Dry spot #1
You rank for your name and little else
People who already know you can find you. People searching for what you sell find your competitors.
SEO That Gets You Found on Google and in AI Answers
Your customers are searching on Google, Google Maps and AI tools like ChatGPT. We make sure your business shows up with the right answer, then send every visitor into The Buttered System so traffic turns into leads.
- Buttered Marketing
- Free tool inside
- Plugs into The Buttered System
- 10 deliverables
Quick answer
What is SEO and AI search optimization?
SEO (search engine optimization) helps your business rank in Google's search and map results. AI search optimization, also called AIO or GEO, makes your business easy for AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google's AI results to understand, trust and recommend. Buttered Business does both on one foundation: technical health, clear answers, structured data, consistent listings and reviews.
At a glance
| What it is | Get found on Google, Google Maps and in AI answers with technical, local and AI search optimization that builds lasting visibility. |
|---|---|
| Part of | Buttered Marketing |
| What’s included | 10 deliverables, itemized below |
| Best for | Home Services, Home Builders, Law Firms, Private Schools |
| Free tool | SEO ROI & Traffic Value Calculator |
| Follow-up | Plugs into The Buttered System |
| Pricing | Custom quote, with exact pricing in writing before you commit |
If This Sounds Familiar, Keep Reading
Be honest: how many of these are happening in your business right now?
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Dry spot #2
Your Google Business Profile is stale
Old photos, missing services and unanswered reviews make your map listing look neglected, right where local buyers click first.
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Dry spot #3
AI tools leave you out
Ask ChatGPT for the best option in your city, and your business isn't in the answer.
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Dry spot #4
Traffic you can't connect to revenue
You get visits, but you can't tell whether search brings in calls, forms or customers.
Every one of these has a fix, and it starts with seeing your own numbers.
Show Me My NumbersDry Toast vs. Buttered
Here’s what changes with SEO done right and connected to your follow-up.
Dry Toast
- Found only by people who already know your name
- A neglected Google Business Profile
- Missing from AI answers
- Generic blog posts nobody searches for
- Monthly reports full of jargon
Better with Butter
Buttered
- Found for the services you sell, where you sell them
- An active, complete Google Business Profile
- Clear facts AI assistants can understand and cite
- Answer-first pages built around real questions
- Reports on calls, leads and booked appointments
What You Get, and What It Means for You
Features are nice. Outcomes pay the bills.
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Show up in maps and local results
Google Business Profile optimization, consistent listings and service-area pages put you where local buyers look first.
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Easier for AI assistants to cite
Answer-first content, schema markup and consistent business facts make you easier for AI tools to understand and quote.
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A site search engines trust
Fixes to speed, crawling, indexing and structure remove the barriers between your pages and the people searching for them.
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Content that answers real questions
Pages and articles built around what your customers actually ask before they buy.
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Traffic that turns into leads
Every SEO page connects to tracking and The Buttered System, so visitors become conversations.
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Honest monthly reports
Rankings, traffic, calls, form leads and booked appointments, in plain English.
How It Works, Step by Step
No mystery and no black box. Here’s exactly what happens after you say go.
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Step 1: Audit
Review technical health, content, listings, reviews and AI-search readiness, then rank every fix by impact.
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Step 2: Fix the foundation
Improve speed, mobile experience, crawling, indexing, schema markup and redirects so search engines and AI tools can read your site cleanly.
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Step 3: Win local
Optimize your Google Business Profile, clean up listings, build service-area pages and start a steady review program.
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Step 4: Publish answers
Create answer-first pages and articles around your customers' real questions, and earn mentions from relevant local and industry sites.
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Step 5: Track and refine
Tie calls and forms to search, report monthly and double down on the pages and topics that produce leads.
Everything Included With SEO
Here’s the work, itemized like a diner receipt, so you know exactly what you’re getting.
10 items, zero mystery ingredients
Butter-Smooth SEO
- Technical SEO audit and prioritized fix list
- Core Web Vitals and mobile experience improvements
- Schema markup for your business and services
- Google Business Profile optimization and management
- Local listing cleanup for a consistent name, address and phone
- Keyword and topic research mapped to your services
- Answer-first service pages and articles
- AI search readiness review: crawler access, structured data and llms.txt
- A review strategy that follows Google's policies
- Monthly reports on rankings, traffic, calls and leads
Total Fully buttered
Exact scope and pricing in writing before you commit.
