WORK ORDER Nº 001 · YOUR MARKET
Call 415.745.2650
WALNUT CREEK · LOCAL SEO + AI SEARCH

The marketing agency for local businesses.

When customers ask Google or AI, be the answer.

Ember is a Walnut Creek marketing agency for local businesses and multi-location brands. We run your Google Business Profile, reviews, local SEO, and AI search, so your name comes up when customers search Google Maps or ask ChatGPT who to choose.

2826 Kinney Dr, Walnut Creek, CA · serving the Bay Area and owners across the U.S.

See the pricing Book a fit call
Get Found Aerial view of an East Bay neighborhood with tree-lined streets and hills beyond your neighborhood, owned.
✶ GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE✶ LOCAL SEO✶ AI search (AEO/GEO)✶ REVIEWS✶ YELP + APPLE MAPS✶ GOOGLE ADS✶ MULTI-LOCATION✶ WALNUT CREEK✶ EAST BAY
BUSINESSES WE HAVE HELPED GET FOUND · LOCAL, MULTI-LOCATION, FRANCHISE Ace Handyman Services Pipe Spy Severson Plumbing Backyard BayouUnion City Sun Valley Swimming PoolLafayette Abe's GiftsWashington, DC NT Souvenir WholesaleWashington, DC
01

Local SEO problems costing you customers

INSPECTION CHECKLIST

I ran a frozen yogurt shop for ten years and did the marketing after midnight. The customers we lost usually went to whoever showed up first on the map. Today that also means whoever an AI tool names. This is the checklist we run on every business before the first call.

FOUND ON SITE

Missing from the Google Maps map pack

Customers search "near me" and choose from the three listings on the map. If you are not one of them, you are a scroll away from a customer who already picked someone else.

FOUND ON SITE

ChatGPT and Google AI name a competitor

Ask ChatGPT or Google AI for the best place for what you sell in your city. If it lists three names and yours is missing, that customer is gone before they open a browser.

FOUND ON SITE

An incomplete Google Business Profile

Wrong hours, a missing category, photos from years ago. A complete, accurate profile ranks higher and earns the click.

FOUND ON SITE

Unanswered Google reviews

New customers read your replies as closely as the reviews. We answer every Google review within 48 hours and keep new ones coming.

FOUND ON SITE

Inconsistent business listings

Your address, phone, or hours differ across Google, Yelp, Apple Maps, and directories. Search engines and AI tools trust the businesses whose details match everywhere.

FOUND ON SITE

No clear marketing reporting

Five tools, five dashboards. You get one page a month in plain English, including the numbers that went down and why.

02

Local SEO, Google Business Profile & AI search services

WHAT WE DO
A

Google Business Profile management

  • Business Profile built out and kept accurate
  • Every Google review answered within 48 hours
  • A review request system you send after every sale
  • Spam edits caught before customers see them
Profile and reviews scope →
B

Local SEO for Google Maps

  • Map pack and "near me" searches
  • Yelp, Apple Maps, and directories that match
  • Website copy and technical SEO fixed
  • Keywords tested and tuned every month
Local SEO scope →
C

AI search optimization (AEO/GEO)

  • A monthly check of what ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI say about you
  • Structured data and citations AI tools read
  • Answers to the questions your customers actually ask
  • Tracking which AI tools name you, month to month
AI search scope →
Need customers this week? Growth Engine adds Google Search Ads and Local Services Ads where your category qualifies, managed weekly, with ad spend paid straight to Google and never marked up. See the packages →
03

Local SEO pricing and packages

PUBLISHED RATES · NO MARKUP · YOU OWN EVERYTHING

Local Presence

The inner flame

Your Google profile, handled

Starts at

$399/mo

Per location, + $399 one-time setup

For: owners who just want their Google profile and reviews taken care of.

  • Google Business Profile built and managed
  • Listing kept accurate + spam defense
  • Every Google review answered in 48 hrs
  • Google review request system
  • Monthly plain-English report
Local Presence details →
Recommended

Local Authority

The full flame

Get found on Google, Yelp & AI search

Starts at

$899/mo

Per location, + $699 one-time setup

For: owners who want to show up when neighbors search, on Google and in tools like ChatGPT.

