What Content Should a Local Business Publish for AEO
The content question everyone's getting wrong
Right, so you've heard about AEO. Maybe you've seen ChatGPT or Perplexity giving answers to searches and thought "yeah, my business should probably be in there somewhere." Good. That's the right instinct.
But then you sit down to actually do something about it and hit the same wall everyone hits: what do I actually publish?
Because the internet's already full of your content, isn't it? You've got a website. Maybe a blog you update twice a year when you remember. Some Google Business Posts from 2024. A Facebook page your nephew set up. And now someone's telling you that's not enough for AI search and you need to publish... what, exactly? More of the same stuff that didn't really work the first time?
Look, I've had this conversation about forty times in the last month alone. Plumber in Hitchin, solicitor in Stevenage, accountant in Letchworth. Same question, every time. "Dan, what content should we actually be making?"
And the answer's not what you think.
Stop writing for Google
Here's what happened. For years, everyone got told to write blog posts. Keyword-optimised blog posts. "Top 10 Reasons to Choose a Local Plumber" type stuff. Lists of services. Pages that say the same thing seventeen different ways because you need to rank for "emergency plumber Baldock" AND "24 hour plumber Baldock" AND "urgent plumber Baldock" even though they're basically the same bloody search.
That worked. Sort of. For a while. Google liked it, or at least tolerated it.
AI search doesn't care about any of that.
When someone asks ChatGPT "should I replace my boiler or repair it?" it's not looking for a page optimised for the keyword "boiler replacement or repair." It's looking for an actual answer. The kind of answer you'd give if someone asked you that question in person.
Which means the content that works for AEO is completely different to what worked for SEO.
The stuff that actually gets pulled into AI answers
I'm looking at AEO data every day. Tracking which businesses show up in Perplexi, ChatGPT, Gemini, all of them. And there's a pattern.
The businesses that get cited aren't the ones with the most pages. They're the ones with the most useful answers to specific questions.
Not "Here's what we do." That's marketing. AI search ignores marketing.
"Here's how this actually works, here's what it costs, here's what to watch out for, here's when you need a professional and when you can DIY it."
That's what gets pulled.
So if you're a local business in Royston or anywhere else and you're wondering what to publish, start here:
Question-based content that actually answers the question
Write down the twenty questions you get asked most often. Not the questions you wish people asked. The actual questions. The annoying ones. The ones that make you think "if one more person asks me this..."
Those questions are gold.
Because if your customers are asking them, everyone's asking them. And right now, in March 2026, when someone asks ChatGPT that question, your business probably isn't in the answer. Someone else is. Maybe a national company. Maybe a random blog from 2019. Maybe nobody, and the AI's just making something up.
You want to be the source.
But here's the thing. You can't just write a 200-word fluff piece. "Should I replace my boiler or repair it? Well, it depends! Contact us for advice!" That's not an answer. AI search knows that's not an answer. It'll skip right past it.
You need to actually answer it. What does it depend on? Age of the boiler? Cost of the repair? Efficiency ratings? Give me numbers. Give me thresholds. "If your boiler's over 15 years old and the repair costs more than £400, replacement usually makes more sense because..."
That's an answer. That gets cited.
Local context that's actually local
Everyone says "add local content." Then they write a page that says "We serve Stevenage and surrounding areas" and think they're done.
Not even close.
Local content for AEO means answering questions that are specific to your area. Building regulations in Hertfordshire. Parking restrictions in Hitchin town centre. What to know about conservation areas in Baldock. Local suppliers. Local timelines. Local costs if they're genuinely different.
I worked with a solicitor who started writing about specific planning issues in North Hertfordshire. Not generic "what is planning permission" stuff. Actual issues. Extensions in conservation areas. Change of use for high street properties. Local enforcement patterns.
Three months later, they're showing up in AI search results for local property questions. Not because they optimised for keywords. Because they wrote content that's genuinely more useful if you're in North Hertfordshire than generic national content.
Process breakdowns that show expertise
This is the one most businesses skip because it feels like giving away the secret sauce.
Someone asks "how do you install a new boiler?" and you think "well, if I explain that, they won't hire me."
Wrong way round.
If you explain it properly, they'll realise they definitely need to hire someone. And you've just demonstrated you know what you're talking about.
Plus AI search loves process content. Step by step. What happens first. What happens next. How long each bit takes. What can go wrong. What good looks like vs what bad looks like.
You don't need to write an instruction manual. You need to write the thing that makes someone go "OK, I understand what's involved now, and I'm definitely not doing this myself."
What doesn't work anymore
Right, so you know those service pages everyone has? "Our Services" with a paragraph about each thing you do?
They're not useless. You still need them. But they don't get pulled into AI answers because they're not answering questions. They're listing capabilities.
Same with testimonial pages. Case studies where you just say "we did a great job for this client." Blog posts that are thinly disguised adverts.
None of that helps with AEO.
And here's the bit that catches people out. The content that worked great for local SEO, where you'd create pages for every town and every service combination, just leads to duplicate content that AI search ignores. "Emergency Plumber Hitchin" and "Emergency Plumber Letchworth" with basically the same content? AI models see right through that.
You're better off with one really solid page about emergency plumbing that mentions you cover North Hertfordshire, than ten thin pages that all say the same thing.
How much content are we talking about
Not as much as you think. But better quality than you're used to.
I'd rather you publish one genuinely useful piece a month than four keyword-stuffed blog posts a week. Quality matters now in a way it didn't before.
Aim for 1,000+ words when you're answering a question properly. Not because word count matters, but because you can't actually answer most questions thoroughly in 300 words.
And update old content. If you've got pages from 2023 or 2024, they might have good bones but need more depth. More specifics. More local detail. AI search looks at when content was last updated.
Right, so what should you start with
If I was doing this today for a local business, here's what I'd do first:
- Write down 10 questions customers actually ask before they book
- Pick the 3 most common ones
- Answer them properly. Like you're explaining to a mate who genuinely wants to understand
- Include local details where they're relevant
- Put them on your website as blog posts or FAQ pages or whatever
- Make sure they've got clear headings that match the questions
That's your first month sorted.
Then do it again next month with three more questions.
Within six months you've got 18 solid pieces of content that actually answer things people are asking. That's enough to start showing up in AI search results.
Compared to most local businesses who've got a website from 2022 they haven't touched since? You're miles ahead.
And yeah, it's work. But it's not complicated work. You already know the answers. You just need to write them down properly.
If you want someone to do the AEO heavy lifting for you, or you're in North Hertfordshire and want to actually rank in AI search, have a look at what we do. Or just book a call and we'll talk through what'd work for your business specifically.