Why It Matters Now
Independent research on how buyers behave, and what slow or invisible marketing costs.
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45%
of consumers use AI tools like ChatGPT for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier
Source: BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, 2026 (opens in a new tab)
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8%
of Google visits that showed an AI summary led to a click on a traditional result, versus 15% without one
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25%
drop in traditional search engine volume by 2026 that Gartner predicted in 2024, as people turn to AI chatbots
Independent industry research — not Buttered Business client results. Tap a source to read the study.
Don’t Take Our Word for It. Take Theirs.
We could tell you we’re great. You’d expect us to. So here are our clients, in their own words.
For all your marketing needs, Sublime Digital Marketing and Ken Henderson to the rescue!
Everyone quoted here worked with founder Ken Henderson when his agency was called Sublime Digital Marketing Group. Same founder, new name. Quotes are excerpts, exactly as given. Results vary by business.
On this page 9 sections · 5 min read
Get Buttered!
Start with a free website audit. It shows your biggest leak first, and the results are yours to keep.
Get My Free SEO AuditThe full scoop
What Is SEO in the Age of AI Search?
SEO is the work of making your business easy to find, understand and trust online. Today that means two places: Google's search and map results, and the AI answers people get from tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews. The foundation is the same for both: a healthy website, clear answers, structured data, consistent business listings and real reviews.
Butter-Smooth SEO is how Buttered Business builds that foundation, then connects it to The Buttered System so search traffic turns into calls, form leads and booked appointments.
Search Changed. Your Website Needs to Catch Up.
In 2024, Gartner predicted that traditional search engine volume would drop 25% by 2026 as people turn to AI chatbots and virtual agents. And in BrightLocal's 2026 survey, 45% of consumers said they use AI tools like ChatGPT for local business recommendations, up from 6% a year earlier.
Clicks are changing, too. Pew Research Center found that Google users clicked a traditional result on 8% of visits when an AI summary appeared, compared with 15% of visits without one. With fewer clicks to go around, the businesses that get mentioned, and the pages that get clicked, matter more than ever.
That doesn't mean Google is going away. It means you need to be found in two places, and many small business websites were built before AI answers existed.
SEO vs. AI Search Optimization at a Glance
| Traditional SEO | AI search optimization | |
|---|---|---|
| Goal | Rank in Google's search and map results | Get mentioned and cited in AI answers |
| Where you show up | Blue links, the map pack, Google Business Profile | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode |
| What helps most | Technical health, relevant pages, links, reviews | Clear answers, consistent business facts, structured data, reputation |
| How we measure it | Rankings, clicks, calls and form leads | AI referrals, branded searches and leads that mention AI tools |
The two overlap far more than they differ, which is why we work on both at once instead of selling them as separate projects.
How We Do It
Technical foundation
We fix what blocks search engines and AI tools from reading your site: speed, Core Web Vitals, mobile experience, crawling, indexing, broken links, redirects and schema markup. We also check that AI crawlers aren't accidentally blocked by your robots.txt file.
Local SEO
For businesses that serve a local area, the map results are prime real estate. We optimize your Google Business Profile, keep your name, address and phone consistent across listings, build service-area pages with real substance, and set up a steady, policy-compliant review program through our reputation management service.
Answer-first content
We research the questions your customers ask before they buy, then write pages and articles that answer them in the first few sentences. That format is easy for readers to skim and easy for search engines and AI assistants to quote. Our content creation team handles the writing, and you approve every piece.
Entity and AI visibility
AI assistants describe businesses based on what the web says about them. We make your core facts consistent everywhere: who you are, what you do, where you work and who leads the business. Structured data, author pages and earned mentions from relevant local and industry sites all help. No keyword stuffing, no bought links.
Conversion and follow-up
Rankings only matter if they produce customers. Every SEO page gets a clear next step, call and form tracking, and a connection to The Buttered System, so leads from search get followed up automatically.
