diff --git a/docs/SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_CONCEPT.md b/docs/SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_CONCEPT.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4a8c0e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/docs/SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_CONCEPT.md @@ -0,0 +1,187 @@ +# Self-serve AI discoverability — concept + +**Branch:** `planning-selfserve-audit` +**Status:** Working draft — conversation checkpoint 2026-10-01 +**Companion:** phased execution plan in [`SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_PLAN.md`](./SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_PLAN.md) +**Related:** [`BUSINESS_PLAN.md`](./BUSINESS_PLAN.md) on `planning-rev2` lineage + +This doc captures **ideas, concepts, and strategic direction** for the self-serve “Am I discoverable by AI?” wedge. It is not an inventory of old-repo artifacts. + +--- + +## 1. Mission + +**How local business owners get AI to recommend them.** + +Owner-to-AI is the center of gravity. Proof (audits, scores, before/after) is a **selling point**, not the mission. The mission is recommendation in the agent era — not becoming another consumer destination, and not selling a protocol. + +--- + +## 2. Problem frame + +| Layer | Stance | +|-------|--------| +| **Spine** | Agent-era local SMB discoverability | +| **Pipes** | MCP (or other transports) are implementation choices, **not** the product | +| **Northstar (not v1)** | An industry-wide graph others can use | +| **Not** | A consumer browse site; rebuilding Calendly/Shopify; “we are an MCP company” | + +v1 earns structured, consented business truth by helping owners see and fix how AI sees them. The graph comes **after** that truth is worth composing. + +--- + +## 3. Product + +A **self-service** experience — standalone web portal and/or inside a business’s own chatbot — where an owner asks: + +> “Is my business discoverable by AI?” + +### Target flow + +1. **Initiate** — Owner (or trusted helper / their AI) starts on an outcome promise, not plumbing. +2. **Stakeholder verify** — e.g. six-digit code to a known email on file. Unverified users do not get the deep audit. +3. **Deep audit** — Beyond NAP consistency across major providers into **categorical information** and **relevance**. +4. **Two scores** + - **Presence** — Are they on the map? (major providers + category consistency) + - **Recommendability** — If they are, would an AI engine likely recommend them for genre-relevant queries? +5. **Self-serve next steps** — Plain-language findings + ranked DIY fixes; optional re-check. Human expert path is an escape hatch, not the default. + +### Positioning + +As much business-owner-to-AI as possible. Human-in-the-loop resources exist but **will not scale** — design minimizes human dependency. Advertising and similar demand programs drive SMBs to **self-initiated** audits. + +--- + +## 4. Channel reality (as of September 2026) + +Research snapshot (late Sep / early Oct 2026): + +- **No** major consumer chatbot (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini consumer, Perplexity, M365 Copilot, etc.) will **auto MCP-handshake** with a random SMB’s server with **zero** owner/developer configuration. +- MCP support that exists is **connector/config** (and sometimes curated directories / suggested connectors for listed partners) — not silent discovery of every business MCP as an inference engine. +- Those same assistants **still read normal web pages** as web content. That is **not** an MCP session. + +### Product implication + +| Priority | Channel | +|----------|---------| +| **Highest now** | Interactive **web app** (owner completes audit in-browser) | +| Optional parallel | Embed the **same engine** in the business’s chatbot shell | +| **Revisit in ~3 months** | MCP / remote connectors as a distribution pipe — not the v1 product | + +Do not block the wedge on MCP adoption in consumer chat UIs. + +--- + +## 5. Taxonomy stance + +There is **no** single canonical “SMB genre” taxonomy that Apple, Google, and Yelp snap to for discovery. + +| System | Role | +|--------|------| +| **NAICS** | Official US statistical / production classification ([census.gov/naics](https://www.census.gov/naics/)) — useful for B2B/industry codes, **not** how people search “plumber near me” | +| **SIC** | Legacy; NAICS replaced it for federal stats | +| **Google Business Profile** | Own category IDs (`gcid:…`); listable via Business Information API | +| **Apple Business Connect / Maps** | Own primary + additional categories; data-spec historically published as categories CSV (docs moving under Apple Business rebrand) | +| **Yelp** | Own hierarchical aliases; public via Fusion categories API | +| **schema.org LocalBusiness** | Open, web-native type hierarchy — best **spine** for an AI-era product that also publishes structured web truth | + +**No official Apple ↔ Google ↔ Yelp concordance** exists. Multi-platform presence products build their own maps. + +### Recommendation (locked as direction, details iterative) + +- **Internal spine:** thin product genre layer in **owner language**, keyed to **schema.org LocalBusiness** where it fits +- **Optional:** NAICS for statistical / B2B +- **Outbound maps:** GBP categories, Apple categories, Yelp aliases — for presence pulls and fix guidance +- **Do not** adopt Apple, Google, or Yelp as the internal source of truth + +**Hypothesis pending real audit data:** spine + maps quality will improve as we score real businesses; revise mappings from evidence, not from guessing. + +--- + +## 6. Genre clusters (audit complexity) + +**One dual scoreboard, cluster-variant rubrics.