You only appear when people know your name
Existing customers can find you, but someone searching for the service and town may only see competitors.
Outcome
Get Found
If people search for what you do in your area and find someone else first, the problem may sit in your Google profile, website wording, service pages, photos, reviews or local listings.
The first job is to check what appears for your name, your services and nearby searches, then decide which gaps are actually worth fixing.
What it means
Being found is not just ranking for a phrase.
For a local business, getting found means showing up for searches such as your business name, “manager training Middlesbrough”, “workplace training Teesside”, or the service and town a customer types before they know who to contact.
I check the search result itself, your website, your Google Business Profile, public listings, reviews, photos and nearby competitors. The recommendation follows the evidence, not a generic SEO checklist.
Likely a visibility issue
People can find you by name, but new customers searching by service, problem or town are more likely to find someone else.
May be trust or choice instead
People already reach the website or profile, but hesitate because the proof, offer, pricing, process or next step is unclear.
This may be the issue if one of the following sounds familiar:
Your Google profile looks incomplete
Missing categories, old photos, weak service wording, stale opening hours or inconsistent details can make nearby competitors look like a better match.
Your website does not back up the search
If the profile says one thing and the site says another, Google and customers both get less evidence that you fit the job.
What I check
The aim is to separate a discovery problem from a trust problem.
If people can't find you, we need to know whether you're invisible, unclear, inconsistent, or simply being out-presented by competitors.
If you want to check the basics yourself first, the Google Business Profile guide explains which profile fields to complete and keep current.
Search by name, service and area
Can people find the business when they know the name, and can new customers find it when they only know the problem they need solved?
Google Business Profile and listings
Categories, services, locations, opening hours, the website link, photos and consistency across public listings all affect whether and how the profile appears.
Local competitor context
I look at what nearby alternatives show first, because customers judge you against what else appears on the same screen.
What better can look like
Practical visibility, not vague SEO.
The useful output names the exact gaps: what appears, what is missing, which searches already work and where a focused change can improve coverage.
Sample Report Extract
Fictional example
Get Found snapshot
Key finding
The website and LinkedIn appear for the business name, but the business is difficult to discover through service-and-location searches used by new customers.
Finding
A search for the fictional business name surfaces the website and LinkedIn. Searches such as “manager training Middlesbrough” or “workplace training Teesside” do not show a clear, matching public profile among the stronger local and regional results checked in this example.
Why it matters
A small employer who does not already have a referral may never reach the site. They are more likely to compare the businesses that are easiest to find and understand.
Recommended action
Clarify the main service and area wording on the website and public profile, then keep categories, services and location consistent so discovery searches can match the real offer.
Fictional example only: illustrative findings for Oakstead Learning. The kind of discovery gap and recommendation is representative.
Not sure this is your issue?
Visibility is one of three places the problem can sit.
If people are already finding you but something else is holding enquiries back, one of these may fit better.
Are the right people finding you?
If people aren't finding you often enough, start there. I'll check what appears now and show the first useful visibility improvements.
Start with the £175 Business Clarity Assessment. You get a report to keep and a clear order of work.
Ask about getting found