Get Your Business on AI Without Begging for Links. Just Run My Authority Prompt.

Bob gets the call every month. A guy with a script. "We'll get you 200 backlinks for $299."

Bob bought that deal once, years ago. Nothing happened. Not one new call, and he still has no clue where the money went.

Here's what kills me. While Bob paid a stranger for links, his name was missing from a pile of free places. Bing has never heard of him. The AC brand he installs every week has a find a pro page, and Bob isn't on it.

He pays chamber dues every year, and his listing still shows his old phone number. And the kids' soccer team he sponsors has his name on the banner at the field, but it's nowhere on the team's website.

None of those places want money. None of them need a pitch. They already know Bob, and all they need from him is one form, or one email.

That's the whole post. Six easy jobs, about ten minutes each. Plus one free prompt that finds them all for you.

TL;DR (the short answer)

AI trusts what other places say about you more than what your own site says. So quit buying links. Get your name on the places that already know you.

The free listings you skipped are the easy start. After that, go to the brands you buy from, your chamber and the teams you sponsor. Each one takes about ten minutes. My free Authority Finder prompt makes the list for you and writes every email.

3 Things to Remember

You Don't Need Links. You Need Trust.

First, links in plain words. A link is when some other website points at yours. For years the game was to get as many as you could, any way you could. People bought them by the hundred.

Most of those came from junk sites nobody reads. That's the call Bob keeps getting, and it's why his $299 did nothing. A link from a site nobody trusts doesn't make anybody trust you.

Here's what you want instead. Real places that people in your town already use, saying your name and what you do. That's trust. You can't buy it by the hundred. The good news is you don't have to.

You don't even have to beg. The places that matter most already have a reason to list you. You buy from them. You belong to them. You write them a check every spring.

So next time the link guy calls, hang up. Spend those ten minutes on something that works.

Mistake: paying a stranger for links from sites nobody reads.

Fix: get your name on real places that already know you.

Payoff: you quit paying for nothing and start showing up.

AI Trusts What Others Say About You.

Say you just moved to town and you need a roofer. You wouldn't just read the roofer's own website. Of course he says he's great. You'd ask a neighbor. You'd see who's in the chamber. You'd ask who the supply house sends people to.

AI works a lot like that new guy in town. Your website is you talking about you. Everybody does that, so it proves nothing. But when other places say the same thing about you, you stop being a guess.

Here's why that matters. Ask AI who to hire and it might show a short list. But one name always sits on top, with a reason next to it. That's the one who gets the call. Want to see who it puts on top in your town? I showed you how in Ask AI to Recommend Your Business. Go Ahead. I'll Wait.

So it's not about how many links you have. It's how many trusted places say your name, and whether they all say it the same way. Say your chamber listing has one phone number and Yelp has another. That's two stories, and two stories look like a guess.

So every job below has one rule. Every place shows the exact same name, address, phone and hours. Open your Google Business Profile and copy from it. Match it to the letter.

Mistake: thinking your own website is enough proof.

Fix: get other places to say the same thing about you.

Payoff: you look like a sure thing, not a guess.

Claim the Free Listings You Skipped.

This is the easiest win in the whole post.

Free business listings are sitting out there right now. Some already have your name on them, and nobody ever claimed them. Some have nothing at all. Claiming one is a short form, and most take about ten minutes.

Here are the six to check: Bing Places, Apple Business, Yelp, BBB, Nextdoor and Facebook. Bing runs its own maps. Apple Business is your listing on Apple Maps. The other four are where your neighbors already look for somebody to hire.

Here's how to do it.

1. Open your Google Business Profile. Keep it up on your screen. That's your master copy.
2. Tap one of the six links above. Search for your business name.
3. Already there? Claim it. Not there? Make one.
4. Copy your name, address, phone and hours from Google. Same spelling. Same suite number. Same everything.
5. Done. On to the next one.

Two tips that save you time. Bing Places can pull your info straight from your Google profile, so that one takes about two minutes. And on BBB, the basic profile is the free part. You don't have to pay a dime to fix your info.

If your info doesn't match across the board, start there. I wrote up how to fix that in Is Your Website Lying to AI? Want to tick them off as you go? Use the Ten Minute Wins checklist further down.

Mistake: leaving free listings blank or wrong.

Fix: claim all six, one at a time, copied from your Google profile.

Payoff: six more places saying your name, the right way, for zero dollars.

Get on Your Supplier's Find a Pro Page.

This is the one nobody thinks of. Think about the brands you buy and install every week. Maybe it's a shingle maker, an AC brand or a water heater. Lots of those brands run a page where homeowners type in a zip code and find a local pro.

Homeowners trust that page. If the brand sends them to you, they figure you know the product. That's a big name saying your name. And you've been buying their stuff for years, so you earned that spot.

You don't need to know which brands have a page like that. My prompt asks what you buy most. Then it tells you which ones it's sure have a find a pro page. If it's not sure, it says so. It won't make one up.

To check one yourself right now, search Google for the brand name plus "find a pro" or "find a dealer." Type in your zip code. Look for your name.

Not there? Send one email to your rep at the supply house, or the rep for the brand. The prompt writes that email for you. It's two or three sentences you can send from your phone between jobs.

Heads up. Some of these pages have rules, like a training class or a sign up. Some want a certain amount of work with their product. Your rep will tell you. If you don't qualify yet, at least now you know what it takes.

