Brattleboro Local
Honest, practical writing on web design, local SEO, and AI search - for small businesses in southern Vermont.
Web Design
A collective website feels collaborative and affordable, but it makes every shop invisible to Google and AI. Individual sites win because search engines rank businesses, not directories.
Web Design
Free builders, $500 freelancers, $5,000 agencies, or $200/month custom subscriptions. Here are the real 2026 price bands for Bellows Falls businesses, what drives the number, and what you actually get at each tier.
AI Search
A West Dover inn lost a $1,800 weekend booking because ChatGPT didn't mention them when a Boston family asked where to stay near Mount Snow. The inn had great reviews and a website, but AI couldn't find the facts it needed to cite them.
Web Design
In a town where everyone knows everyone, a website feels redundant. Until someone Googles you at 9 PM, asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, or tries to find your hours on Sunday. Trust and credibility require proof, not just familiarity.
AI Search
ChatGPT dominates by volume, Perplexity is growing fast for research and shopping, and Claude is the professional's choice. Your customers are using all three, and if your business shows up in one but not the others, you are losing leads.
AI Search
AI-generated marketing copy is getting easier to spot, and both Google and AI search engines are devaluing it. Here's why the hybrid approach (AI for first draft, you for voice and facts) works better than either extreme.
AI Search
Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. Google has been scoring you on these four signals for years. Now AI engines use them to decide who gets cited and who gets ignored. Here's how to demonstrate each one.
AI Search
Keyword stuffing and thin content are dying fast. Clear facts, real authority, and useful content matter more than ever. AI search isn't killing SEO - it's just making the rules count harder.
AI Search
Siri and Alexa voice search had limited impact on local businesses. ChatGPT voice mode, Perplexity, and AI Overviews are different - they synthesize, recommend, and cite sources. Here's why the shift matters and what to do about it.
AI Search
A Brattleboro accountant with a polished website and 40 Google reviews isn't cited by ChatGPT. His competitor with 8 reviews and a basic site is recommended instead, because the competitor was quoted in the Reformer and answered questions on Reddit. In AI search, third-party mentions outrank self-published claims every time.
AI Search
AI search engines trust third-party review platforms more than your website. A single detailed Yelp review can outweigh your entire site when ChatGPT decides who to recommend. Here's how to influence the sources AI reads.
AI Search
Run this 10-minute audit to see if ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews cite your business when people ask for recommendations. If they don't, here's exactly how to fix it.
Everything written about here gets applied to real sites. If you would rather see where yours stands than read another article, the free audit runs your site through the same checks and sends back a prioritized list - no call, no obligation, and you can take the report to any developer you like.
Or read how to choose a web designer if you are still working out what you need.