  • Everything in Local Presence
  • Yelp listing and reviews managed
  • Directories and citations
  • AI search (AEO/GEO) + monthly AI check
  • Website copy and technical SEO
  • Keywords tuned every month
Local Authority details →

Growth Engine

The blue flame

Everything, plus ads

Starts at

$1,799/mo

Per location, + $999 one-time setup, + ad spend

For: owners serious about reaching customers searching today.

  • Everything in Local Authority
  • Google Search Ads, optimized weekly
  • Local Services Ads where eligible
  • New service + city pages
  • Call tracking + live dashboard
Growth Engine details →

More than one location? Same per-location packages, one strategy and one report across all of them. See multi-location →

04

Marketing for Bay Area small businesses and multi-location brands

WHO WE WORK WITH
1

Bay Area small businesses

Restaurants, shops, studios, clinics, clubs, and service companies from Walnut Creek to Oakland. Your regulars know you by name. We make sure new customers can find you. Bay Area →

2

Multi-location businesses

Two locations or twenty. Each location gets its own profile work, reviews, and local pages, with one report across all of them. How it works →

3

Businesses missing from AI answers

If ChatGPT and Google AI don't name you when customers ask, that's where we start. We check what each tool says today and fix what it reads. AI search →

Not quite there yet? Book the call anyway. We'll tell you honestly what would move the needle most at your stage, even if the answer is "not us, not yet."
05

AI search optimization: get recommended by ChatGPT and Google AI

AI search · AEO/GEO

Try it now. Ask ChatGPT for the best place for what you sell, in your city. It gives you a few names, and a customer who asks the same question calls one of them without ever seeing a search results page.

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode build those answers from your Google profile, your reviews, your website, and the directories that mention you. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) are the work of making all of that complete, consistent, and easy for AI to cite. It's included in Local Authority and Growth Engine, and every month we check what each tool says about you.

Want to see it on your own business? We run the check live on the fit call. How AI search works →

?

Local marketing agency FAQ

STRAIGHT ANSWERS
What happens on the fit call?

It's 20 minutes. You tell us what you sell, who your best customers are, and where you want more of them. We look up what Google and the AI tools show for your business, live. Then we tell you straight whether we can help. If we can't, we say so and point you somewhere useful. No deck, no pressure, no homework.

How does Ember measure results?

We treat rankings, clicks, and impressions like embers: signals that tell us whether the fire is growing. What matters is customers you can trace: calls, direction requests, bookings, and sales. The monthly report is one page, in plain English. See a sample →

Will I work with the founder or an account manager?

Founder-direct, always. Ember is a small company on purpose. You talk to the person doing the work, meetings stay short, and execution stays long. Read the story →

What is AEO and do I need it?

More of your customers ask ChatGPT or Google AI who to choose before they open a search result. AEO and GEO make sure those tools can find, trust, and name you: structured content, consistent listings, reviews, and the citations AI systems use to decide who to recommend. Included in Local Authority and Growth Engine. Read more →

Do you only work with Bay Area businesses?

No. We're based in Walnut Creek and meet East Bay clients in person. Businesses outside the Bay Area work with us by phone and video, with the same packages and the same monthly report.

Do you work with businesses that have several locations?

Yes. Each location gets the same per-location package, and we run them as one account with one report. Multi-location accounts are quoted together. See how it works →

How much does local marketing cost?

Our pricing is published: Local Presence starts at $399 per month, Local Authority at $899, and Growth Engine at $1,799, all per location, plus one-time setup. Month to month, no long-term contract. Ad spend on Growth Engine is separate, paid straight to Google on your card, never marked up. See the packages →

06

About Ember, a founder-led Walnut Creek agency

FROM THE FOUNDER

In March 2020 I locked the door of my frozen yogurt shop, the business I had run for a decade, and I didn't know it was for the last time.

I grew up watching my parents grind through landscaping jobs in the fields. The work took everything they had. Marketing was never in the cards · there was nothing left in the tank at the end of a day like that.

I wore every hat an owner wears for ten years. And after midnight, the marketing. When the pandemic took the shop, I went to the other side and spent years inside an agency. That's where it clicked: I finally saw what's worth paying for, and what's theater.

Ember exists because I want to help local businesses grow the way somebody should have helped my parents, and me. I have lived it.

· Binh

read the whole story →

Talk to a Walnut Creek marketing agency.

Local Presence: your profile, handled. Local Authority: found on Google and named by AI. Growth Engine: everything, plus ads. One 20-minute call tells you which one fits. If none do, we'll tell you that too, free.

Book a fit call 415.745.2650