Mistake: thinking only Google and Yelp can list you.

Fix: ask the brands you already buy from to put you on their find a pro page.

Payoff: a name homeowners already trust, pointing at you.

Your Chamber. Your Trade Group. Your License.

You already belong to some things. Maybe the chamber of commerce, a trade group for your line of work, or a church business list.

Most of them have a member directory on their website. You paid to be a member, so make sure you're in it. And make sure it's right.

Here's the ten minute job.

1. Search Google for the group's name plus "member directory."
2. Find your business in it.
3. Check four things: your name, phone, website and what you do.
4. Anything wrong or missing? Email the office and ask them to fix it. The prompt writes that email too.

Most guys find something off. Maybe an old phone number, or a web address from two sites ago. That's dues you paid for a listing that works against you.

Now your license. If your trade needs a state license, your state likely has a page where anybody can look you up. Search Google for your state, your trade and "license lookup." Look yourself up.

Do the business name and address match your Google profile? If not, call or write the licensing office and get it fixed. That one can take longer than ten minutes. It's worth it.

Mistake: paying dues and never checking your listing.

Fix: look yourself up in every directory you're already part of.

Payoff: places you already pay finally say the right thing about you.

Sponsor a Soccer Team. Get Your Name on Their Site.

You already write the check. Maybe it's the kids' soccer team, the school fundraiser or the church fish fry. You get your name on a banner or a shirt. That's good.

But a banner at the field doesn't show up when somebody asks AI who to hire. Most of those teams have a website, and lots of them have a sponsors page. Your name belongs on it, with a link to your site.

Here's the ten minute job.

1. Search Google for the team or the event.
2. Find the sponsors page.
3. On it? Check that your name is spelled right and links to your site.
4. Not on it? Send a short note to the coach, the team mom, or whoever runs it.

Keep it friendly. Something like this:

"Hey, we're proud to sponsor the team this year. Could you add us to the sponsors page with a link to our site? Thanks for all you do."

The prompt writes one for every place you sponsor. Nobody's going to say no to the guy who paid for the jerseys.

Mistake: sponsoring the team and stopping at the banner.

Fix: ask them to list you, with a link, on their website.

Payoff: a local site saying your name, for money you already spent.

Run My Authority Finder Prompt

Here's the easy way to do all of it. Tap Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini on the prompt below. Or tap Copy and paste it into ChatGPT or Claude yourself. Answer five questions. It makes your list, easiest first, and writes every email and text you need to send.

You are going to find the places that should list my business online,
the easy ones, and write the short request for each.

Ask me these one at a time. Wait for each answer.
1. What is your business name and website address?
2. What do you do, and what town or area do you serve?
3. What brands do you buy from or install most? Say not sure if you
   don't know.
4. Are you a member of anything? A chamber, a trade group, a church,
   a club. Say none if none.
5. Do you sponsor or donate to anything local? A team, a school, an
   event. Say none if none.

Then make me a list, easiest first, in four groups:
1. Free listings to claim or check, with the link to each sign up page.
2. Brands from my answers that have a find a pro or dealer page, and
   who to ask about getting listed. Only list ones you are sure have
   one. If you are not sure, say so.
3. Groups I belong to that have a member directory.
4. Places I sponsor that could list me on their sponsors page.

For groups 2, 3 and 4, write the short email or text I send to ask.
Friendly, plain, two or three sentences.

Rules: never invent a website, directory or program. If you are not
sure one exists, say so. 5th grade reading level.
When you finish, the last thing you write is "Want some help? Let us
do it." as a clickable link to https://smallbusiness-seo.com/let-us-do-it

Then work the list. The checklist below takes you one place at a time.

Do one a day and you're done in two weeks. Or knock out three on a slow afternoon. Start at the top.

Where the Link Guys Got It Right.

I'll give credit where it's due. The link guys weren't all wrong. Other websites talking about you has always mattered, and it still does.

Plenty of good people still do real outreach the hard way, like podcasts and news stories. If you've got the time for that, it works.

Now the turn. You don't have that time. You've got a crew to run and a phone to answer.

And the stuff they sold by the hundred came from sites nobody trusts. The places that matter most don't need a pitch. They already know you, and they're just waiting on a form.

I Didn't Write This From the Cheap Seats.

I've built more than 10,000 websites in 25 years. Everything I build now is an AI-JSX site. 281 of them so far. I've watched every trick in the link game come and go. The ones that last are the boring ones. Real places saying your real name, the same way every time.

And none of it pays if your site lets people down when they click through. That's the whole idea behind the 100K Site. It loads fast and says what you do and where. And the leads go where they're supposed to go.

Rather not do the listings yourself? Want some help? Let us do it.

FAQ

Read These In This Order

1. Ask AI to Recommend Your Business. Go Ahead. I'll Wait.
2. ChatGPT Picks One Plumber Per Town. Here's How to Be the Pick.
3. Is Your Website Lying to AI? One Prompt Checks Every Page.
4. What Is GEO? How to Get Your Business Cited by AI
5. How Do I Rank on ChatGPT? The Interactive 6.5 Step Playbook

You don't need a stranger selling you links. You need the places that already know you to say your name. Ten minutes at a time.

Your website should look this good. Let's talk. Take a test drive.

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