Does Your Business Need an About Page for AI?

**Yes, and it should be built from facts rather than adjectives. AI systems use your About page to establish what your business is, where it operates, who runs it, and what it's qualified to do. "Passionate about excellence" gives them nothing. "Founded in 2016, based in Ballard, serving Seattle and the Eastside, licensed general contractor, four employees" gives them everything.**

The About page has quietly become one of the more important pages on a small business website, for a reason that has nothing to do with visitors reading it.

Why Do AI Systems Care About This Page?

Because they need to establish your business as a distinct, describable entity before they can confidently say anything about you.

When an assistant considers whether to recommend you, it's working out: is this a real business, what does it do, where does it operate, is it currently operating, and what makes it distinguishable from businesses with similar names? The About page is where those answers are supposed to live in one place, in plain language.

A page of vague brand copy answers none of them. A page of specifics answers all of them.

What Should Be on It?

**The founding facts.** When the business started, where, and by whom. Dates and names are the most machine-legible things you can write.

**What the business actually does.** In concrete terms. Not "solutions" or "services" — the specific things.

**Where it operates.** Named neighborhoods and cities, not "the greater region."

**Who runs it.** Names, roles, relevant background. For a small business the people are a substantial part of the entity, and named individuals with described expertise are strong signals.

**Credentials.** Licenses, registration numbers, certifications, insurance, association memberships. Verifiable facts about qualification.

**Scale.** Team size, years operating, rough volume of work if it's meaningful. Not to boast — to be describable.

**What makes it different.** Specifically. Not "we care about quality." "We only do full-house remodels, and we won't take on more than three at a time" is a real distinguishing fact.

**Contact information.** As readable text, matching every other source.

What Should Come Off It?

**Adjective stacks.** "Passionate, dedicated, innovative, customer-focused." These carry no information and every competitor's page says the same thing.

**Mission statement boilerplate.** If it could belong to any business in your category, it's not doing work.

**Vague history.** "For years we've been serving the community" — which years, which community?

**Unsupported superlatives.** "The best in Seattle" is a claim with no evidence attached, and it isn't treated as one.

How Should It Be Structured?

**Headings as questions or clear topics.** "Who we are," "What we do," "Where we work," "Our credentials." Structure helps extraction.

**Short paragraphs, one idea each.** Content that can be lifted as a standalone passage is content that can be quoted.

**Facts near the top.** The first paragraph should establish the essentials: what, where, since when.

**A real first paragraph that could stand alone.** If an assistant were going to quote one passage to describe your business, it should be that one. Write it deliberately.

Something like:

*"Watt Consulting is a digital marketing agency based in Seattle, Washington, founded by Ryan Watt. We work with small and local businesses across Seattle and the greater Puget Sound region on social media management, SEO and AI search optimization, website design, content creation, paid social, and Google Business Profile optimization."*

Every clause there is a fact. That's the shape.

What Schema Should It Carry?

**Organization or LocalBusiness schema**, including name, URL, logo, address, phone, founding date, area served, and social profiles.

**Person schema** for the founder or key people, linked to the organization.

**sameAs links** to your profiles — LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, industry directories. This is how you tell a machine that these accounts are all the same entity, which is a substantial part of building a clear identity.

Schema doesn't replace the readable text. It confirms it.

Does This Actually Help?

It's one contributing signal rather than a switch, and it's worth doing for three reasons.

**It resolves ambiguity.** If there's another business with a similar name in your region, clear entity information is what stops the two being conflated.

**It gives assistants something to quote.** When asked "what can you tell me about [business]," a system with access to a specific, factual page produces a specific, factual answer. Without one, it produces a vague answer or none.

**It's cheap.** This is an afternoon of work on a page you already have, and unlike most visibility work it doesn't depend on anyone else's cooperation.

What About the Human Reader?

The good news is that the two audiences want the same thing.

A prospective customer reading your About page is also trying to establish whether you're real, whether you do their kind of work, whether you're near them, and whether you're qualified. They are as poorly served by adjective stacks as any machine is.

The one addition worth making for people: a genuine reason the business exists. Not a mission statement — an actual story. Why this business, started by this person, doing this specific thing. That's what makes a small business feel like a business run by people, and it costs nothing to include alongside the facts.

A Quick Rewrite Checklist

1. Does the first paragraph state what, where, and since when?

2. Are there dates, names, and numbers?

3. Are the neighborhoods and cities named specifically?

4. Are credentials and registration numbers listed?

5. Have the adjective stacks been cut?

6. Is contact information present as readable text?

7. Is Organization or LocalBusiness schema in place, with sameAs links?

8. Could a stranger read it and describe your business accurately?

That last one is the whole test.

Key Takeaways

- AI systems use the About page to establish your business as a distinct, describable entity — facts do that, adjectives don't.

- Include founding date, founder name, specific services, named neighborhoods, credentials, and scale.

- Write the first paragraph as a standalone passage worth quoting, because that's what may get quoted.

- Add Organization or LocalBusiness schema with sameAs links to your profiles to tie the identity together.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should be on a business About page?

Founding date and founder name, what the business actually does in concrete terms, the specific neighborhoods and cities served, who runs it and their relevant background, licenses and certifications with registration numbers, team size and years operating, and contact information as readable text.

Does an About page help with SEO and AI search?

It contributes. AI systems use it to establish what your business is and where it operates, which they need before confidently recommending you, and it resolves ambiguity if a similarly named business exists nearby. A factual page also gives assistants something specific to quote.

What schema should an About page have?

Organization or LocalBusiness schema with name, URL, logo, address, phone, founding date, and area served, plus Person schema for key people linked to the organization, and sameAs links to your social and directory profiles so machines can connect the accounts to one entity.

Should an About page tell a story?

Yes, alongside the facts. A genuine account of why the business exists and who started it is what makes a small business feel run by people, and prospective customers respond to it. It should sit alongside the concrete details rather than replace them.

Want Yours Rewritten?

Watt Consulting rebuilds About pages for Seattle businesses as entity-clear, quotable, schema-marked pages. Start your project.