Local marketing and AI search glossary: 44 terms, defined for businesses with locations

Making a business the one an answer engine such as ChatGPT or Perplexity names when asked a question. Used interchangeably with GEO.

Visibility

Google's generated summary at the top of some results pages, built from pages and profiles Google trusts, which names businesses directly.

Visibility

Software that answers calls and messages from a business's own information, books or routes the request, and hands over to a person when needed.

Desk

Whether, and how, AI assistants name a business when asked the questions its customers ask, measured per location and per engine.

Visibility

Any assistant that replies with a direct answer rather than a list of links: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews.

Visibility

A message sent before a booking to confirm it and cut no-shows, by SMS, WhatsApp or email.

Desk

A fact on a profile such as wheelchair access, free Wi-Fi or late check-in. Engines read attributes to answer specific questions.

Reach

Assigning a phone number per location or campaign so each call can be attributed to the listing or ad that produced it.

Desk

Google Search ads whose only action is a phone call, shown on mobile and billed per call.

Ads

A mention of a business's name, address and phone number on another site, such as a directory. Consistent citations support local rank.

Reach

A tap-to-dial button on a listing, ad or page. Calls from Google Business Profile are reported separately from website clicks.

Ads

A second profile for the same location on the same directory. Duplicates split reviews and confuse maps and engines.

Reach

A thing a search or answer engine recognizes as distinct, such as one hotel property. Each location should be its own entity with matching facts everywhere.

Visibility

The work of getting a business named inside an AI assistant's answer, per location and per question.

Visibility

The free Google listing that controls how a location appears on Search and Maps: hours, photos, reviews, attributes, posts and messages.

Reach

Short updates published on a Google Business Profile, such as offers, events and news. They expire and are read by engines as recency signals.

Reach

Advertising aimed at people in a very small area around a location, such as a few blocks or a neighborhood, so spend goes where customers can actually come.

Ads

The information box Google shows for a recognized entity, built from its profile and other trusted sources.

Reach

One place where calls, messages, forms and chats from every channel land, routed to the right location and assigned to a person.

Desk

How long a business takes to reply to a new inquiry. The first reply usually wins the lead, which is why it is measured in minutes.

Desk

Keeping every directory and map where a location appears complete, consistent and current, including Google, Apple Maps, Bing and review sites.

Reach

A page for one location that an ad or listing sends people to, with that location's hours, offers and booking, not the brand's homepage.

Ads

The three map results Google shows for a local query, with ratings and directions. Also called the map pack or three-pack.

Reach

The practice of ranking a location for searches with local intent, through its profile, citations, reviews and location pages.

Reach

A web page for one location with its own address, hours, services, directions and booking, so search engines and customers can find that location specifically.

Reach

Ads targeted by where a person is or searches, run per location so each branch gets its own budget, radius and results.

Ads

An open standard that lets an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude use an outside tool. Reach is available as an MCP server.

Reach

An automatic text sent to a caller the moment a call is missed, so the conversation continues instead of going to a competitor.

Desk

Name, address and phone number matching exactly across every listing. Mismatches lower trust with maps and engines.

Reach

A Google Ads campaign type that runs across Search, Maps, YouTube, Display and Gmail from one set of assets, with location goals.

Ads

Showing ads only to people within a set distance of a location, used on Google and Meta for store visit and local lead campaigns.

Ads

A map of a location's Maps rank measured from several points around it, since rank changes with where the searcher stands.

Reach

Monitoring, replying to and learning from reviews across every site where a location is reviewed.

Reach

Asking a customer for a review after a visit, by SMS, WhatsApp or email, with a direct link to the right profile.

Reach

The share of reviews a location has replied to. Engines and customers both read replies.

Reach

How many new reviews a location receives per week or month. Recent reviews matter more than the total.

Reach

Structured data on a page, such as LocalBusiness or FAQPage, that tells search and answer engines what the page states.

Visibility

The share of questions in a set for which an engine names a given business, compared with its competitors.

Visibility

Schema that marks the part of a page suitable for being read aloud or quoted as an answer.

Visibility

A page or tool on a website that lets customers find the nearest location by address, city or map, with each location's details and a way to act.

Reach

A Meta campaign objective that optimizes ads for visits to a physical location, usually with radius targeting.

Ads

A person or service that answers calls remotely for a business. An AI receptionist is the software version.

Desk

WhatsApp's account type for businesses, with a profile, catalog and the API that lets an AI receptionist reply on WhatsApp.

Desk

A search that ends on the results page or in an AI answer with no click through to a website. Being named is the outcome that matters.

Visibility