The short version
I asked Claude, “What’s the best place to rent camping gear from in Maine?” It put Maine Camping Gear Rentals first under “Top Recommendations.”
I built that site. I’m not going to pretend it was magic. It’s one test, on one day, with one question. But it tells us what AI tools look for when they pick a local business, and you can copy it.
Screenshot: Maine Camping Gear Rentals as the top recommendation in Claude
The problem
Maine Camping Gear Rentals is a small shop in Portland, Maine. They were up against bigger outdoor retailers and rental companies. They needed people to find them and trust them fast.
Why AI recommendations matter
More people now ask a chatbot where to buy or rent something instead of scrolling Google. Here is the part nobody mentions. The chatbot doesn’t give you ten blue links. It gives you a few names. If you’re not one of them, you don’t exist for that customer.
Most local businesses haven’t set their sites up for this yet. That’s the opening.
What I did on the site
1. Spelled out exactly what you get
The site lists the gear in plain words, down to the details. Claude pulled these straight from the page:
- “Ground cover 2-person tent Air mattress for two with rechargeable pump”
- “2 folding chairs 1 lantern (rechargeable)”
- “Kettle Frypan/pots Single burner propane stove”
A vague page that says “camping packages” gives an AI nothing to repeat. A page that lists the stove gives it plenty.
2. Put the price and the place in plain sight
- Price listed on the page: $45 per night
- Portland pickup and delivery areas spelled out
- Contact info easy to find
- Business schema added (hidden code that tells search tools who you are and where you are)
3. Organized the pages so a machine can read them
Clear service categories. Clear descriptions. Words customers actually type, plus the town and service area.
4. Kept the technical basics clean
- Fast loading and mobile friendly
- An XML sitemap (a list of pages for search tools) and clean URLs
- Ongoing website maintenance so it stays that way
- Structured data, which you can read about in Google’s guide to structured data
What I can and can’t promise
I can’t promise you the #1 spot. AI answers change from one day to the next. One screenshot isn’t a ranking.
What I can say is that the shop’s site gave Claude clear facts to work with: what’s included, what it costs, and where they serve. That’s the same work I put into every custom web design project.
What to take from this
- Be specific. List what you sell, what it costs, and where you work.
- Put your town on the page. Local SEO basics still count.
- Keep the page easy to read, for people and for machines.
- Test it yourself. Ask an AI tool about your own service and see who it names. Then write down what it says.
I wrote more about building a site that brings in work in how to create a web site that drives sales.
Want to see if AI tools name you?
Send me a note and I’ll run the same kind of test on your business. If you’re a chiropractor, my other site, ChiroSites Pro, is built just for that.
One test on one day. Your results will depend on your business and your competition.
