Frequently asked
Quick answers to what most prospects ask in their first call. If something here isn't clear, the chat bubble (bottom-right) can go deeper, or book a 15-minute call and we'll cover it live.
How much does a website for a Toronto local business cost?
localbiz pricing is flat monthly: $175 CAD/mo (Starter), $300 CAD/mo (Growth), or $650 CAD/mo (Premium) — plus a one-time build cost quoted at the consult. The monthly covers hosting, domain, SSL, ongoing SEO/AEO indexing, automations, and support; the one-time covers design, copy, schema, and the production launch. Cancel any time with 30 days notice and you keep your domain, content, and customer data. For multi-location, white-label, or custom enterprise scope, book a consult and we'll quote it.
What does the AI chat actually do?
The AI chat answers visitor questions about your services, pricing, hours, and location grounded in your real business data. It can also book appointments end-to-end: it finds available slots, collects the customer's name/email/phone, and creates the booking with a confirmation email and calendar invite. Available on Growth and Premium tiers.
What is AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
AEO is the practice of getting your business cited by AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. It works differently from traditional SEO: it requires structured data (schema.org JSON-LD), FAQ pages, entity-clarity content, and placement in the third-party sources LLMs cite. localbiz ships AEO from the Starter tier up.
How long does it take to launch a localbiz site?
Starter is 5 business days. Growth is 7 business days. Premium is 10 business days. The clock starts when you provide your assets (logo, brand colours, hero copy, service list, photos), not at signature.
Do I own my website if I cancel?
Yes. You always own your domain, your content, your customer list, your calendar, and your reviews. Cancel any time with 30 days notice and walk away with all of it. There are no proprietary lock-in formats.
How does localbiz compare to Wix, Squarespace, or GoDaddy?
Wix, Squarespace, and GoDaddy are general-purpose website builders. localbiz is purpose-built for Toronto independent businesses, with AI booking, weekly blog auto-publish, daily analytics digest, AEO, and an AI call receptionist baked into the higher tiers. You also talk directly to the team that runs the platform, no offshore helpdesk.
Is localbiz a website builder I have to use myself?
No. localbiz is a done-for-you service. We build the site, configure the AI chat, set up the booking flow, train the chatbot on your business, and handle ongoing updates. You don't drag-and-drop anything yourself unless you want to.
Will my Google reviews increase, and is the review automation safe?
Yes, and yes. Every Starter site and up ships a compliant review flow: after each visit, every customer gets a one-tap link to a page that shows BOTH 'leave us a Google review' and 'tell us privately' options. The customer chooses, the business never gates based on rating. This is the only Google-2026-policy-compliant approach. We never filter, never gate, never incentivize. Most clients see a 3 to 5x increase in monthly review volume in the first 90 days with zero risk to their Google Business Profile.
Can the AI chat book an appointment for me without a human?
Yes, on Growth and Premium tiers. The AI runs through the full booking flow (service, time slot, customer details) and creates the booking in your calendar. AI agents like ChatGPT and Claude can also complete bookings on behalf of customers via our WebMCP manifest at /.well-known/mcp-actions.json. This is rare in 2026 and is one reason localbiz sites get cited more often by AI engines.
What is the AI call receptionist?
On the Premium tier, your business phone is answered 24/7 by an AI receptionist trained on your services, hours, and policies. It greets callers in your brand voice, qualifies the call, books appointments straight to your calendar, takes messages, escalates urgent calls to your phone, and texts you a transcript every time. You stop losing leads at midnight and during lunch.
How does the weekly blog auto-publish work?
Growth and Premium tiers include weekly blog publishing. You queue topic ideas in a shared spreadsheet (or just text them to us), n8n drafts the post in your voice using your knowledge base, you one-tap approve in email, and it ships to your site with the right schema markup and gets pinged to Google Search Console. Roughly 8 minutes of your time per post.
What's in the daily analytics digest?
Growth and Premium clients get a morning email every weekday showing: total visits, where visitors came from (AI engines like ChatGPT vs Google vs direct vs social vs referral), how long they stayed on each page, which pages converted, and how many leads or bookings landed. It's the answer to 'how is the website doing?' without you having to log into a dashboard.
Do I need to provide my own hosting?
No. Hosting, SSL, and CDN are included in all tiers. We host on a Hetzner VPS with Cloudflare in front for global CDN and DDoS protection.
What if I already have a domain?
You point your existing domain at our infrastructure (we provide the DNS records). You keep ownership of the domain at all times.
Can I integrate localbiz with my POS or scheduling tool?
Yes, on the Premium tier. Custom integrations with Square, Clover, Stripe, Google Calendar, and most scheduling tools. Tell us what you use during onboarding.
Is there a contract or minimum commitment?
No long-term contract. Month-to-month. Cancel any time with 30 days written notice. The only commitment is that the first month deposit is non-refundable, since that covers setup.
What if I need something beyond the Premium tier?
Multi-location franchises, white-label resale, industry-specific AI workflows, and enterprise integrations all live above Premium. Book a consult and we'll scope and quote it. Most custom engagements land between $1,200 and $3,500 CAD/month depending on integration complexity.
Where is localbiz based?
Toronto, Ontario, Canada. We serve the Greater Toronto Area.