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How people find your business

Information discovery has changed. People now find a business in three ways: they ask an AI or search engine, they browse a platform, or they ask other people.

Use our interactive tool to see how customers discover your business. Pick your kind of business, then tap any icon to see where it gets its information.

How customers find a business

Pick a business to see what matters most for it.

Tap any icon to see where it gets its information. Swipe sideways for the whole map.

InboundCustomers find you, by one of three routes.
OutboundYou find them: an email, a LinkedIn message, a text. Skips ahead to “get in touch”.
1. Ask a search engine, AI or agentEach one is a model with its own web search tool, and the tool decides the sources.
All engines
2. Browse directlyPeople go straight to a platform, a map or a directory.
Social and professional platforms
Maps
Directories, reviews and checks
3. Ask peopleMostly online now: groups, threads and chats. Word of mouth is the offline part.
Online, in groups and threads
Offline
Conversion funnelEvery business, simplified
Find you
Check you out
Get in touch
Customer

Under every route: a clear website and the same name and details everywhere.

Every kind of business at a glance

Tap an industry to open it, then tap a business to draw its map above.

Matters mostNot much
1. Ask an AI2. Browse3. Ask people
BusinessSells toSearch engines and AISocial platformsGoogle MapsDirectories and reviewsGroups and threadsWord of mouth
Both, PublicFacebookInstagramGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
PublicInstagramTikTokFacebookGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
PublicFacebookInstagramGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
PublicInstagramTikTokFacebookGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
Both, Public, BusinessesFacebookGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
PublicFacebookInstagramGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
PublicInstagramGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
PublicInstagramTikTokGoogle MapsFacebookReddit
Businesses, PublicXInstagramTikTokYouTubeFacebookGoogle MapsFacebookReddit

These are our starting estimates for each kind of business, built from who their customers are and how they buy. They are not measured data. We test them in conversations with real businesses and update them.

How Rheos turns this into a content plan

Five steps, shown here for Rheos itself. Pick a business on the map to see it for one like yours.

Step 1 · Brand

It learns your brand, voice and style.

From your website and your posts, it picks up how you sound and what you stand for.

Websiterheos.app
Handles@rheosapp
RheosExample
Business

Rheos

Social media marketing for small businesses, without the admin.

Ideal customer profile
  • Small business owners
  • Founders doing their own marketing
  • Marketers in small teams
Voice

Direct and plain. Talks to owners as peers, in British English.

Style

Plus Jakarta Sans

Read from rheos.app and @rheosapp

Step 2 · Strategy

A plan to reach small business owners.

It works out where small business owners, founders doing their own marketing and marketers in small teams look, and plans the week around them.

Strategy
Example
4of 8 this weekAwareness2/wk2/wk2/wk2/wkTop 3/5Middle 1/2Bottom 0/1
Inputs
  • Goal
  • Platforms
  • Ideal customer
  • Brand
  • Trends
  • Platform knowledge
Plan This week
This weekMon 5Tue 6Wed 7Thu 8Fri 9Sat 10Sun 11
Instagram1 · 1 · 0
Facebook0 · 1 · 1
LinkedIn2 · 0 · 0
X2 · 0 · 0
Top: new peopleMiddle: weighing you upBottom: ready to book
PhotoCarouselVideoText
Step 3 · Create

Ideas from what is going on at your business.

This week: five-minute routine, customer story, tip of the week. It turns each into a post idea you can edit, with images from your library.

New post
  • Awareness slotMon 09:00
Research
  • Social trendsWhat is working on LinkedIn this week
  • Web researchSources on your topic, read for you
  • Your library

The idea session: a few questions, using the research.

This is your awareness post for LinkedIn, planned for Monday 5 October at 9:00. What story or angle do you want it to carry?

Top of funnel: people who don't know you yet. What goes in it has to come from you.

Five-minute routineCustomer storyTip of the week
Most owners don't need more time for social media. They need a routine. Ours takes five minutes a day.

A few angles from what you told me. Pick one, or ask me to keep going.

TopEducateThe five-minute routineCheck the plan, answer two questions, schedule.Text
TopProvokeYou don't need more timeYou need fewer decisions.Photo
TopProveOne plan, four platformsEvery post this week came from one plan.Carousel
Step 4 · Post

Out on LinkedIn and the rest.

“Five minutes a day is enough” and the rest of the week, scheduled across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and X from one calendar.

Up next
  • Five minutes a day is enoughTue 09:00
  • What a weekly plan looks likeThu 09:00
  • Five-minute routineFri 09:00
  • Customer storySun 09:00
Inputs
  • Slot time
  • Your accounts
OctoberWeekMonth
MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
28
29
30
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
1
PostedScheduledOpen slot
Step 5 · Analyse

See what worked for your business.

Which posts got seen, grew the following and turned into customers. That feeds straight back into next week's plan.

Inputs
  • Views
  • Likes
  • Followers
Audience1,015+271 in period
Total views8.2KImpressions and plays
Most viewed2.1KviewsFive minutes a day is enough
Most liked184likesFive minutes a day is enough
AudienceFollowers gained per day across your platformsAudience
Instagram+157Facebook+57LinkedIn+37X+20

Post review

Every post against your own baseline, not an absolute number.

PostViewsEngagementPerformance
Five minutes a day is enough2.1K1842.4×
Three posts in four minutes1.3K961.6×
What a weekly plan looks like640410.9×
Sources and notes on the data

Several studies are from the US, so treat exact shares as a guide for the UK. Ofcom changed its survey method between its two AI figures. The ratings on the map are our starting estimates for each kind of business, not measured data.

Sources & Further Reading

  1. Ofcom: Adults' Media Use and Attitudes 2026(2026)view source
  2. Ofcom: Online Nation 2025(2025)view source
  3. BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026(2026)view source
  4. BrightLocal: local AI visibility study(2026)view source
  5. Sprout Social: social media is the top place Gen Z turns to for search(2025)view source
  6. Pew Research Center: Google users click less when an AI summary appears(2025)view source
  7. Ahrefs: how much AI citations overlap with Google's top 10(2025)view source
  8. Semrush: LinkedIn AI visibility study(2026)view source
  9. Cheers: AI local recommendation factors 2026(2026)view source
  10. 6sense: 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report(2025)view source
  11. Peec: ChatGPT search result providers(2026)view source
  12. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in AI Overviews(2026)view source
  13. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in AI Mode(2026)view source
  14. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in Gemini(2026)view source
  15. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in ChatGPT(2026)view source
  16. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in Perplexity(2026)view source
  17. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in Grok(2026)view source
  18. Ahrefs: most-cited domains in Copilot(2026)view source
  19. NMT: what parents look for (survey of 421 UK parents)(2024)view source
  20. Meta: introducing Muse Spark(2026)view source

Be there when your customers look.

Plan and post your social media in one place, so you show up wherever they look.