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Get Found Playbook · The basics

What is SEO? (It's simpler than it sounds.)

SEO is a big word for a small idea: showing up when people search. Here's how Google decides who shows up, and what you can do about it this week.

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A customer on a sunny sidewalk holding a phone that shows a map with three nearby businesses pinned on it
In plain words
  • SEO means showing up when people search for what you sell.
  • Google picks by your words, your distance, and how much it trusts you.
  • You're competing with the shop down the street, not Amazon.

Don't want to read? Let an AI walk you through it.

Tap the button, then paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini. It becomes your coach for this one fix.

You're a patient, friendly coach helping a small business owner understand SEO, which just means showing up when people search on Google. Talk to me like I'm brand new to this. Give me one short step at a time, and wait for me to say "done" before the next one.

First, ask me three questions and wait for my answers: (1) What kind of business do I have, and what do I sell most? (2) What words do customers use when they call or walk in? (3) Am I on my phone or on a computer right now?

Then walk me through it. Step 1: using my answers, show me the five searches I should show up for, the way a real customer would type them, like "brake job near me" or "quinceañera cake." Step 2: help me open my listing (Google Maps app, tap my profile picture, then Your Business Profile, then Edit profile; or on a computer, search my business name on Google and use the "Your business on Google" panel) and read you my category and description. Step 3: check them against those five searches and tell me which words are missing. Step 4: rewrite my description with me, in customer words. Step 5: give me the first thing to fix today, and a once-a-month routine to check that my listing still says what I sell.

Ground rule: only advice that follows Google's rules for Business Profiles. My business name stays my real name, with no extra words stuffed in. Never suggest fake reviews, fake listings, or paying anyone to "get me to number one."

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SEO, in one sentence

SEO stands for search engine optimization. Forget the name. It just means showing up when people search. Someone in your area needs a brake job or a quinceañera cake. They pull out their phone and type it. SEO is everything you do so your business is the one they see. No code, no tricks, no computer degree.

Do this: say out loud what people type when they need you. Keep that sentence in mind for the rest of this page.

"Tacos near me": how Google picks

Say someone types "tacos near me" on a Sunday morning. Google shows a map with three businesses on it. That's the map pack, the best spot in town. Under it comes a longer list, and most people never scroll far. How does Google choose those three? Three plain things.

  1. Relevance. Do your words match what they typed? If your listing says "barbacoa" and "tacos de trompo," you match "tacos near me." If it only says "restaurant," you're a maybe.
  2. Distance. How close are you to the person searching? You can't move your building, but you can make sure your address and your map pin are right.
  3. Prominence. How much does Google trust you? Reviews, photos, a complete listing, and a working website all say "this place is real and busy." An empty listing says "not sure about this one."

Do this: type your own "near me" search into Google right now. Are you on the map?

You're not competing with Amazon

There are two kinds of SEO. "Big SEO" is what national companies fight over with whole teams and big budgets. That's not your game. Local SEO is yours. When someone searches for a tire shop in your area, Google only compares the tire shops in your area. Your competition is the shop down the street. And most of those shops have never touched their listing. No photos. No description. Wrong hours. A complete listing beats most of them, and it costs nothing but an afternoon.

Do this: look up two competitors on Google Maps. Count their photos and read their description. That's the bar you have to clear.

What actually moves the needle

Your free checkup scores six parts. Each one is a piece of local SEO with its own guide.

  1. The basics. Right name, phone, address, and hours, so Google and customers can trust the simple facts. See Part 1.
  2. Photos. Real pictures of your place and what you sell, so people pick you over the empty listing next door. See Part 2.
  3. Reviews. Honest reviews from real customers, answered by you, so Google sees that people trust you. See Part 3.
  4. Activity. A post once a month, so Google knows you're open and busy. See Part 4.
  5. Services. What you sell, typed in as real words, so your listing matches what people search. See Part 5.
  6. Website. One simple page that works on a phone, so Google has a place to send people. See Part 6.

Do this: run the checkup, find your lowest part, and start there.

What SEO is not. It's not tricks. It's not stuffing the same word into your name over and over. And it's not paying someone to "get you to number one overnight." Nobody controls Google, so nobody can promise that. Those pitches are usually a waste of money. If that call comes in, hang up and open your own listing instead.
The fastest SEO win most owners have. Fix your category and description with the real words customers use. If people call asking for "alignment" and "new tires," those words belong in your description. If they order "conchas" and "tres leches," so do those. Open your listing, tap Edit profile, and read your description like a customer. If it doesn't say what you sell, in their words, fix it today.

You already do SEO

Here's the secret: you already do SEO every time you update your listing. Add a photo, answer a review, fix your hours, type in a new service. Each one tells Google a little more about you, and Google shows you to more people. No one to hire. Just keep the listing honest and complete.

Do this: pick one small update and make it before you close today.

Are you showing up when people search?

Run the free 60-second checkup. It scores the six parts above and shows what customers see. Your EDC coaches local businesses through the fixes, free.

Run my free checkup