How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT and Other AI Tools

Hi everyone, Ted Yeatts back with you here from Local Content Marketing in Tampa, Florida. We’ve talked a lot about conquering Google, from the search results page to the Map Pack. But the way our community finds information is evolving again, and the new frontier isn't just a search engine; it's the Answer Engine. Tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s own AI Overviews are not just indexing information like a search engine. They are synthesizing it and giving the user a single, highly confident answer. If a customer asks one of these AI tools, "Who is the best local contractor for kitchen remodels in Palm Harbor?" you want your business to be the one they recommend. The shift to AI as a discovery tool is massive because these systems don't just point the user to a list of ten websites like a search engine. Instead, they perform the research for the user and deliver the singular "best" choice. To be that choice, you need to understand where the AI gets its confidence and shift your strategy accordingly.

The first and most critical point is that AI models are trained on publicly available data. For current information and real-time local expertise, they lean heavily on Google's core index and verified business information. This means all your traditional local SEO efforts like your Google Business Profile and your high review rating are more important than ever. AI is essentially cross-referencing all sources that vouch for you. If your Google Business Profile is incomplete, or if you have sparse reviews, AI won't trust the data enough to use it. So, you must ensure your Google Business Profile is complete and verified.

AI systems are programmed to filter out noise and recommend sources with the highest E-E-A-T which stands for Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust. So, you need to actively build your body of work proving this. Experience, expertise and authority can be built with blog posts and podcasts, but trust requires validation by other trustworthy sources.

One of the most powerful ways you can do that is through high-quality local backlinks and citations. When a trusted, authoritative local entity, like the Tampa Chamber of Commerce, a local news station, or a community non-profit links to your website, AI notes that as a significant vote of confidence. AI trusts data that is validated by multiple, independent, and high-authority sources. You need to actively pursue opportunities to get mentioned and linked to by established names in the Tampa area. Think beyond a simple directory listing and aim for strategic partnerships that lead to editorial links and citations.

On the more technical side, it’s important to understand that AI tools thrive on clarity and structure. Unlike a human browsing results, AI is looking for an exact, factual answer. This makes the specificity of your local entity information non-negotiable. You must ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) consistency is flawless across your website, Google Business Profile, and every directory. AI runs a sophisticated verification check to see if your data is uniform. Any inconsistency introduces doubt, which AI could use to pass over your business for one with cleaner data.

Furthermore, your website should use structured data, or Schema Markup, to explicitly tell AI what your service areas and unique selling propositions are. You can use Schema to literally tell AI that you are a "plumber serving the South Tampa area" who specializes in "tankless water heater installation." This structured information removes any ambiguity and increases AI’s confidence in recommending you for a hyper-specific query.

When it comes to content creation, AI is much less interested in keywords than it is comprehensive knowledge. Your content needs to be structured to address the same kind of questions your prospects would ask in a complete, authoritative manner. So, focus on question-based content that goes deep into a topic.

Use question-based headings for each major section of your content, followed immediately by a concise, authoritative answer, before diving into the detail. This format allows AI to easily extract the definitive answer snippet it needs for its recommendation. Remember, you are now writing content to educate both the human reader and the sophisticated AI system.

Getting recommended by AI tools is about making your business the most authoritative, best-reviewed, and most specifically detailed option in your community. When you achieve that level of validation, the AI systems have no choice but to confidently send customers your way. If you’d like to discuss how to do that for your business, reach out to me using the contact information in the show notes.

Until next time, this is Ted Yeatts reminding you that local content builds trust, and trust builds business.

Ted Yeatts 11/3/25 Ted Yeatts 11/3/25

How to Use Your Podcast to Make Google Love Your Website

Hi everyone, Ted Yeatts back with you here from Local Content Marketing in Tampa, Florida. We’ve established that a podcast is a powerful way to build intimacy and trust with your local audience. But here’s the often-missed secret: that audio content is one of the best tools you have to make Google absolutely love your website. By strategically leveraging your podcast, you can significantly boost your organic search rankings.

The key to making Google love your podcast lies in a simple process: turning that great audio content into even better text content on your website. Google’s crawlers are designed to read, and the more authoritative, relevant, and fresh text you provide, the higher your website will climb.

The first and most critical step is publishing full, accurate episode transcripts on your website. After you record and produce an episode, have it transcribed completely. Each transcription should be posted on a dedicated page on your website, serving as the official show notes for that episode. This provides search engines with a huge chunk of unique, keyword-rich content. When you discuss local issues, services, or landmarks in Tampa during your podcast, those keywords become permanently indexed text on your site. This is a massive boost to your local SEO because it confirms your relevance to Tampa-based searches.

Beyond the full transcript, you should be using your podcast content to create targeted blog posts. If you have a short podcast, an edit version of the transcript could serve that purpose. But, if you have a longer podcast, then your conversation probably covered several topics. Take two or three key segments from your episode and turn those into standalone, refined blog posts. This allows you to focus each piece of content on a specific local search term. You are essentially tripling your content output and targeting multiple keywords from a single hour of recording time, giving Google more reasons to send users to your site.

