Library · Local business data
Local business data
In one sentence
Findings are short case studies written from real measurements — a robots.txt that answered 200 with a challenge page, a site whose GPTBot traffic came from one address wearing seven crawler names, a homepage that was two percent readable text, a contact email that bounced for one published character — each with the bytes that showed it; a business found with a defect is named only after its owner has been contacted.
Where maps and AI assistants get business facts, and how to keep yours consistent.
2026-11-02 · Research6 min
Does Data Axle feed Google? Where business data comes from
Local SEO advice says data aggregators feed Google. Google's own notice names no US supplier, no AI assistant documents Data Axle as a source, and eight of nine businesses we checked have no Data Axle record.
NAP_UNDECLARED_LISTING4.3%
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2026-11-02 · Research3 min
AI picked a local contractor 422 times: rating decided it
We changed one fact at a time about a fictional business and watched where the AI ranked it.
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2026-11-02 · Research · Exclusive6 min
Google's Maps provider list: 793 names, no Yelp
A recovered Geostore enumeration names every source a fact about a place can come from. The consumer directories that citation services sell by the dozen are absent. The business's own website is present, with the same standing as a purchased feed.
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2026-11-024 min
How to get your local business recommended by AI
What our own local tests found decides an assistant’s pick, in the order to fix it: a site it can read, a business it can tell apart, facts it can quote, and the rating it chooses on.
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2026-11-02 · Research3 min
Opening hours and prices: the facts sites don’t publish
“Are they open?” and “what does it cost?” are the questions most asked about a business. Declaring that a business exists is common; declaring its hours and prices is an order of magnitude rarer.
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2026-11-02 · Case studies3 min
utm_source=chatgpt.com in a lead: what it proves
ChatGPT tags the links it hands out. A quote request on a Denver tree-service site we run arrived carrying that tag. How to capture the same evidence on your forms, and what one tagged lead does and does not prove.
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2026-11-02 · Research4 min
Google Places API vs Google Maps rankings: why they don't match (tested in 4 cities)
Same query, four Denver-area cities, one day. The API and Maps agreed on who competes, disagreed on the order, and the API could not find two businesses Maps ranks.
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2026-11-025 min
NAP consistency: how to check your name, address and phone
Five checks on name, address and phone: what your own page declares, what the directories reached by your phone number say back, and how to read a directory that refuses to answer.
ENTITY_NO_COORDINATES5.7%GEO_COUNTRY_MISMATCH0.5%NAP_UNDECLARED_LISTING4.3%+2
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2026-11-02 · Research6 min
Four AI models, three local businesses: who got it right
We asked Gemini with Google Search and three open-weights models for the phone number, address and hours of three home-service businesses whose true answers we know. Search fixed the phone numbers. The addresses came from directories, and one model invented whole listings.
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2026-11-02 · Research3 min
Google AI Overview sources for Denver tree removal cost
One real search on 21 October 2026, read on the results page itself. One directory, one forum thread, four local businesses. One cited contractor refuses every crawler we sent.
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