AI and search news for Canadian businesses: November 2026
Google finished a spam update, AI answers are adding links, and ads are spreading. Here is what matters to a small business and what to check.
Does ChatGPT, Google, Claude, Gemini or Perplexity know your business exists?
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Reading your website…
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- Whether ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini name you when a customer asks for your trade in your town
- The words you are found for on Google, and where you come
- Which other websites link to you, how that has changed over a year, and links that lead to missing pages
- A look round up to 25 pages of your site for broken links and missing basics
- How fast your site loads on a phone, from Google's own test
- Ready-to-paste page titles, a description and questions for your page, written for you
- A short to-do list, most important first, in plain English
- The Website Health Check Guide as a PDF, with the same ten sections as your report
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How it works
No contract. No jargon. No sales calls.
1
Check free
Type your web address above. In about ten seconds you see the basics: whether Google can read your site, how it looks on a phone, and whether AI assistants are being turned away.
2
Pay once
If you want the full picture, it is C$12. One payment by PayPal or card. There is no subscription to forget about.
3
Read your report
A plain-English report lands in your inbox within a few hours: what is wrong, why it matters to your business, and what to do, most important first.
Whether you like AI or not
You do not have to like AI. Your customers are already using it.
Love it, loathe it or would rather not think about it, more and more people now ask ChatGPT, Google's AI answers or the assistant on their phone to recommend a local business, instead of scrolling through a page of links. If those tools have never heard of you, you are not on the shortlist, however good your work is.
The good news: you do not need to use AI to be found by it. It mostly comes down to the things that have always mattered. A clear website that says what you do, where you do it and how to reach you, and the same details wherever your business appears online.
It has never been more important to optimize your website for the way people search today. Our check shows you exactly where you stand with Google and with the AI assistants, in plain English, with no jargon and nothing to sign up to.
The jargon, busted
SEO, AEO and GEO in plain English
Three new-sounding names for one old idea: making sure people can find you. Here is what each one means for a small business.
SEO
Search engine optimization
Being found on Google and Bing when someone types what you do and where. Page titles, descriptions, a site that works on a phone and pages Google can read.
Still where most customers start.
AEO
Answer engine optimization
Being the answer, not just a link. Google's AI Overviews, Siri and Alexa often give one answer instead of ten links. Clear questions and answers on your site help you be the one they pick.
The answer at the top gets the click.
GEO
Generative engine optimization
Being named when ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini write a recommendation. They lean on websites they trust and on businesses whose details match everywhere they look.
The newest, and growing fastest.
They overlap far more than the jargon suggests, so getting the basics right helps all three at once. Our full check looks at each of them and tells you what to fix first.
What is in the full report
The questions that actually bring in customers
Would ChatGPT recommend you?
We ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini what your customers would ask, for your trade in your town, and show you who they name.
What Google sees
The words people use to find you, where you come for them, and the pages Google may be skipping.
Who links to you
The backlink report: how many other websites link to you, how that has changed over a year, which ones, and links that lead to pages that no longer exist.
How you look on a phone
Google's own speed test on a phone, explained without the numbers soup.
Your to-do list
The fixes in order, with page titles and wording written for you to copy and paste, or hand to your web designer.
A guide to every section
Your report email has ten numbered sections. The Website Health Check Guide, attached as a PDF, has the same ten, in plain words, so you can look up anything that is not clear.
Why we built it
When I was starting out online, I would happily have paid for a clear report that told me what was wrong with my website and what to do about it. What I found instead was jargon, and people who wanted a monthly contract before they would tell me anything.
So this is the check I wish I had had back then. One price, plain English, and a list of things you can actually do, whether you do them yourself or hand them to the person who built your site.
Adrian, Best Rated Company
Questions
Good to know
What do SEO, AEO and GEO mean?
SEO (search engine optimization) is being found on Google and Bing. AEO (answer engine optimization) is being the answer when Google's AI Overviews, Siri or Alexa give one answer instead of a list of links. GEO (generative engine optimization) is being named when ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini write a recommendation. They overlap a lot, and our check looks at all three.
I do not use AI. Does any of this matter to me?
Yes, because your customers increasingly do, even if you never will. You do not need to use AI to be found by it. It mostly comes down to a clear website that says what you do, where you do it and how to reach you, and our report tells you what to change in plain English.
Why not a monthly SEO package?
A monthly package suits a business that wants someone doing the work every month. Most small businesses just need to know what is wrong and what to fix, once. You can fix it yourself, or hand the list to whoever built your website. If you do want ongoing help later, the report makes a good brief.
Do I need to know anything about SEO?
No. The report is written for people who have never thought about SEO. Every problem comes with what it means for your business and what to do about it, in plain English. Where there is wording to change, we write it for you to copy and paste.
What is in the backlink report?
It shows how many other websites link to yours, how that compares with a year ago, some of the websites linking to you, and any links that lead to pages on your site that no longer exist. Links from other websites work like recommendations, so they matter to Google and to the AI assistants that read the same sites.
What is the PDF guide?
Every report comes with the Website Health Check Guide as a PDF. Your report email has ten numbered sections and the guide has the same ten, so when something in your report is not clear, you look for the same number in the guide. It is also on this website, so you can read it before you buy.
Can I see an example report first?
Yes. We have a complete example report for an invented business, laid out just as your own would be. Each section links to a plain English page that explains what it means and what to do about it. See the example report
What is the AI part?
More people now ask ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini to recommend a local business, instead of searching Google. This is what GEO is about. We ask all three the kind of questions your customers would ask, for your trade in your town, and tell you whether they name you, who they name instead, and which websites they trust.
How long does it take?
The free check takes about ten seconds. The full report is emailed to you within a few hours.
What if you cannot read my website?
The free check tells you before you pay, and we only take payment for a website the free check could read. If the full check still cannot run once you have paid, we refund you in full.
Does this affect my listing on Best Rated Company?
No. The check is a separate service. Buying one, or not, makes no difference to whether you are listed, verified or where you appear. Nobody can pay to be listed or verified.
How do I pay?
By PayPal, or by debit or credit card through PayPal without an account. It is a single payment of C$12. There is nothing to cancel because there is no subscription.
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