Guides
Plain guides for service business owners.
How to get found, get chosen, and get booked. Written for owners who run crews, not marketing departments. Each guide answers one question, shows the rules that apply, and tells you what to do first.
What these are
These are free, practical guides from Almanac Office for local service businesses in Utah: how to rank in Google Maps, set up a Google Business Profile, get more reviews within the rules, price a website, answer calls after hours, and use AI for search and admin work. Each one gives the short answer first, then the steps.
Put AI to work
Use AI on your own admin, without the hype.
Which assistant to pick, what your software allows, and where AI saves real time in a service business. Facts checked against each vendor's own pages.
How to use AI in your small business
What an AI agent is, how to pick a first task, eight starter jobs, and the approval rule that keeps it safe.
Read the guide GuideChatGPT vs Claude vs Meta Muse
Prices, what each connects to, data policies, and which fits which kind of service business.
Read the guide GuideJobber AI, and connecting ChatGPT or Claude
What Jobber's own AI does, what its receptionist costs, and what the official connector can and can't do.
Read the guide GuideAI bookkeeping and payroll: what's real
What QuickBooks and Gusto's own AI do, what a connected agent can safely handle, and what stays human.
Read the guideFree tools: check which of your software connects to AI and put a number on your admin time.
Get found
Show up when someone searches.
Most service jobs start with a search for "[service] near me." These cover Google Maps and the pages that rank.
How to rank in the Google map pack
What Google says decides local ranking, what you control, and how long it honestly takes.
Read the guide GuideGoogle Business Profile checklist
Every setting that matters for a service-area business, and the mistakes that get profiles suspended.
Read the guide GuideService-area pages that rank
How to build town pages that help customers instead of looking like doorway pages to Google.
Read the guideGet chosen
Win the comparison.
Once you show up, customers compare you against two or three others. Reviews and your website decide it.
Get booked
Answer the phone, even when you can't.
A missed call is often a job for whoever picks up next.
Get found by AI
Show up when customers ask an AI.
How AI assistants pick which businesses to recommend, and what actually moves the needle.
Get recommended by ChatGPT and AI search
What assistants read when someone asks for a local pro, what we found testing them in Utah, and the checklist.
Read the guide GuideWhat llms.txt is (and isn't)
A proposed summary file for AI models. What it does, what it doesn't, and an example for a local business.
Read the guideFAQ
About these guides.
Who are these guides for?
Owners of local service businesses, like cleaners, landscapers, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, and pest control companies. Most examples are from Utah, but the advice works anywhere in the U.S.
Do I need to hire someone to do this?
No. Every guide is written so you can do the work yourself. If you'd rather not, that's what Almanac Office's monthly plans are for.
Where should I start?
With your Google Business Profile and your reviews. They do the most for the least work. Start with the Business Profile checklist.
How current are these?
Each guide shows the date it was last updated. Google and the AI assistants change often, so we revisit them and note the date when we do.
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