Getting Your Scottish Business Found on Google and AI

I’m a marketing consultant based in Loch Lomond, working with businesses and charities across Scotland. I mainly support small to medium-sized organisations, helping them become more visible, more confident in their marketing, and ultimately more successful.

Alongside my own clients, I also work regularly with Business Gateway in Falkirk and Stirling, supporting the businesses they work with. That means I spend a lot of time speaking to owners, managers and teams who are trying to do the right thing, often with limited time and limited headspace.

One question keeps coming up - “How do I get more people to find us on Google?” And more recently, “How do we show up in AI tools like ChatGPT?”

The good news is this: we are at a genuinely interesting moment—a golden opportunity, even.

Search is changing. AI is changing how people look for recommendations. But the fundamentals of being discovered haven’t disappeared. In fact, they’ve become clearer.

If Google and AI understand what you do, who you help, and what you do well, they can connect you with people actively looking for exactly that.

This article shares some practical, real-world ways to improve that discoverability. Nothing technical. Nothing gimmicky. Just things that work.

And if it sparks your interest, I’ll tell you at the end about a new service I’m offering for Scottish businesses and charities that want hands-on help with this.

Why discoverability matters more than ever

Most people don’t search for business names anymore. They search for solutions.

They search for:

• “marketing help for small businesses in Scotland”

• “local photographer for my business”

• “best fitness coach near me”

Increasingly, they’re also asking AI tools those same questions in plain English.

Your job isn’t to game algorithms.

Your job is to be understandable.

Clear businesses get found. Confusing ones don’t.

And that clarity starts in one essential place.

Your Google Business Profile:

If you only do one thing after reading this article, make it this.

Pay attention to your Google Business Profile.

This listing tells Google, potential customers, and AI systems:

• what you do

• where you operate

• whether you’re active

• whether you’re trusted

It appears in Google Maps and local search results and increasingly influences how businesses are described and recommended elsewhere online.

Yet so many organisations barely touch it once it’s set up.

Post on Google (yes, really)

Most people think about posting on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. Very few think about posting directly on Google.

You can, and you should.

Posting updates, news, services, and offers to your Google Business Profile shows that:

• you’re operational now

• you’re active

• you care about communicating

It doesn’t need to be daily. Even once a week makes a difference.

It’s a small action that sends a strong signal.

Reviews: the quiet powerhouse of discoverability

Reviews are absolutely critical now, not just for trust, but for visibility.

Good, regular reviews validate your business in a way nothing else can. They tell Google and AI that you are:

• worth recommending

• delivering real value

• trusted by real people

I’ve seen businesses transform their visibility simply by asking for reviews properly.

And that’s the key phrase: asking properly.

If you offer good service, most customers are happy to leave a review. They need to be prompted at the right time, in the right way.

I often recommend review cards or tap-to-review systems. They remove friction. Instead of someone saying “I’ll do it later”, they can do it there and then. If you click this link, you will be able to get a discount using my affiliate link.

Imagine a hotel guest checking out, telling you they had a wonderful stay. That’s the moment. You can honestly say, “Please leave us a quick review; it makes a huge difference.”

Most people are glad to help.

The words people use really matter

There’s another hidden benefit to reviews that many businesses overlook.

The language customers use trains Google and AI to understand your business.

If guests talk about:

• views over Loch Lomond

• friendly staff

• great food

• relaxing atmosphere

Those phrases are starting to shape how your business is perceived and recommended.

It becomes more human. More real. More aligned with how people actually search.

Why having too few reviews is risky

I once worked with a business that had just three reviews.

One was great. One was average. One was slightly negative.

Their overall score was uncomfortably low for a business I knew had many happy customers. It didn’t reflect reality and could actively put people off.

To help them change this, we put a simple review strategy in place. Within a relatively short time, they had hundreds of reviews and a score well into the high fours.

The bonus? When a one-off, unfair, and grumpy review appeared, it barely mattered. It was clearly an outlier. That buffer is incredibly valuable.

I’ve also seen smaller businesses outpace much larger competitors simply because the bigger organisations became complacent. Reviews are one of the easiest ways to challenge established players.

Reviews build confidence

Here’s a personal example from my photography business. I ask customers to pay upfront as I’m setting aside time for them, sometimes at the expense of other work.

One client hesitated until they read my reviews.

They told me plainly, “Seeing so many recent, positive reviews gave me the confidence to book and pay.”

That’s the power of social proof. You can also be upfront with customers and say:

“I want to give you amazing service. If I do that, a five-star Google review would mean a lot to me.”

Most people respect that honesty.

Seeing your business through a customer’s eyes

Another service I’ve offered discreetly over the years is mystery shopping.

I put myself in the position of a potential customer. I look in advance at their website, social media, and reviews. Then I visit or interact as a customer would, present my findings and recommendations to the owner(s), and often include their competitors.

The insight this provides can be powerful. When I’ve fed this back, the results have often been genuinely surprising, with ideas for building on their own strengths and understanding their competitors' flaws.

Why this matters for AI as well as Google

AI tools don’t invent information. They summarise, connect and recommend based on what already exists online.

That means:

• your Google Business Profile

• your website

• your reviews

• mentions elsewhere

If those things are clear, consistent and active, you are far more likely to be surfaced when someone asks for help or recommendations.

AI rewards clarity and credibility.

A practical next step if you want help

If this article has struck a chord, you might be interested in a new service I’m offering for Scottish businesses and charities to help them get found on Google and AI.

It’s a jargon-free, common-sense system where I work directly with you to:

• review how you currently show up on Google and AI

• fix quick wins

• strengthen your Google Business Profile

• improve reviews and trust signals

• align your website and messaging

The aim is simple. To make sure the right people can find you, understand you, and choose you.

Please click here to find out more, or get in touch for a conversation.

Helping Scottish businesses and charities be seen, understood and supported online is what I do. And I’d be delighted to help you with it too.