Type your own trade into Google — "plumber Charlottetown," "bakery Summerside," whatever you do — and see if you show up. If you don't, you're losing customers to whoever does, every single day, and most of them will never tell you they almost called.
The good news: in a market the size of PEI, showing up is very winnable. Here are the five fixes, in the exact order they matter.
Fix 1: Claim your Google Business Profile (free, one hour)
The map results with stars and phone numbers — that's Google Business Profile (GBP), and it's the single biggest factor in local search. Not your website. This.
If you haven't claimed yours: go to google.com/business, claim or create your listing, and fill in everything — categories, hours, services, photos, description. A complete profile dramatically outranks a bare one. Add real photos of your actual work and location; profiles with photos get far more calls and direction requests than empty ones.
This one fix, done properly, puts many PEI businesses on the map — literally — within weeks.
Fix 2: Get reviews, consistently
Reviews are the currency of local search. A business with 25 reviews and a 4.7 rating will sit above one with 3 reviews almost every time — and more importantly, customers pick the reviewed one even when both show up.
The system is simple: ask every happy customer, at the moment they're happiest (job done, problem solved), with a direct link to your review page. Text or email the link — don't just say "leave us a review sometime." Two reviews a month beats twenty in one week and then silence; steady flow signals an active business.
Bonus that most businesses miss: reply to every review. It signals to Google and to readers that someone's home.
Fix 3: Make your name, address, and phone number identical everywhere
Google cross-references your business info across the web — your website, GBP, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Facebook, the Chamber directory. If your address is written three different ways in three places, or an old phone number is still floating around from 2019, Google trusts your information less and ranks you lower.
Pick one exact format for your Name, Address, Phone (NAP) and make every listing match, character for character. Boring work, real results.
Fix 4: Say where you are on your actual website
You'd be amazed how many Island business websites never mention PEI. The homepage says "quality service you can trust" — but never says where. Google can't rank you for "electrician Montague" if the word Montague appears nowhere on your site.
Fixes that take an afternoon: put your town and "PEI" in your homepage title tag, mention your service area naturally in your copy, add your full address in the footer, and list the communities you actually serve.
Fix 5: Answer the questions customers actually ask
When someone asks Google — or increasingly, ChatGPT — "how much does a deck cost in PEI" or "best pizza in Charlottetown," the businesses that get shown are the ones whose websites answer those questions. An FAQ section on your site, or a simple blog answering the ten questions you hear on the phone every week, makes you the answer instead of your competitor.
This is also how you show up in AI tools: chatbots recommend businesses they can find, verify, and quote. Clear answers, real reviews, and consistent info are exactly what they look for. (For a deeper walkthrough, see our guide to local SEO for PEI.)
The honest order of operations
Do these in order: GBP → reviews → NAP cleanup → location on website → content. The first three are free and don't need a developer. If you only do one thing after reading this, claim and complete your Google Business Profile today.