Askaround AI
Claim your listing Check my business

The 100 points

Worked example: Sandstone Constructions, an example builder, scoring 78.

FactorWhat countsMaxSandstone Constructions
Online presence How completely and consistently the business shows up on Google, Apple Maps, Bing, directories and its own website. This is the Presence Score, scaled to 35. 35 29
Profile kept current Services, prices, hours and photos filled in, and confirmed by the owner in the last 90 days. 20 20
Match to the job How closely the services the owner approved match what you searched for. 15 12
Reviews Rating and number of reviews from customers who booked or asked for a quote through the listing. 15 10
Distance How far the business is based from the suburb you searched, inside the area it serves. 10 4
Reply time How quickly the business answers booking and quote requests sent through the listing. 5 3
Total10078

The sponsored spot

One per page, above the ranked list, labelled “Sponsored”. To buy it a business must be:

  • Owner-verified, through their Google Business Profile or by ABN and a call
  • Licensed or registered, checked and current
  • Rated 4.0 or higher from listing reviews
  • Scoring 60 or more out of 100
  • Free of open complaints

The sponsor still appears in its ranked place too, with its real rank.

What we check and how often

Every check is dated on the listing and published in the data AI assistants read.

WhatHowHow often
Google Business ProfileGoogle’s Places service, read live and shown with Google’s attributionWeekly
Apple MapsLooked up in Apple Maps. Apple has no public way to see who claimed a listing, so we compare the details we can see.Weekly
Bing PlacesBing search for the name and addressWeekly
FoursquareFoursquare’s open places dataMonthly
Yelp, Localsearch, True Local, Yellow, Hotfrog, industry sitesSearch on each site for the name, address and phoneMonthly
Website structured dataWe read the business’s home page for LocalBusiness schemaMonthly
Licence or registrationQBCC open data register; Electrical Safety Office licence search; AHPRA register of practitioners; Tax Practitioners Board public registerDaily (QBCC), monthly (the rest)
ABNABN Lookup: active, and the name matchesMonthly
AI answers10 questions per assistant about the business’s main service in its suburb, and we count how many answers name the businessWeekly

Fix it yourself

The fixes that add the most points for most Townsville businesses. Each takes about 10 to 30 minutes.

  1. Bing Places

    Copilot reads Bing Places, and ChatGPT searches the web through Bing. Sign in at Bing Places for Business and import your Google Business Profile so the name, address and phone match exactly.

    Bing Places for Business

  2. Apple Business Connect

    Siri and Apple Maps read this. Claim your place, check the phone number and hours, and add your logo and a cover photo.

    Apple Business Connect

  3. Foursquare

    Apple Maps credits Foursquare as a data partner. Claim or add your business with the same details as Google.

    Foursquare for Business

  4. Yelp

    ChatGPT and Perplexity license Yelp data, and Apple Maps shows Yelp reviews. A free business page is enough.

    Yelp for Business

  5. Structured data on your website

    Add LocalBusiness schema to your home page with your services, hours and areas, so any assistant reading your site gets them right. Test it with Google’s Rich Results Test.

    schema.org LocalBusiness

Who runs it

Askaround AI is run by Townsville Advertising, a marketing agency at Suite 17/45-49 Bundock St, Belgian Gardens QLD 4810, ABN 63 976 640 863.

We also sell the fixes the report lists: listings set up for you, websites, email and security, and advertising. That’s why being our client is not one of the 100 points, and why the guides above show how to do each fix yourself.

Report a listing

Wrong details, a lapsed licence or registration, or a business that doesn’t exist. A person reads every report.

Ranking: questions

Can a business pay to rank higher?

No. The one sponsored spot per page is a paid placement shown above the list and labelled “Sponsored”. The ranked list itself uses the same 100 points for every business.

You also sell the fixes. Doesn’t that help your clients rank?

Fixing a missing listing raises the presence points for anyone, whether they do it themselves with the guides on this page or ask us. Being our client is not one of the 100 points and staff can’t change a rank.

Why does online presence count for so much?

Businesses that keep their details right everywhere are easier to reach: the phone number works, the hours are real, the address is where they are. It’s also the part an owner fully controls.

Where do the reviews come from?

From customers who booked or asked for a quote through the listing. We don’t copy ratings from Google or other sites into the ranking, even for owners who connect their Google profile.

Does connecting a Google profile help a business rank?

Not by itself. Connecting is how most owners prove the business is theirs, and it isn’t one of the 100 points. Owners who connect can fix details faster, and fixed details raise online presence points the same way they would for anyone.

What happens when I report a listing?

A person reads it. If details are wrong or a licence or registration has lapsed, the listing comes down until it’s fixed.

Check where your business would rank

Free, about a minute, no email needed.

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