** A plumber running from a truck and a surfboard rental for tourists are different products of “on the map” and “would AI recommend.” + +### Dimensions that split audits + +- **Where value is delivered** — customer comes to you vs you go to them vs hybrid vs mobile/seasonal spot +- **What “place” means** — fixed storefront / hidden service-area address / destination landmark / multi-location +- **Decision data** — menu, services list, inventory, booking, hours-open-now, price band, amenities +- **Demand shape** — emergency, same-day convenience, planned occasion, tourist/trip, B2B research +- **Trust signals** — review volume/velocity, photos, licenses, brand vs indie +- **Seasonality / hours rigidity** +- **B2C vs B2B** — who the AI is helping choose + +### Proposed clusters + +| # | Cluster | Presence emphasizes | Recommendability emphasizes | +|---|---------|---------------------|----------------------------| +| 1 | **Service-area trades** (plumber, HVAC, cleaner) | SAB vs fake storefront; service areas; category/services; no walk-in theater | Job-type relevance; coverage of searcher’s area; reliability/license themes | +| 2 | **Storefront retail** | Address/signage/hours; category; attributes; multi-location | Assortment fit; open-now; real stock photos; neighborhood fit | +| 3 | **Food service** (restaurants, cafés, bars, trucks) | Cuisine/format category (not generic Restaurant); hours; menu freshness; dine-in/takeout/delivery; truck location/events | Cuisine + occasion intent; price/ambiance; dietary clarity; review recency; open-now | +| 4 | **Professional / office** | Category depth; service pages; citations; weaker “open now” weight | Specialty match; credentials; authority language | +| 5 | **Home & personal care** (salon, dentist, medspa) | Booking path; services; hours; category | Skill match; booking friction; outcome-themed reviews | +| 6 | **Hospitality & tourism** (hotel, surf rental, tour) | Lodging/activity category; amenities; destination geo; seasonal hours; OTA vs owned facts | Trip-intent fit; amenity truth; landmark relevance; seasonal availability | +| 7 | **Healthcare / regulated** (if in scope) | Category + attribute accuracy; hours; locations | Condition/specialty match; acceptance; careful claims | +| 8 | **Hybrid / multi-mode** | Storefront **and** service-area rules both correct | Mode implied by query; flag mismatches | + +**Restaurant sub-genres** (fine dining vs QSR vs food truck, cuisine types) are **parameters inside food service**, not separate products. + +### v1 pack order + +Start with **two** cluster packs that prove the split: + +1. Service-area trades +2. Food service + +(If the commercial wedge is tourist SMBs, hospitality/tourism may swap with food service as the second pack.) + +**Hypothesis pending real audit data:** these eight clusters and their weight packs will be validated or merged once we score live businesses; do not treat the table as final ontology. + +--- + +## 7. Phases (0–5) + +Aligned with [`SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_PLAN.md`](./SELF_SERVE_AI_DISCOVERABILITY_PLAN.md): + +| Phase | Focus | Success | +|-------|--------|---------| +| **0** | Lock promise, wedge genre, shell (web first) | Promise in one breath without naming a pipe | +| **1** | Trust gate (claim + email code verify) | Verified only reach deep audit | +| **2** | Audit engine — Presence + Recommendability | Repeatable scores; owner understands why | +| **3** | Self-serve loop — findings, DIY fixes, recheck | Majority finish without human | +| **4** | Demand — ads to self-initiated audits | Funnel rates known | +| **5** | Toward industry graph | Only after consented structured truth is worth composing | + +**Build order:** promise → verify → presence → recommendability → results/fixes → recheck → then ads. Do not wait on the graph or MCP. + +--- + +## 8. Open decisions + +Still for Ty to lock: + +- First **v1 genre / cluster pack** (trades vs food vs hospitality) +- **Shell:** web-only v1 vs web + chatbot embed +- Which **providers** feed Presence +- How **Recommendability** is measured without overclaiming (heuristics vs live assistant checks) +- Source of **email on file** for verify +- **Free vs paid** audit +- What **never** goes to a human; when escalation is allowed + +--- + +## Hypotheses (explicit) + +Mark as **hypotheses pending real audit data** — revise from scored businesses, not from debate alone: + +1. Eight genre clusters are the right split (may merge/split). +2. schema.org LocalBusiness + outbound maps to GBP/Apple/Yelp is the right taxonomy spine. +3. Two v1 packs (service-area trades + food service) are enough to prove cluster-variant rubrics. +4. Interactive web app outperforms MCP-first distribution for SMB owners in the near term (~3 month revisit). + +--- + +## Capture note + +Drafted from strategy conversation 2026-10-01 (voice + chat). Push to `planning-selfserve-audit` so concepts are durable alongside the execution plan. Nothing is locked until Ty says so.