Ottaway Digital

BEING LOCAL OFFERS MORE COLLABORATION

Bob Ottaway — Wed, 27 May 2026 17:26:36 +0000

BEING LOCAL OFFERS MORE COLLABORATION The most successful marketing efforts rarely become that way without people coming together to work toward a shared goal. That collaboration takes place in person at Ottaway Digital at your convenience. WE’RE HERE FOR YOU: Whether in person at our office in Troy, right by Somerset Mall, or virtually [...]

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TAKE STOCK OF YOUR BRAND’S STATUS

Bob Ottaway — Wed, 13 May 2026 17:00:59 +0000

TAKE STOCK OF YOUR BRAND’S STATUS Your name is the most valuable part of your business so it’s important to check from time to time across the internet to see how customers are talking about you. LLMs like ChatGPT and Google Gemini look at review websites and online forums to form a narrative about your [...]

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AI LEVELS PLAYING FIELD FOR SMALL BUSINESS

Bob Ottaway — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 15:05:34 +0000

AI LEVELS PLAYING FIELD FOR SMALL BUSINESS Large Language Models like ChatGPT and Google Gemini don’t look at traditional search rankings to decide which websites to use as sources when answering user questions. This means even if your website isn’t on page one normally, you can still appear right at the top of search [...]

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GET YOUR GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE IN ORDER

Bob Ottaway — Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:57:15 +0000

GET YOUR GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE IN ORDER If you do one thing right leading up to the summer season, it should be getting your Google Business Profile in order. More Reviews: Businesses with a higher number of reviews will almost always outrank local competitors with fewer Cell Phone Searches: More than 60% of local [...]

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ChatGPT Cites Yelp Reviews

Bob Ottaway — Wed, 01 Apr 2026 09:10:23 +0000

ChatGPT Cites Yelp Reviews For years Google Reviews have been vital for businesses looking to separate themselves from local competition, and while the importance of those reviews still remains, you need to be aware that AI chatbot ChatGPT actually uses Yelp reviews to evaluate the highest rated businesses in a given area. ChatGPT sees over [...]

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The K-SHAPED ECONOMY

Bob Ottaway — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:01:13 +0000

The K-SHAPED ECONOMY According to Fortune magazine, a Pew Research survey last month found 72% of people rate economic conditions as fair or poor, and nearly 40% believe conditions will be worse a year from now, compared to 31% who think they will improve. Our thoughts on what to do: FULL RANGE OF SERVICES: “One [...]

GOOGLE REVIEWS DISAPPEARING?

Bob Ottaway — Wed, 04 Mar 2026 16:11:25 +0000

GOOGLE REVIEWS DISAPPEARING? It’s important to remember that Google is a division of Alphabet, Inc., a publicly-traded corporation. Their goal is to provide services and turn a profit. To do so, they spend countless hours trying to thwart spam and spoofing. They really take it so seriously that they reportedly change their algorithms 6X/day. What [...]

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VALUE. VALUE. VALUE.

Bob Ottaway — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:59:33 +0000

VALUE. VALUE. VALUE. Notice I didn’t say “cheap.” But you could substitute “cheap,” since people in 2026 will want the lowest price for the highest value. What’s changed? Hasn’t that always been true? Read on: MONEY IS TIGHT: Not just for the lower class, but for the middle class, and even into segments of the [...]

YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF

Bob Ottaway — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 21:00:22 +0000

YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF As owners, we do all sorts of contortions when it comes to allocating money for advertising and marketing. We know we should do it, but we hate to spend the money. And then there’s the question of whether we’ll get any kind of return. I talk to people just like [...]

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GOOGLE’S STILL THE BIG DOG

Bob Ottaway — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 20:45:40 +0000

GOOGLE’S STILL THE BIG DOG As an entrepreneur, keeping your business alive and well depends on a pipeline full of new business. Over the past few years, you have probably been pretty happy, but now you’re probably concerned, as all you hear is “AI. AI. AI.” We won’t tell you not to be open to [...]

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