Whether you want it or not, your store has a digital “twin” living online and providing a first impression to existing and potential customers online. Not only is your digital twin interacting with customers, it’s what artificial intelligence (AI) is using to determine whether or not your online presence is trustworthy and worth sharing in search results. 

When you do a search for anything on Google, the top results are now AI-curated. These AI-generated summaries are known as AI overviews (AIO) and provide immediate answers by synthesizing information from multiple websites. 

Rather than leaving what your digital footprint is telling customers to chance, you have the ability to mold it and provide the first impression you want your operation to give. Discover best practices for influencing how AI views your digital content and controlling what current and potential customers are gleaning from your digital presence. 

Brick-and-Mortar Meets Digital

Every day you enter your store, you’re looking—or should be looking—at it from a customer’s point of view. That same critical eye should be on your digital storefront, which starts with a strong Google Business Profile, says Jaz Seehra, business development manager for Ignite Digital, a digital marketing company that specializes in a comprehensive suite of services, including search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, social media management and website development. Ignite Digital also creates free-to-use tools for individuals curious about digital marketing, including a Google Ads grader, a website audit tool and more.

“Your Google Business Profile is the new Yellow Pages,” Seehra says. “It must be perfectly optimized with your correct services, hours, photos and a constant stream of fresh reviews. It’s often AI’s first and most trusted source of basic information.”

The first step to optimize your Google Business profile is claiming it by searching for your business on Google and then clicking on “Claim this business.” Second, check that your Google Business Profile is complete and accurate with your business’ name, full store address and any service areas, phone number and website address. Your profile should also include a primary category and any relevant secondary categories. 

Another way to enhance your Google Business Profile even further includes adding products that you sell in your store including quality photos, prices and descriptions for each product. Adding products will help your store rank in product-specific searches, such as “paint near me.” Collecting customer reviews and adding high-quality photos of your store, employees and events to your profile also improves your visibility online. 

Once your Google Business Profile is polished, it is critical to check that any information you share on the internet is consistent. Your operation’s name, address and phone should be the same—and correct—on any online directory, including Yelp, HomeAdvisor or any local business website, like a chamber of commerce listing.

“Inconsistencies create doubt and erode trust,” Seehra says. 

For decades, a key value proposition of the independent home improvement retailer has been the connection to local. That value proposition is still alive and well, and an area retailers need to embrace in the digital realm. 

Seehra suggests creating specific service pages for every neighborhood and suburb you serve, embedding maps of local neighborhoods and including local landmarks in your content to prove your deep community ties.

“Your website can’t be generic, it needs to be infused with local signals,” Seehra says. 

Content That Counts

When evaluating what content to share during a search, Google will reward content that demonstrates experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, Seehra says. 

“For independent local hardware and paint stores, this means going beyond just listing the services that you offer. It’s about strategically building and signaling credibility with your content,” Seehra says. “This is exactly what the AI is trained to find. AI wants to cite sources that are genuinely helpful, comprehensive and written by experts. That’s your authority blueprint.”

When it comes to showing experience and expertise, home improvement retailers should look to include content that shows experts solving real-world challenges. Detailed guides and how-to posts go a long way to show your operation has the know-how customers need and want. Here are a few examples of how paint retailers have demonstrated their expertise online to provide the content AI is looking for and attract customers. 

• The Born Paint Company, located in Peoria, Illinois, has a website with an extensive list of helpful hints, covering everything from paint application temperature to wallpaper removal, painting cabinets to refinishing bathtubs. The company also offers a selection of YouTube videos covering additional how-to topics and paint-related insights. 
• A How-To and Tips page is accessible from the home page of the Hoover Paint Store website and answers many commonly asked questions about paint and provides DIY tips and tricks. The Hoover Paint Store website also features a blog with posts on design trends, new products and helpful paint-related information to connect with customers at each of the operation’s 10 locations in Tennessee. 
• The Paint Bucket’s blog and FAQs pages cover paint and decorating topics that apply to both DIYers and pros. The FAQs page also provides helpful information on The Paint Bucket and the products and services available at the operation’s four Colorado locations. 

To demonstrate authoritativeness, your website should include mentions of your business in the local news, highlight partnerships with local businesses and share the ways you connect with your community. 

The News page on Spectrum Paint’s website shares stories on the operation’s acquisitions, involvement in the community and personnel changes to keep customers up to date and show how the company stays engaged in the industry and the community. 

At Paint ‘N Stuff in Newburgh, Indiana, store manager Sierra Kurzynowski relies on a combination of third-party assistance and employee help to manage the store’s website, social media and marketing. 

“As we put together our website, we felt it was important to feature the variety of different products we sell along with the services we offer, which set us apart from other paint stores,” Kurzynowski says. “We wanted to get the message across that we are a small business and excel in customer service and paint expertise. It was important to us that our customers could navigate our website easily to read about our different products and learn about things we carry that they might not have known about.”

Kurzynowski provides input on website design and content choices. One important content addition was adding testimonials so customers visiting the website can hear from past customers how Paint ‘N Stuff served their needs. 

“We feel that our website and online presence has helped new customers find us and has also helped us stay relevant to previous customers,” Kurzynowski says. “We take a broad approach to marketing by also marketing in small local ways, such as sponsoring sports teams or local events. Word of mouth is still a wonderful tool for us as well, which is why providing great customer service—and sharing that customer service through testimonials—is a top priority for us.” 

Showing trustworthiness is the easiest way to get Google’s attention and is as simple as providing clear pricing, easy-to-find contact info and abundant positive reviews on your website, Seehra says. 

“AIO and Google don’t care how much money you’re willing to spend, they just care how authoritative you are and how organic your content is,” Seehra says. “So if you’re able to allocate your budget and focus your SEO efforts on improving your authority and your organic reach, you have the ability to actually dominate where the big-box chains can’t, because they’ll just keep pumping money into the ads. This is your secret weapon as a smaller or midsized business.”