DIY Local & AI Visibility checklist

1. Make a simple brand kit

Gather these once, then reuse the same files and wording on every listing and profile:

The exact business name you want people to search for (pick one spelling and stick to it)
Your main phone number and website
Your service area, or your public address if you have a storefront (don’t publish a home address or a private mailbox as if it were a shop)
Your hours and a short list of services
A square logo, at least 512×512 pixels, as a PNG
A cover or share image, about 1200×630 pixels
A short business description that matches your website (Google allows up to 750 characters and no links; keep a shorter version under 250 characters for sites that cap length)
The social handle you want (for example @yourbusiness). Check that it’s available, or close to it, on each network before you create accounts.

2. Google Business Profile

This is the listing most customers, Maps, and many AI tools start from. Do this before Bing.

Sign in at Google Business Profile and add or claim your business.
Fill in the same name, phone, website, category, hours, services, and description from your brand kit. If you’re a service-area business with no public storefront, set it up that way instead of showing a private address.
Add your logo and cover photo.
Review how to edit your Business Profile and Google’s guidelines for representing your business so the name and details are accurate.
Verify your business. Google chooses the method (postcard, phone, email, video, or another option). You can’t pick a different one than what’s offered.
If Google asks for a video, use Google’s video verification steps. In short:
- Record live in the Google Business Profile app on your phone (pre-recorded uploads aren’t allowed).
- Make one unedited video, at least 30 seconds, with no other people’s faces and no sensitive documents.
- Show what Google asks for your business type — usually your location or service area, proof the business exists (signage or clearly branded materials), and proof you manage it.
- Review can take up to 5 business days. If it’s declined, Google will tell you what was missing so you can record again.
Use Google’s Learning Center if you need a fuller walkthrough.

3. Bing Places (import from Google)

Wait until your Google profile is verified, then copy it over. That is usually faster than building Bing from scratch, and it helps keep the details in sync.

Sign in at Bing Places for Business with a Microsoft account. (The old bingplaces.com address now sends you here.)
Choose Import from your Google Business Profile, sign in to the Google account that manages the listing, and select your business.
Follow Microsoft’s official steps: Add and manage your business listing.
Check the imported name, phone, website, category, hours, and photos. If your Google profile was already verified, Bing may verify the imported listing automatically. If it asks you to verify (sometimes by postcard), complete that step.
After import, use Google as the source of truth for updates, then let Bing sync — or update Bing yourself if you didn’t turn sync on.

4. Yelp

Go to Yelp for Business — Search or add your business and look up your business name.
Claim the existing page, or add one if it isn’t there. Claiming is free. Yelp may ask you to verify (often by phone).
Enter the same name, phone, website, hours, services, logo, photos, and description from your brand kit.
If you need help, start at the Yelp for Business Help Center.

5. Apple Business Connect (Apple Maps and Siri)

Apple Business Connect is now part of Apple Business. This is how your business appears in Apple Maps, Siri, and other Apple apps.

Sign up or sign in at Apple Business. Official steps: Sign up and verify your organization.
Add or claim your location: Add a single location.
Use the same name, phone, website, hours, category, logo, and photos from your brand kit. Verification can take a few business days.
Background on the change from Connect to Apple Business: Apple Business Connect user guide.

6. Facebook, Instagram, and X

Create or claim a page or profile for the business on each of these, then add the same logo, name, website, and short description. Use a personal profile only to manage the business page — don’t treat your personal profile as the company.

Facebook

Create or claim a Facebook Page for the business. Official steps: How to create a Facebook Page for your business.
Add the same name, phone, website, hours, logo (profile picture), cover image, and about text from your brand kit.
You can manage Pages later in Meta Business Suite.

Instagram

Create an Instagram account with a username that matches your brand as closely as possible, or claim an existing one.
Switch it to a professional (business) account and add your website, category, and contact details. Official steps: Set up a professional Instagram account. You can later edit your business information from the app (Profile → Edit profile).
Add your logo as the profile photo, a short bio from your brand kit, and a link to your website.

X

Create an X account with a handle that matches your brand, or sign in to one you already have.
Add your logo, a header image, a bio, your location at city level, and a link to your website. If X offers a professional account option, switch to that so you can add a business category and website. Official starting points: X Help and X for Business.

7. Nextdoor and BBB

Nextdoor — Create or claim a Business Page. Use the same name, phone, website, service area, and logo.
Better Business Bureau — Submit or claim a listing. Search for your business first; if a profile already exists, claim it. If not, ask to add one. Keep the name, phone, and website identical to Google.

