How to Get Your Business Found on Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant
Hi everyone, Ted Yeatts back with you here from Local Content Marketing in Tampa, Florida. We spend a lot of time talking about conquering the SERP—the Search Engine Results Page—and getting found on Google Maps. But the way people search is constantly changing. Today, an increasing number of your potential customers are looking for local services using only their voice, asking questions to smart speakers like Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. If your Tampa business isn’t optimized for this kind of voice search, you are effectively invisible to a growing segment of our community.
Article Summary:
Maximize Your Google Business Profile: Ensure your GBP is 100% complete and accurate, paying close attention to your business categories and hours.
Master Conversational Content: Structure your website content to directly answer full, common customer questions using long-tail keywords (e.g., "What is the best coffee shop in Tampa?").
Focus on Online Reputation: Consistently collect five-star customer reviews on your GBP and other platforms (like Yelp) as voice assistants prioritize highly-rated businesses.
Verify NAP Consistency: Ensure your Name, Address, and Phone number are identical across every single online directory and website listing.
Optimize for Immediacy: Use Schema Markup to clearly label your hours of operation and explicitly mention the Tampa neighborhoods you serve to rank for "near me" and "open now" searches.
Voice search is the ultimate form of local, immediate search. People aren't browsing; they're asking, "Hey Google, where is the best pizza near me?" or "Siri, call a reliable plumber in South Tampa." The key challenge here is that voice assistants typically give the user only one definitive answer. To be that one answer, you have to nail the fundamentals of local content marketing with a voice-first approach.
Prioritize Your Google Business Profile
If you want Google Assistant to recommend you, or even if you want Alexa (which often pulls local data from Yelp and Google) to find you, the absolute, non-negotiable starting point is your Google Business Profile (GBP). This is the single most important asset for voice search.
Voice assistants rely heavily on the data within your GBP to determine your location, category, hours, and phone number. To dominate this area, ensure every field is 100% complete and accurate. Critically, you must confirm your business categories are precise. If you are a coffee shop, list yourself as a "Coffee Shop," not just a "Restaurant." Voice assistants use this specific category data to filter results when a user asks for a business type. An incomplete GBP means you simply won't be considered as the one answer.
Master the Conversational Answer
Voice search is conversational, and your website needs to be, too. People ask full questions, not two-word keywords. This means your website content needs to be structured to provide a clear, concise answer to a frequently asked question.
You can start by anticipating the exact questions your customers ask. A local auto repair shop should create content titled, "What is the average cost of an oil change in Tampa, FL?" or "How long does it take to replace brake pads?" Structure your content so the direct answer is provided in the first sentence of the paragraph under the question. This makes your content easily digestible for an answer engine, increasing the likelihood that your website is pulled for the Featured Snippet—the snippet Google reads aloud for a voice search response.
This strategy requires using long-tail, question-based keywords that include location modifiers. Think in full sentences, just like your customers speak.
Focus on Reviews and Authority
Voice assistants are programmed to recommend the best option, not just any option. They use your online reputation and authority signals to make this choice.
Reviews are critical: The voice assistant will almost always prioritize a business with a high volume of positive reviews. A query like "Where's the best local dentist?" will default to the highest-rated practice. You must make collecting five-star reviews on your Google Business Profile and Yelp (important for Siri and Alexa) a non-stop priority.
Consistency is key: Ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) information is consistent across every single listing—your website, your GBP, Yelp, and all local directories. Voice assistants cross-reference this data to ensure accuracy before recommending a business. Any inconsistency can lead to the assistant skipping your business altogether because it can’t verify your identity.
Optimize for "Near Me" and "Open Now"
The vast majority of voice searches are for immediate needs. Users ask questions that include phrases like "near me," "open now," or "in the next hour."
Your website must include clear, structured data to address these needs:
Hours of Operation: Ensure your GBP hours are always updated and use Schema Markup on your website to clearly label your opening times. This allows the assistants to confidently answer "Are they open?"
Service Area: Explicitly list the neighborhoods in Tampa and surrounding areas that you serve (e.g., South Tampa, Seminole Heights, Brandon). This reinforces your local relevance when a user includes a specific neighborhood in their query.
Getting found on Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant is about recognizing that your website and your GBP are becoming conversational databases. By making your data clear, your answers concise, and your reputation strong, you ensure that when a local customer asks for help with their voice, your Tampa business is the trusted, immediate answer.
Until next time, this is Ted Yeatts reminding you that local content builds trust, and trust builds business.
