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Directory updates

What is new in the directory. Newest first. If you are listed here, this is the page to check rather than waiting for a message from me.

New here? Why I built this directory is the story of how it started, and How it works covers what goes into every listing. This page picks up from there.

If you do one thing, do this

There are now step-by-step instructions on your own directory page for adding your listing to your website. It takes about two minutes, and if someone else manages your site you can forward the whole thing to them.

Why it matters: roughly three quarters of what Google and AI tools know about a business comes from pages the business does not own. Your own website saying you are good counts for very little. Somewhere else saying it counts for a lot. That sentence on your site is one of those mentions, and it is free.

Open your page from the directory and scroll to Add your listing to your website. Your business name and link are already filled in.

6 September 2026

The directory now has 18 businesses. Honey Do Painting and Handyman Services and GOGO Painting are the newest, both covering painting and home repair across Sarasota and Charlotte County.
Your page is shorter to read. The tools for sharing your listing and adding it to your website now sit behind a single tap near the bottom, headed "Own this business?". Nothing has been removed, it is all still there. It just means a customer scrolling your page sees your services and reviews rather than instructions written for you.
The directory has trade navigation. A row of trade names at the top jumps straight to that section, and a button brings you back. Worth a look if you have not seen the directory in a few weeks.

28 August 2026

I checked what AI actually says about local businesses here, and published it. I asked ChatGPT to recommend a roofer in Venice, a plumber in North Port, a painter in Englewood and five other trades. Then checked whether the businesses it named were the ones ranking highest on Google.
81 businesses, eight trades, five towns. Every one of them on page one of Google Maps for its own trade and town. 70 percent were never mentioned. The top-ranked HVAC company in Venice has 8,936 Google reviews and did not come up at all.
The method is in the article and it takes about two hours if you want to run it for your own trade. Read the study.
Try it on your own business. Open ChatGPT, ask "who's a good [your trade] in [your town] FL", and see whether you get named. It takes thirty seconds and it is worth knowing either way.

25 August 2026

PresenceScanner joined the Osprey Nokomis Chamber of Commerce. The directory now has a listing there, which is a real page on an established local site rather than another social profile.
Why that matters to you: search engines and AI tools weigh what other websites say about a business far more heavily than what the business says about itself. Every mention the directory earns helps every page on it.
The same is true for your own business. If you are not in a local chamber, it is one of the few listings that is genuinely worth the money.

20 August 2026

Worth doing: claim your free business listings. These are the profiles Google, Bing and AI tools pull from when someone asks for a local recommendation. All free, and most local businesses have only claimed one of them.
- Google Business Profile first, by a distance. If you already have one, make sure the hours, phone and service area are current.
- Bing Places next. Hardly anyone bothers, and it matters more than it used to because ChatGPT's search runs on Bing.
- Apple Business Connect, which is what feeds Apple Maps and Siri.
- Then Facebook, Yelp, and the free profile at the Better Business Bureau.
One tip: keep your business name, phone number and service area written exactly the same way on every one. Search engines cross-check them, and small differences cost you.

17 August 2026

New on every page: how to add your listing to your own website. Open your page and scroll to Add your listing to your website. The sentence is written for you and your link is already in it. Two minutes, and if someone else looks after your site you can forward the whole box to them.
Every page rebuilt to load faster on a phone. The heaviest pages were cut by around 80 percent. Most of your customers are on a phone, often on a weak signal, and a page that loads quickly is a page they stay on.
How it works now spells out what goes into every listing — twelve things, including license verification against state records for licensed trades.
Thank you to the members who have shared their page. It matters more than it looks. Around three quarters of what Google and AI tools know about a business comes from pages that business does not own, so every share and every mention builds something your own website cannot build by itself. It also helps every other business listed here, because a directory people actually use is a directory search engines start to trust. If you have not shared yours yet, it takes about a minute and it is the single most useful thing you can do with your listing.

16 August 2026

Welcome to Zephyr Air, owner-operated HVAC serving Venice, North Port, Nokomis and Sarasota. Owner Martin Charles, 11 years in the trade.
Welcome to Window Team USA of Fort Myers, family-owned impact windows, doors and storm protection across Punta Gorda, Port Charlotte, North Port and Cape Coral.
Welcome to Code Blue Security, owner-operated armed security serving Englewood, Venice, Sarasota, North Port and Port Charlotte. Owner Sal Figluizzi, 11 years protecting life and property.
Code Blue Security's Florida Class B security agency licence was verified directly against the state licensing system and is now shown on their page. Any listed business with a state licence can have the same done.
Every member page was reviewed. Four pages were missing their question-and-answer section, which is the part AI tools read most closely. All four have been fixed.
Page titles across the whole directory were shortened so they are no longer cut off in search results.
First article published: Does schema markup help AI search? Short version, a lot of what you have been told about getting found by ChatGPT does not hold up under testing.

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