8. LinkedIn company page

Use a LinkedIn Page for the business, not a personal profile that pretends to be the company.

From a personal LinkedIn account, create a Page: Create a LinkedIn Page.
Add the logo, banner, tagline, about text, website, phone, industry, specialties, and city-level location from your brand kit. Don’t list a home address or PO box as a storefront.
If a Page with your name already exists, don’t create a duplicate — request admin access or use a slightly different public URL if that Page is a different business. Help: Troubleshoot creating a LinkedIn Page.

9. Reserve YouTube and TikTok handles

You don’t have to post videos yet. The goal is to reserve a branded handle and put your logo, name, and website on the profile so someone else doesn’t take the name.

YouTube

Follow Create a YouTube channel. For a business, use the “Create a channel with a business or other name” steps so the channel can have more than one manager.
Choose a name and handle that match your brand. Add your logo and a short description, and link your website. YouTube’s channel setup guide covers the profile picture, banner, and description.

TikTok

Official steps for a free Business Account: TikTok Business Account (this is TikTok’s current business-account page). In the app: Profile → Settings and privacy → Manage account → Switch to Business Account, then choose your category.
Pick a username that matches your other handles, add your logo, a short bio, and a website link if TikTok shows that field for your account type.

10. Industry sites (where they apply)

If customers in your trade look you up on industry directories, create or claim a profile there too, and use the same name, phone, and website. Common examples for home and trade businesses:

Angi for pros
Thumbtack for professionals — official steps: Signing up as a professional
Houzz for professionals — official steps: How to create a business profile on Houzz. Houzz may also offer paid software; you only need the public business profile unless you want the paid tools.

Skip any site that doesn’t fit your kind of business, and add any specialty directory that does (for example a medical, restaurant, or legal listing).

11. Make the name, phone, and website consistent

Go back through every profile you just created or claimed. The business name, phone number, and website should match exactly (same spelling, same digits, same URL). Use the same logo and a matching description everywhere you can. Fix old names, old numbers, and wrong addresses. This consistency is one of the main things local search and AI tools use to trust that the listings are about the same business.

12. Get your Google review link and QR code

Once your Google Business Profile is verified, create a link and QR code customers can use to leave a review.

Official steps: Create a Google link or QR code to request reviews. You need a computer browser (not the mobile app) to download the QR code: open your profile, choose Read reviews, then Get more reviews.

Share the link on receipts, follow-up emails, or a card — but don’t offer rewards in exchange for reviews. Google doesn’t allow that.

13. Basic robots and AI-bot check

Make sure search engines and AI assistants can actually read your site.

In a browser, open https://your-domain.com/robots.txt (replace with your real domain).
Look for Disallow: / rules under the main crawlers. You usually want these allowed unless you have a specific reason to block them:
- Google search: see Google’s robots.txt introduction and how to write a robots.txt file
- Google’s crawlers, including the Google-Extended token used for Gemini-related uses: Google common crawlers
- OpenAI (ChatGPT search and related crawlers): Overview of OpenAI crawlers
- Anthropic (Claude): How Anthropic crawls the web, and how to allow or block it
- Perplexity: Perplexity crawlers
If your site uses Cloudflare (or similar), check that “bot fight,” “block AI bots,” or firewall rules aren’t challenging or blocking those same crawlers, or social preview bots (Facebook, LinkedIn, X).
Optionally add a public /llms.txt file that explains your business in plain language for AI tools. The convention is described at llmstxt.org.
If you can, add the site to Google Search Console so you can see crawl errors.

If a test page comes back as a block, a captcha, or an empty screen for those bots, search and AI tools may not be able to recommend you until that’s fixed.

14. Your logo in your customers’ inboxes

This is included in AZTC’s paid $500 setup. If you want to start it yourself:

Set the profile photo on the Google account that sends your business email to your official square logo. That photo is what shows as your logo next to your messages.
Tighten email authentication (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC) so your mail is less likely to be spoofed or land in spam. If you’re unsure about DNS, ask us to handle this step.

When you’re done

You should have a brand kit; a verified (or in-progress) Google profile; Bing imported from Google; Yelp; Apple Business Connect; Facebook, Instagram, and X; Nextdoor and BBB; a LinkedIn company page; reserved YouTube and TikTok handles; and any industry sites that apply — all showing the same name, phone, and website — plus a review link, a basic check that your site is open to search and AI crawlers, and — if you completed it — your logo in customers’ inboxes.

If you’d like AZTC to take it from here — watching reviews, keeping listings and AI-readable info current, and sending a monthly report — ask about the monthly Local & AI Visibility plans.