Why is online presence essential for a business?
As long as you provide your services only locally and mostly your existing customers know you, you significantly limit your chances of growth. Today the question is no longer whether you can keep your business going in the long run, but whether you can keep up with your competitors...
- Read reviews about local businesses202697%
- Searched for a local business in the past 3 months202684%
- Start their local searches on a mobile device202673%
- Use Google to read local business reviews202671%
- Would avoid a business if they found incorrect information about it online202362%
- Use ChatGPT or other generative AI for local business recommendations202645%
Source: BrightLocal – Local SEO Statistics summary (BrightLocal Consumer Search Behavior 2026, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, Local Business Discovery and Trust Report 2023). The data comes mainly from US consumer surveys and is not directly transferable to the Hungarian market – but it shows the trend well.
What can keep you in the race?
Without an online presence, to stay in the race in the long run you would have to offer a unique service that no one else can provide. And let's face it... that is almost impossible today. What you can do is stand for high quality, understand the needs of your target audience, and make your services visible.
If any of these is missing, it may easily happen that a competing business comes into the view of your potential customers – and in the end they choose them instead of you...
The good news is that the head start can still be won:
Only 35% of small and medium-sized businesses have a Google Business Profile.
Source: BrightLocal SMB Marketing Report, 2025Customers are 70% more likely to visit, and 50% more likely to consider purchasing from, businesses with a complete Google Business Profile.
Source: Google, as cited by BrightLocalAI has changed everything
Today you can create a working website in a few hours without ever having written a single line of code. And in my view that is not a problem in itself at all! Quite the opposite... With the help of AI you can save time and put more energy into what truly creates value for your business.
Use AI – but don't leave everything to it, because AI can create content, build websites and analyze data. But the story of your business, its values and the real relationship with your customers must be created by you.
Make your communication human!
Stand out with your quality and make sure your customers choose you not only for your service but also because they want to come back to you.