for-local-businesses/) process · 5 min ### robots.txt for AI Crawlers: Allowing GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot Per-bot user-agent strings, allow and disallow blocks to copy, what blocking actually costs you, and how to verify the file is live. [robots.txt for AI Crawlers: Allowing GPTBot, ClaudeBot and PerplexityBot →](/guide/robots-txt-for-ai-crawlers/) comparison · 6 min ### Website Builder vs WordPress for an AI-Findable Local Site What each platform makes easy or hard for schema, speed and control, migration cost, and a decision rule by situation. [Website Builder vs WordPress for an AI-Findable Local Site →](/guide/website-builder-vs-wordpress-for-ai-findable-site/) ## Lesson 6: Reviews, Mentions and Citations How off-site signals feed the facts and sentiment AI assistants repeat. Read the lesson [/lessons/reviews-mentions-and-citations/ →](/lessons/reviews-mentions-and-citations/) comparison · 5 min ### Citations vs Unstructured Brand Mentions: Which Moves AI Visibility What each is, how each reaches an AI answer, why directory volume plateaus, and where to spend your next 10 hours. [Citations vs Unstructured Brand Mentions: Which Moves AI Visibility →](/guide/citations-vs-unstructured-brand-mentions/) definition · 5 min ### How AI Reads Your Reviews: What Sentiment Analysis Picks Up What aspect-based sentiment analysis extracts from review text, which attribute words recur, and why a few specific reviews beat many generic ones. [How AI Reads Your Reviews: What Sentiment Analysis Picks Up →](/guide/how-ai-reads-your-reviews/) process · 5 min ### How to Ask for Reviews Without Breaking Google's Rules What Google prohibits, timing and wording that work, SMS and email templates, and how to handle a negative review. [How to Ask for Reviews Without Breaking Google's Rules →](/guide/how-to-ask-for-reviews-without-breaking-googles-rules/) ## Lesson 7: Measure Your AI Search Visibility A way to tell whether any of the previous work is landing. Read the lesson [/lessons/measure-your-ai-search-visibility/ →](/lessons/measure-your-ai-search-visibility/) frequency · 4 min ### How Often to Re-Check Your AI Search Visibility Why weekly checking produces noise, a monthly and quarterly rhythm that works, and what to log each time. [How Often to Re-Check Your AI Search Visibility →](/guide/how-often-to-recheck-your-ai-search-visibility/) process · 6 min ### How to Test Whether ChatGPT and Perplexity Recommend Your Business Build a prompt set that mirrors real customer questions, run it across engines, and record results without fooling yourself. [How to Test Whether ChatGPT and Perplexity Recommend Your Business →](/guide/how-to-test-whether-chatgpt-recommends-your-business/) what to-expect · 6 min ### What to Do When AI Search Says Something Wrong About Your Business Why the error usually starts off-platform, how to fix the underlying source, the feedback routes that exist, and realistic timelines. [What to Do When AI Search Says Something Wrong About Your Business →](/guide/what-to-do-when-ai-search-says-something-wrong/) ## Lesson 8: Where to Go Next An honest assessment of what the course covers and where its ceiling is. Read the lesson [/lessons/where-to-go-next/ →](/lessons/where-to-go-next/) process · 5 min ### What to Do After You Finish the 90-Day Checklist The recurring monthly and quarterly tasks, what to re-audit and when, and the signs your foundation has slipped. [What to Do After You Finish the 90-Day Checklist →](/guide/what-to-do-after-the-90-day-checklist/) decision stage · 6 min ### When Foundation-Level AI SEO Stops Being Enough The signals you've outgrown the basics, what advanced work involves, and an honest DIY-versus-hiring comparison. [When Foundation-Level AI SEO Stops Being Enough →](/guide/when-foundation-level-ai-seo-stops-being-enough/) Open access · Immediate start ## The guides support the course, they do not replace it If you have not read Lesson 1 yet, start there. It explains the mechanics every guide assumes. Start Lesson 1 (Free) arrow\_forward [/lessons/how-ai-search-picks-local-businesses/ →](/lessons/how-ai-search-picks-local-businesses/) View the 90-Day Checklist [/checklist/ →](/checklist/) No signup. No paywall. 8 lessons, ~80 minutes.