What to Expect, and When
A typical first few months look like this:
- Month 1: audit, technical fixes, Google Business Profile cleanup and tracking setup.
- Months 2 and 3: local SEO, service-area pages, the first answer-first content and your review program.
- Month 3 and beyond: content and authority keep building, and we double down on what produces leads.
Your timeline depends on your competition, your market and your site's history. We'll give you an honest estimate after your audit, not before.
Who It's For
- Home service companies that need to show up in the map results when a pipe bursts or the AC quits.
- Home builders who want community, floor-plan and quick-move-in pages that show up when buyers search for new homes in your area.
- Law firms and private schools competing for high-value searches, where trust decides who gets the call.
- Local and regional businesses that want leads, not just traffic, and are ready to invest for months, not weeks.
It's probably not for you if you need page one by Friday, or you want shortcuts that could get your site penalized. We don't buy links or stuff keywords.
Our Honest Promise
Google says it plainly: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." Any agency that promises one is guessing. Here's what we will promise: a prioritized fix list, work you can see, content you approve, no tactics that put your site at risk, and plain-English monthly reports on rankings, traffic, calls, form leads and booked appointments.
Where SEO Fits
SEO and AI search optimization power The Sizzle, the attract step of The Buttered System. They work best on a fast, well-built website and alongside lead generation campaigns that bring in buyers while your rankings grow. Curious what better rankings could be worth? Try the free SEO Traffic Value Calculator, or run a free website audit to see where you stand today.
Keep reading: How to Get Your Business Recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity and Local SEO for Contractors: How to Rank in the Google Map Pack, on our Marketing Wisdom blog.
Sources
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (opens in a new tab)
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears (2025) (opens in a new tab)
- Gartner press release, search engine volume prediction (2024) (opens in a new tab)
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO? (opens in a new tab)
SEO for These Industries
Each industry has its own rules and buying cycle. Pick yours to see the playbook built for it.
Straight Answers About SEO
No jargon, no runaround. If your question isn’t here, ask a real human.
Still chewing on something?
Ask a real human. We answer in plain English and never send you down a jargon rabbit hole.
How long does SEO take to work?
Some technical and local fixes can help within weeks. Competitive rankings usually take months. Anyone who gives you an exact date without looking at your site and your competitors is guessing. We'll give you an honest estimate after your audit.
Can you guarantee first-page rankings?
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Google itself says no one can guarantee a top ranking. We commit to the work, the tracking and honest monthly reporting on rankings, traffic, calls and leads.
What is the difference between SEO and AI search optimization?
SEO helps you rank in search results. AI search optimization helps AI assistants understand and recommend you. They share the same foundation, including technical health, clear content, structured data and reviews, so we do both together.
Do I still need SEO if people use ChatGPT?
Yes. AI assistants lean on information from the web, including websites, business listings and reviews. Strong SEO is part of how they learn who you are, and people still use Google to find and compare local businesses.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO helps you show up when people nearby search for what you sell, especially in Google Maps and the local results. It covers your Google Business Profile, consistent listings across the web, service-area pages and a steady flow of genuine reviews.
Do you write the content?
Yes. We research and write answer-first pages and articles around your customers' real questions, using what they ask on calls, in emails, in reviews and in search. Facts are checked, sources are linked, and you approve every piece before it's published.
Does llms.txt help my rankings?
Not on Google. Google says its AI features don't need llms.txt or special markup. Some AI tools may read the file, so we can add one, but your visibility still depends on the basics: a healthy site, helpful content and a strong reputation.
How do you report results?
With a monthly report in plain English: rankings for your priority searches, traffic, calls, form leads and booked appointments, plus what we did and what comes next.
Find Out Whether Google and AI Assistants Know Your Business
Your free website audit checks the SEO and AI-search readiness of your site and lists the first fixes to make. It's free, there's no obligation, and you keep the results.
Free. No obligation. No credit card. We never sell your information.
+100 Butter Points for running your audit
Not ready for either? Try the free SEO ROI & Traffic Value Calculator
P.S. Not sure where you stand? The free SEO ROI & Traffic Value Calculator shows what better rankings could be worth in about a minute. No email needed.
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