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Get Found Playbook · Start Here

Getting started: what this program actually does.

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Things make up your Get Found Score. None of them cost money to start fixing.

Your EDC · Get Found Playbook

Never used this site before? Good. This page assumes nothing. Read it once, then run your first free audit. It takes about a minute, and nothing here requires a password or a computer background.

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini

You're a patient, plain-spoken coach helping a small business owner show up better on Google. Before you answer anything, ask me two questions and wait for my answer: (1) What's my business called, and what does it do? (2) Am I just getting started with all of this, or is there one specific thing that's already bugging me?

Once I answer, help me in simple, jargon-free language. Assume I've never managed a Google Business Profile before. Explain what it is, why it matters more than having a fancy website, and give me the 3 things I should do first this week to start showing up when people nearby search for a business like mine.

Ground rule: only give me advice that follows Google's own rules for Business Profiles. Never suggest offering a discount, a raffle, a giveaway, or any kind of payment in exchange for a review. That can get a listing suspended. If I ask about something that isn't allowed, tell me plainly and give me the compliant alternative instead.

Keep your answers short. Use numbered steps. If a step involves clicking something inside Google, describe exactly where to look.

What the Get Found program is

Your EDC built a free tool that checks how your business looks on Google (your map listing, your photos, your reviews, your hours, your website) and hands back a score plus a plain-English list of what to fix. There's no cost and nothing to install. The goal is simple: when someone in your area searches for a business like yours, you should be the one they find first.

What a Get Found Score means

Your score is a number from 0 to 100. It adds up six things Google looks at when deciding who shows up first in local search results:

  1. The basics. Your phone number, address, and hours, accurate and complete.
  2. Photos. Real, recent pictures of your business.
  3. Reviews. How many you have, and your star rating.
  4. Activity. Whether your listing looks alive: recent posts, recent updates.
  5. Services. What you sell or do, listed as real text.
  6. Website. Whether you have one, and whether it works.

A higher score means more of those six are in good shape, which means more customers find you before they find the competition down the street.

A low score isn't a judgment. It's a map. Most businesses that have never touched their Google listing score in the 30s and 40s out of 100. That's normal, not embarrassing. The score exists to show you exactly where the easy wins are.

What happens when you run the free audit

  1. Type your business name. Use the search box on the home page. If your business has a common name, add your city.
  2. Pick your business from the list. It's pulling straight from Google, so it should look familiar: same name, same address.
  3. Wait about 20–30 seconds. We're checking your live Google listing and, if you have one, your website: the same public information anyone searching for you can already see.
  4. See your score. It shows up as a ring with a number in it. That's it: no account, no password, no charge.

What the report shows you

Below your score ring, you'll see three things: how you compare to similar businesses near you (the benchmark), a breakdown of the six areas that make up your score, and a plain list titled "Fix these first."

What "Fix these first" means

Not every fix is worth the same. A missing phone number can cost you more points than an out-of-date holiday hours note. "Fix these first" sorts your to-do list by how many points each item is worth, so if you only have twenty minutes this week, you spend them on the thing that moves your score the most, not just the first thing you happen to notice.

You don't have to fix everything today. Pick one item from "Fix these first," do it, and come back next month to re-scan. Most businesses get to a strong score over a few small sessions, not one long one.

Ready to see your own score?

Run the free 60-second audit. It's the fastest way to see exactly where you stand. Your EDC coaches local businesses through the fixes, free.

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