What Royston Business Owners Get Wrong About Online Marketing
The problem isn't what you're doing. It's what you think you're doing.
Right. So I've had three conversations in the last month with business owners in Royston who all basically said the same thing. "We're doing online marketing. We've got a website. We post on Facebook. We even did some Google Ads for a bit."
And then they pause. Because they know something's not working. They're just not sure what.
Here's the thing. Most Royston businesses aren't getting online marketing wrong in the way they think they are. They're not failing because their logo's the wrong colour or because they didn't use enough hashtags. They're getting it wrong at a more fundamental level. They're solving 2019 problems in 2026.
Let me explain what I mean.
You're still building for Google when your customers are asking ChatGPT
This is the big one. The one that makes me want to shake people sometimes.
In 2026, when someone in Baldock wants to find a plumber or a solicitor or an accountant, they're not typing "plumbers near me" into Google and scrolling through ten blue links anymore. They're opening ChatGPT or Perplexity or Claude and asking "who's the best emergency plumber in Baldock who can come out tonight?"
And the AI gives them an answer. One answer. Maybe two if they're lucky.
Your SEO-optimised website that ranks position 4 on Google? Doesn't matter. The AI didn't mention you. It mentioned the business whose information is structured in a way that AI can actually understand and trust.
This is what AEO is. Answer Engine Optimisation. And most Royston businesses have never even heard the term, let alone done anything about it.
Look, I get it. You paid someone to do SEO three years ago. It probably worked quite well for a while. But the game's changed. Your potential customers are having conversations with AI now, not clicking through search results. And if your business information isn't optimised for how AI reads and processes data, you're invisible in those conversations.
I had a client in Hitchin, runs a pretty successful building firm. Good reputation, been around 20 years. He was baffled why his leads had dropped off in the last year. His Google ranking was fine. His website looked decent.
Then we tested it. Asked ChatGPT to recommend builders in Hitchin for a house extension. He didn't come up. Not in the main answer, not in the follow-ups. Three of his competitors did. One of them had been trading for less than five years.
The difference? Those competitors had their information structured properly. Schema markup, consistent citations, content that answered actual questions. The AI could find them, understand them, trust them.
You think your website is a brochure
This one drives me mental.
So many Royston business owners treat their website like it's a printed brochure that happens to live online. Here's what we do. Here's our history. Here's a contact form. Job done.
But your website isn't a brochure. It's a 24/7 sales tool that needs to work even when you're asleep.
And more importantly in 2026, it's the primary data source that AI uses to understand your business. When someone asks an AI "what services does [your business name] offer?" or "how much does [your service] cost in Royston?", the AI is scraping your website to formulate that answer.
If your website just says "We offer a full range of services" without actually listing them properly, the AI can't help you. If your pricing page says "Contact us for a quote" with zero indication of what things actually cost, you're making the AI's job impossible.
Your competitor who's put actual information on their site, even if it's just price ranges or starting costs, they're going to get recommended. You won't.
You're not answering the questions people actually ask
Here's what happens. Business owner decides they need content on their website. They write an "About Us" page. Maybe a blog post about "Why Quality Matters" or "The Importance of Choosing the Right [Whatever They Do]."
No one is asking those questions.
Real people, when they're looking for your service, ask things like: - How much does it cost? - How long does it take? - Do you cover my area? - What's the difference between [option A] and [option B]? - What do I need to prepare before you arrive? - Can you do this on a weekend?
These are the questions AI assistants are trying to answer. If your content doesn't address them, you're invisible.
I see this constantly with businesses around Letchworth and Stevenage. Really good at what they do. Awful at explaining it in a way that matches how people actually search and ask questions.
You need FAQ content. Proper detailed answers. Not fluffy marketing speak, actual information. "Our premium service costs between £X and £Y depending on..." That's the stuff AI can work with. That's what gets you into the answer.
You're measuring the wrong things
Right, so you log into Google Analytics once a month. You see you had 500 visitors. You feel good about that number. Then you go back to work.
But what did those 500 people do? How many of them were actually in Royston or nearby? How many were looking for what you offer versus just clicking through from some random blog post? How many filled in a form or called you?
Most business owners I talk to have no bloody clue about their actual conversion rate. They know they get traffic. They don't know if that traffic is worth anything.
And in 2026, you've got a new metric to worry about. AI visibility. Are you showing up when someone asks an AI about your service in your area? You can't measure that with Google Analytics.
This is the thing. You might have amazing traditional SEO metrics and still be losing business to competitors who show up in AI answers. We've seen it happen. Local business, page one of Google for their main terms, traffic looking solid. But their lead volume dropped 30% year on year. Why? Because they weren't appearing in ChatGPT or Perplexity results. Their competitors were.
You think local marketing means posting on the community Facebook group
Look, I'm not saying Facebook groups are useless. They're fine. They're a place to be present.
But they're not a marketing strategy.
Posting "Happy Monday! Remember we're here if you need us!" once a week isn't marketing. It's... I don't even know what it is. Digital waving?
Local marketing in 2026 means making sure that when someone three streets away asks their phone "who can help me with [your thing] today?" your business comes up. It means your Google Business Profile is actually maintained. It means your citations across directories are consistent. It means your content answers location-specific questions.
"Do you cover Royston?" should have a clear answer on your website. Ideally a whole page about Royston, what you do there, areas you cover, maybe even some local landmarks people can reference. That's local content. That's what AI can use to confidently recommend you to someone in that area.
The Facebook post? The AI never sees it. It's ephemeral. It disappears into the feed. It doesn't build your digital presence in any meaningful way.
You're doing it alone when you should have systems
This is the last one, then I'll stop ranting.
Most Royston business owners are trying to do their marketing in spare moments. Between jobs. On a Sunday evening. Whenever they remember.
And it shows.
Inconsistent posting. Outdated information. Broken forms. Website content from 2019 that mentions "during these uncertain times" because no one's looked at it since COVID.
You can't run effective online marketing as an afterthought. But you also probably can't justify hiring a full-time marketing person.
This is where AI systems actually help. And I mean proper AI systems, not just "we used ChatGPT to write a blog post."
Automated citation management. AI that monitors where your business information appears online and flags inconsistencies. Systems that ensure your content stays current and comprehensive. Tools that actually track your AI visibility and alert you when it drops.
You don't need to become a marketing expert. You need systems that handle the technical bits while you focus on running your business.
We build these systems for businesses around North Hertfordshire. It's literally what Hert Bots exists to do. Because I got tired of watching good businesses lose ground to competitors who just happened to understand how AI search works.
If you're a Royston business owner reading this and thinking "hell, we're probably making at least three of these mistakes," you probably are. Most businesses are. It's not your fault. The landscape shifted fast.
But it's worth fixing. Have a look at what we do with AEO in North Hertfordshire or just book a call and we'll have an actual conversation about where you're losing ground and how to fix it. No pressure, no sales pitch. Just straight answers about what's actually working in 2026.