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Capture the phased owner-to-AI audit wedge (promise, verify, dual scores, self-serve loop, demand, graph-as-Northstar) so it is durable on a branch off planning-rev2.
5.0 KiB
5.0 KiB
Self-serve “Am I discoverable by AI?” — execution plan
Branch: planning-selfserve-audit (from planning-rev2)
Status: Working draft — captured from strategy conversation 2026-10-01
Scope: Ideas, concepts, and strategic direction turned into actionable phases. Not an artifact inventory from the old tree.
Related durable context lives in BUSINESS_PLAN.md. This file is the methodical build plan for the self-serve audit wedge.
Strategic spine
- 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. Do not block v1 on the graph.
- v1 wedge: A self-service check where a business owner asks: “Is my business discoverable by AI?”
- Channel: Flexible — standalone web portal and/or inside a business’s own chatbot. One audit engine; shells can differ.
- Positioning: As much business-owner-to-AI as possible. Human-in-the-loop exists but will not scale — design must minimize human dependency.
- Demand: Advertising (and similar) drives small businesses to the portal for self-initiated audits.
Owner flow (target experience)
- Initiate — Owner (or their AI / trusted helper) starts the check on the outcome promise, not on plumbing.
- Stakeholder verify — Prove they are a stakeholder in the business (e.g. six-digit code to a known email on file). Unverified users do not get the deep audit.
- Deep audit — Goes beyond NAP consistency across major providers to categorical information and relevance.
- Dual outcome — A holistic picture of:
- Presence: Are they on the map?
- Recommendability: If they are, would an AI engine likely recommend them when someone asks about something in their genre?
- Self-serve next steps — Plain-language findings and ranked DIY fixes; optional re-check. Human expert path is an escape hatch, not the default.
Phases (sequence)
Phase 0 — Lock the promise
- One-sentence value prop owners understand without jargon.
- First wedge genre (who we speak to first).
- Plain-language definition of “recommendable.”
- v1 shell decision: web, chatbot embed, or both sharing one engine.
Success: The promise can be said in one breath without naming a transport (MCP, etc.).
Phase 1 — Trust gate
- Claim-a-business + stakeholder verification (email code first; other signals later).
- Minimal PII, clear consent, rate limits / abuse controls.
Success: Verified owners reach the audit; unverified cannot.
Phase 2 — Audit engine (the product)
- Presence score: On the map across major providers + category consistency.
- Recommendability score: Likelihood an AI would surface them for genre-relevant queries.
- Start with a thin, explainable rubric — not a black box.
- Outputs: plain-language findings + ranked owner-actionable fixes.
Success: Same business twice ≈ same scores; owner understands why.
Phase 3 — Self-serve loop
- Results page / chat readback, fix checklist, optional re-check.
- No mandatory human review.
- Optional “ask an expert” as escape hatch only.
Success: Majority complete without human touch.
Phase 4 — Demand
- Lightweight campaigns that send SMBs to the portal for a self-initiated audit.
- Funnel metrics: start → verify → complete → recheck.
Success: Acquisition cost and completion rate are known; creative/genre can iterate.
Phase 5 — Toward the graph (later)
- Only after audits produce structured, consented business truth worth composing.
- Graph remains Northstar; does not gate v1.
Build order (what ships first)
- Promise + wedge genre
- Verify gate
- Presence score
- Recommendability score
- Self-serve results / fixes
- Recheck
- Then ads / demand programs
Do not wait on the industry graph or a single wire protocol.
Open decisions
- First v1 genre
- Web vs chatbot shell (or both)
- Which providers feed “on the map”
- How “would AI recommend” is measured without overclaiming
- Source of “email on file” for verify
- Free vs paid audit
- What never goes to a human
v1 success bar
- Owner can finish alone
- Two clear scores with explainable why
- Actionable DIY fixes
- Repeatable recheck
- Ads can point at it without a sales call
Workstreams (parallel once Phase 0 is clear)
| Workstream | Owns |
|---|---|
| Promise & wedge | Positioning, genre, “recommendable” language |
| Trust & verify | Claim flow, codes, consent, abuse |
| Presence engine | Provider coverage, NAP + category checks |
| Recommendability engine | Rubric, explainability, genre relevance |
| Experience shell | Web and/or chatbot UX on one engine |
| Growth | Campaigns, funnel metrics |
| Graph (later) | Composition of consented structured truth |
Capture note
Drafted in conversation 2026-10-01; written here so the plan is durable and not call-only. Revise in place as Ty locks decisions.