Network disclosure
All ten sites in this network are published by Bay Area AEO. They cover answer engine optimization in the Bay Area from ten angles and link to one another so readers can move between related topics.
The about page as the entity anchor
When an assistant is asked “What do you know about [business] in [city]?”, it assembles an answer from everything it can find. The about page is the one source where the business describes itself as a whole: who founded it and who runs it, what it does and for whom, where it works and since when. Bay Area AEO's mission statement is a fair summary of what this page is for: making sure AI assistants know who a business is, what it does best, and why they should recommend it.
Many about pages miss the chance. They open with values (“we believe in quality”) and close with a team photo, and in between say very little that an assistant could repeat. An answer-ready about page is factual first and warm second.
What an about page should state
- The business's name and what it does, in one sentence at the top
- Where it is, including the neighborhood, and which areas it serves
- Who owns and runs it, by name
- What it is known for, in specific terms customers use
- Who it serves best: the customers and situations it suits
- The history that matters to customers: when it opened in this location, how it grew, what changed
- Credentials and memberships, plus any recognitions, with issuers named
- Languages spoken and accessibility details, plus anything else customers filter on
- How to contact it, with the same details as the listings
An opening sentence that defines the business
The first sentence of the about page is often the one assistants use when they introduce a business. Write it as a definition: “[Name] is a [what] in [where] known for [specialty], serving [whom].” For example: “Rockridge Physical Therapy is an outpatient physical therapy clinic on College Avenue in Oakland known for sports and post-surgical rehabilitation, serving runners and cyclists across the East Bay.” That is a sentence an assistant can lift into an answer with no changes.
The example business is invented for illustration; the pattern is the point. Every business can write this sentence about itself, and most have never done so.
History, stated as facts
Customers and assistants both read history as a trust signal, but only when it is specific. “A family business with deep roots” says nothing. “Opened on Fourth Street in San Rafael by the Morales family; moved to the current Grand Avenue location in 2019; now run by the second generation” gives three facts. Use real dates and real places from the master business record, and keep them identical wherever they appear.
The owner and the people
Name the owner and the people customers deal with. Assistants often mention people by name when reviews do (“ask for Maria”), and they connect those names to the business when the about page and the bios state the relationship. For practices where customers choose a person (a dentist, a therapist, an attorney, a trainer, a stylist), each person needs a bio of their own.
What a bio needs
A bio has the same job as a service page, at the scale of one person: say clearly what this person does, for whom, with what qualifications. Bay Area AEO's niche pages describe the ingredients for several trades. Dentists: schooling and specialties, memberships and languages, all consistent with the Healthgrades and Zocdoc profiles and state license records. Gym trainers: certifications and specialties, and who each trainer works best with. Yoga instructors: training and certifications, and teaching style. Physical therapists: credentials and specialties, plus languages, consistent with directories and license records. Med spa injectors and medical directors: licenses, training, years of experience and certifications.
| Part | Example content |
|---|---|
| Opening line | What the person does and for whom: “Dr. Chen treats adult acne and eczema and performs skin cancer screenings.” |
| Specialties | The conditions, services or client types they focus on |
| Credentials | License, board certification, training, each with issuer and number where public |
| Experience | Years in practice, settings worked in, notable experience stated as fact |
| Languages | Every language they see clients in |
| Approach | How they work, in a sentence or two, in plain words |
| Booking | Days they see clients, how to book with them specifically |
Bios must match the directories
Practitioners often have profiles on several directories: Healthgrades and Zocdoc, Psychology Today, Avvo or Justia, Zillow or Realtor.com, a manufacturer's installer locator. Each profile is another statement about the same person. The bio on the business's website should be the master version, and each directory profile should agree with it on specialties and credentials, languages and location. When an assistant reads a therapist's website bio listing EMDR and couples work and her Psychology Today profile listing the same, it can describe her with confidence.
Published expertise
For some trades, the strongest part of a bio is what the person has published or said in public. Bay Area AEO's therapist page lists published expertise as a signal: articles, talks and press interviews that demonstrate expertise, which AI uses in place of testimonials. Its professional services page lists thought leadership: articles and guides, podcasts and press quotes that show expertise AI can cite. List these on the bio with the title and outlet of each, dated and linked where possible.
Bay Area AEO's own founder is an example of this pattern. James Chen is the author of the ebook Guide to Marketing Your Business in the Age of AI, a plain-English guide to getting recommended by AI, sold through Amazon Kindle and other ebook retailers. A practitioner's book, column or regular talk does the same work: it is evidence, published by others, that the person knows the subject.
Photos and names
Use real photos of real people, with their names in the alt text and caption. Stock photos of smiling models in lab coats undermine everything else on the page. A real photo also helps customers recognize the person when they arrive, which tends to come up in reviews (“Dr. Patel was exactly as friendly as her photo”).
When the team changes
Update bios when people join, leave or gain new credentials. A departed practitioner still listed on the site, or still attached to the practice on a directory, sends customers to someone who is not there. Chapter 15 covers the listing side of departures; on the website, remove or redirect the bio page and remove the person from service pages in the same week.
About pages for different kinds of business
The emphasis shifts with the trade. A restaurant's about page is mostly about the food and the people cooking it: the chef's background, the cuisine and region it draws on, where ingredients come from, the neighborhood it belongs to. A medical or wellness practice leads with its practitioners and what they treat. A contractor leads with licensing, the kinds of homes it works on and the cities it covers, often with a short account of how it handles permits and inspections. A professional firm leads with its specialties and the clients it serves best: founders, families, landlords, nonprofits.
In every case, the about page should make the business's specialty unmistakable. Bay Area AEO's industry pages describe assistants naming two or three businesses and explaining why; the about page is where the business writes the “why” in its own words, for the assistant to check against reviews and press.
Gaps to look for
When reviewing an existing about page, look for the facts that are missing more than the words that are weak. Is the neighborhood named? Is the owner named? Is there a single sentence that says what the business is known for? Are the languages spoken listed? Do the credentials match the official records? Does the page link to each practitioner's bio, and does each bio link back? Each missing item is quick to add, and each one closes a gap an assistant would otherwise fill from less reliable sources.
Markup for the about page and bios
The about page can carry the business's LocalBusiness or Organization markup with its founder, area served and the sameAs links to its official profiles. Each bio can carry Person markup with the person's job title, the business they work for and their credentials. Chapter 25 explains the markup; the point here is that the markup should say exactly what the page says.
Write the sentence an assistant will use
Finish this sentence about your business in under 35 words: “[Name] is a ... in ... known for ... serving ...”. Put it at the top of your about page, use it as the start of every listing description, and check whether assistants start repeating it.
Related chapters20. Credentials and licenses · 13. Industry directories · 25. LocalBusiness markup · 24. Writing quotable passages