Field Notes
More notes on AI search, AI agents, automation, web, client portals, platforms and growth, from the people who build them. This is page 3 of 5.
How local businesses get found in AI search
Be unmistakably the local option: a consistent profile, real reviews, and location pages written to be quoted by AI.
ChatGPT vs Google: where buyers search now
Buyers split between asking AI and searching Google. You cannot pick one; here is how to be present and quotable in both.
The structured data that helps AI understand you
A plain, machine readable summary of your business. Which schema types matter, and why it supports good content rather than replacing it.
The GEO mistakes that keep you out of AI answers
Businesses miss AI answers for a short, avoidable list of reasons. Four concrete mistakes, and the fix for each.
Where an AI agent actually earns its keep
Agents pay off on frequent, rule shaped, high volume work. How to spot the fit, and the use cases we see win again and again.
What a support AI agent can and cannot do
A support agent answers repetitive questions instantly from your help content, and hands the hard cases to a person. What it does and does not do.
Is it safe to give an AI agent your data?
Yes, when it is built right. Least privilege access, private data, guardrails on actions and audit logs, and the risks each one addresses.
Build your own AI agent or buy a chatbot?
Buy for a generic FAQ bot; build when it must act in your systems and use your data. The two sides and the questions that decide it.
The signs your business is ready to automate
Repetitive daily tasks, creeping errors, hiring for admin, and time lost moving data all point to the same thing.
Automate the task or hire another person?
Automate the repetitive rule based work that drains people. Hire for judgment and relationships. Often it is both.
Rather talk it through than read about it?
Tell us the problem in a couple of sentences. You will get an honest answer on where to start, or whether we are even the right team for it.