What a search for a professional in a city actually returns: a small early sample

What we did, and what this is not

• We chose six searches in five countries and several professions: physiotherapist in Bristol (UK), divorce lawyer in Austin, Texas (US), architect in Pune (India), Steuerberater in Hamburg (Germany), therapist in Manchester (UK, but also several US towns of that name) and dentist in Lyon (France).
• We ran each through one web search tool on 3 October 2026 and recorded the first nine results returned for each: 54 in total.
• We sorted each result by hand into one of four types, from its address and title: a directory or listings site, a job page, a practice’s or professional’s own website, or other.
• This is not Google. It was a different search tool, the results were not personalised to a location, and the order of results is not a ranking claim about any search engine.
• Six searches is a very small sample. It shows what happened here on one day, nothing more.

The results

The three own-site results came from two law firms in Austin. In the other five searches, none of the first nine results was a practice’s own website.

What we noticed

• Directories dominated. Nearly half of the 54 results (26) were directories or listings. In two searches (Manchester and Lyon) every result was one.
• Job pages crowded out clients. Sixteen results were recruitment pages, mostly because the profession’s name and the city also describe a job. Professions with many open vacancies attract this noise.
• Own sites were rare. Only the Austin search returned practices’ own pages in the first nine, and in that search several of the “other” results were low-quality pages of unclear origin rather than firms.
• Place names are ambiguous. “Therapist in Manchester” returned mostly US towns called Manchester, with one UK result. People who write the name of a place without a country or county may be misread by search engines and assistants alike.
• Some results were pages that claim to rank or recommend “top” professionals without being clearly independent. Treat these with the same care as a client would.

What this does not tell us

• It does not say what Google shows. Google uses location, language, the person’s history and many other signals, and returns map results, reviews and AI summaries that this tool did not.
• It does not say how many searches lead to a call, or which result a person clicks.
• It covers six searches. A different profession, city or day might look quite different.
• It does not say that directories are bad. For a client, a directory with reviews can be useful.
• It does not say your own site is unimportant. It may be what a client sees after the directory, and what an assistant uses to confirm your details.

What a professional can take from it

1. Check your listings. If directories are often the first thing a client sees, your profile there should be complete, accurate and identical to your page. See directories that matter by country.
2. Use the same name, role and place everywhere. See why AI gets your details wrong.
3. Put the full place name on your page. “Manchester, England” or “Lyon, France” removes ambiguity.
4. Make your own page worth the click after the directory: a clear photograph, a plain statement of what you do, a price indication and a way to book. See what to put on your website.
5. Complete your Google Business Profile, since map results often sit above ordinary results. See Google Business Profile complete setup.
6. Find out for yourself with the test below.

Repeat the test for your own profession and city

1. Open a private or incognito window on your phone, so that your own history affects results less.
2. Search for “your profession in your city”, as a stranger would, and then for the variants clients use, such as “near me” or the name of a district.
3. Write down the first ten organic results, ignoring ads. For each, note the address and which of the four types it is.
4. Note whether a map with three businesses appears, and whether you are in it.
5. Note whether an AI summary appears, and whether it names anyone.
6. Repeat on another day and on another device, and from another town if you serve a wide area.
7. Count: how many results are directories, jobs, practices’ own sites or other? Where are you?
8. Do it again in three months and compare.

Search: [profession] in [city]        Date: [date]        Device: [phone/laptop]

Position | Address (domain) | Type (directory / job / own site / other) | Me?
1        |                  |                                           |
2        |                  |                                           |
... up to 10

Map pack shown? yes/no     Am I in it? yes/no     AI summary? yes/no     Names anyone? yes/no

Where BeVisible fits

BeVisible gives you a clear page of your own and a “Get found” checklist that points to the profiles and listings that matter, so that the page a client reaches after a directory or a map matches what they read there. It does not change where any search engine places you. You can build and preview free, and publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. Start from a photo or type your details.