eGumball Solutions

Where to start

Most people looking for a local business never scroll past the first screen. What they find there is decided by your Google Business Profile, by your website, and now by the AI summaries that draw on both.

For most local businesses the answer is the Google Business Profile, and it is not close. The map results sit above the ordinary web results, they cost nothing per click, and the people looking at them are ready to act rather than still researching. A profile that is set up properly usually produces more than the same money spent anywhere else.

Everything else is worth adding once that is working. We will tell you when something is not worth the spend for your business rather than sell you the full set.

How They Fit Together

The map. Google Business Profile optimization and Google Maps marketing are the same work described from two directions - one names the product, the other names the result. Relevance, distance and prominence decide who appears; distance you cannot change, the other two you can.

The website. SEO works on your site and its position in the ordinary results below the map. It takes three to six months to move and then keeps working. Google also reads your website when it judges whether your profile is legitimate, so the two reinforce each other.

The paid side. Google Ads buys placement rather than earning it, so it works this afternoon and stops the day you stop paying. SEM is the same thing run as one campaign alongside the organic work, instead of as a separate invoice that never sees the keyword data.

The foundation. Website development if the site itself needs building or rebuilding, with the search work handled during the build rather than retrofitted afterwards.

AI Search Is Included

Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity now answer a growing share of searches directly and cite a handful of sources. Being one of them goes by two names in the industry, GEO and AEO, and agencies have started billing $1,000 to $5,000 a month for it on top of SEO. Google explains how pages are chosen for its AI answers in AI features and your website.

We do not bill it separately, because it is the same work: structured data, headings phrased as real questions with the answer underneath, and business facts that agree with each other everywhere they appear. See SEO pricing for how that compares with the market.

What It Costs

Google Business Profile optimization starts at $289 a month. SEO starts at $895 a month, with a one-time site audit at $1,495 credited against your first month. Google Ads is the ad spend you set plus a management fee. Websites start at $3,495.

Not Sure Which You Need?

Call 1-800-890-8940 or contact us and we will tell you honestly, including when the answer is "none of them yet". You can also request a free demo to see where your profile stands today.