Another way your podcast helps Google is by naturally driving more traffic and engagement. When listeners go to your website to find the show notes, or perhaps to find the resource you mentioned on the episode, they increase your time on site and decrease your bounce rate. These engagement metrics are crucial signals to Google that your website provides a good user experience and contains valuable content. By consistently producing engaging audio, you are training your audience to visit your website, which Google recognizes as a vote of confidence.

Furthermore, a podcast naturally assists with building high-quality backlinks. If you interview a local leader, another Tampa business owner, or a community expert, they are highly likely to link to the episode page on your website when they promote their appearance. These local backlinks are gold for your authority and ranking power. They tell Google that established sources in the Tampa community trust and endorse your website.

Finally, your podcast content provides essential material for your Google Business Profile posts. You can use short summaries of new episodes, relevant quotes, and images from your recording session to post timely updates directly to your profile. This continuous activity across both your main website and your most important local asset signals to Google that your business is highly active and authoritative, ensuring you rank better in both map results and organic search.

By viewing your podcast not just as an audio channel but as a powerful engine for generating searchable, high-value text content, you turn a single creative effort into a multi-channel SEO strategy. That’s how you leverage your microphone to make Google love your website.

Until next time, this is Ted Yeatts reminding you that local content builds trust, and trust builds business.

Ted Yeatts 10/27/25 Ted Yeatts 10/27/25

How to Turn Content Into Customers (Not Just Clicks)

Hi everyone, Ted Yeatts back with you here from Local Content Marketing in Tampa, Florida. We’ve established that consistent, high-quality content is the foundation for building online authority and trust. We know we need to blog, we need to podcast, and we need to engage on our Google Business Profile. But there's a critical question that every local business owner must answer and that’s: How do you translate all that effort and great content into actual, paying customers, not just fleeting website clicks?

The difference between attracting clicks and creating customers lies in a deliberate shift from seeing content as an end goal to viewing it as a sales assistant that guides prospects through a journey. For local businesses in Tampa, this journey has to be hyper-focused and highly actionable. It requires moving people from general awareness to a specific transaction, and it requires starting with a logical progression for your content. We often call that a conversion ladder or a sales funnel. Every piece of content you create should be designed to move the customer one step closer to hiring or buying from you.

At the top of the ladder, what we call the awareness stage, you want to create content that is educational and focused on solving a prospect’s problem. This is where your blog posts and podcasts should address broad, common questions that initially bring people to your brand. For a Tampa HVAC company, this is content like "Why Does My AC Keep Freezing Up in Florida?" or "Your Guide to Home Humidity Levels in Tampa." This type of content attracts clicks because it solves a problem, but it shouldn't try to sell anything yet. Its main job is to establish your credibility and earn the initial trust of the searcher.

Once we’ve established that initial trust, the middle of the ladder is the consideration stage. Once a prospect trusts your expertise, you need content that helps them evaluate you against competitors. This content should be very specific and should prove your competence. This is where you introduce case studies showing how you fixed a complex problem for a local client right here in Tampa. Or, you might offer a detailed guide comparing different service options, or a video tour of your facilities that lets them meet your team. For the HVAC company, this is content such as "Comparing the Top 3 AC Brands for Energy Efficiency in Tampa Homes" or "Meet the Team: Our Certified Tampa Technicians." This is the content that builds confidence and narrows the field, making your business the obvious choice.

Finally, when the prospect is ready to move, we reach the bottom of the ladder, which is the decision stage. This content is short, direct, and eliminates every possible barrier to a transaction. This includes special offers for first-time customers, clear pricing pages, a detailed FAQ about your warranty, or a prominent, easy-to-use "Request a Free Quote" form. Every single click on this type of content should lead directly to a customer conversion, whether that’s a phone call, a text, or a scheduled appointment.

But, that’s not the end of the story. Once you’ve created this great content and guided them along, the biggest failure I see in content marketing is a weak or missing Call to Action (CTA). If your content is great but doesn't tell the reader exactly what to do next, you've wasted the opportunity. For local businesses, your Calls to Action must be geographically and contextually relevant. Don't just ask them to "Contact Us." Tell them to "Schedule a Free Roof Inspection for Your South Tampa Home Now" or "Book a Table at Our Downtown Tampa Location." Specificity increases conversion because it removes doubt about the relevance of the offer.

Furthermore, the Call to Action must align with the customer’s stage on the conversion ladder. A problem-solving blog post should prompt the reader to "Download Our Free Checklist" so you can capture their email address, not immediately ask them to buy. When you capture an email address, you gain permission to continue the nurturing process, sending follow-up content that moves them down the conversion ladder until they are ready to transact. Content at the bottom of the ladder, on the other hand, should prompt immediate action like "Call Now for Same-Day Service."

One more important note about Calls to Action: embed them everywhere. Don’t just wait until the end of your article, podcast or video. Use unobtrusive banners, in-text links, and integrate them naturally into your text or script to ensure your customers don’t miss the next step.

Content marketing is a long-term investment in trust, but to make it pay off, you must treat your content like a well-trained sales team. Each piece must have a purpose, a clear destination, and a compelling instruction for the customer's next step. When you intentionally design your content to guide users from their initial click to a final conversion, you ensure that every minute you spend creating content directly contributes to building your business.

Until next time, this is Ted Yeatts reminding you that local content builds trust, and trust builds business.