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Case study: Productized diagnostic

Business Snapshot

A business owner sends a name and a website. Within about one business day, a person sends back a report naming what a stranger, a search engine, and an answer engine can see about their business, what is wrong, and who should fix each item. It is free.

How the Business Snapshot works, from request to reportA business owner sends two things on a request form: their business name and their website. A person at FirstCoast.ai reviews the request and runs it, so nothing is generated in the browser and nothing runs against a target no one has looked at. One crawl reads the public domain and website once and never a private system. It runs 45 automated Business Readiness checks, covering the domain, DNS, email authentication, and the site itself, and the AI Visibility checks, covering crawler access, structured data, performance, and how AI answer engines see the business. All of them are deterministic except two optional AI layers, sampled AI answers and answer coverage, which are the only model calls. Each reserves its worst-case cost against a spend ceiling before it runs and is skipped, and labeled, if the ceiling is reached. Every reading the run takes is written to an evidence store, and that store is the hinge: everything downstream reads from it rather than from the site. The report renders from stored evidence under rules the tests enforce. Disclosures render before findings. An unrun check reads as unmeasured and is never presented as a finding, and a clean verdict requires real evidence coverage, so the report will not tell a business it is fine on the strength of nothing. A pre-send check blocks a report that carries a retired name, a missing disclosure, or a headline that disagrees with its own list. Recommendations name who should do the work, and what we would not sell renders before what we would: a licensed professional first, the owner themselves next, and us last, with roughly a fifth of all recommendations routing away from us entirely. Whatever no probe can reach becomes the agenda for the Snapshot Review, a free 15-minute call. An optional intake sheet adds the business's own answers and re-scores the evidence already stored. It never goes back to the site: there is no second probe.WHAT THE OWNER SUBMITSFREE REQUESTA name and a URLBusiness nameWebsite URLWHO RUNS ITA PERSONReviewed, then runRequest reviewedNot run in chatTHE SCAN45 AUTOMATED CHECKSDNSEmail authenticationCrawler accessPerformanceAI-engine visibilityOPTIONAL, SPEND-CAPPEDone deterministic engine, one crawlboth standards read the same evidencefree to the ownerSTORED EVIDENCEEvery reading, storedkept, so an intake sheet can re-score itTHE FREE REPORTDISCLOSURES FIRSTONLY WHAT WAS VERIFIEDAn unrun check reads as unmeasurednever as a finding, and no clean verdictwithout real evidence coverageWHO SHOULD FIX IT, IN THIS ORDERA licensed professionalThe owner themselvesUsabout a fifth route away from usTHE SNAPSHOT REVIEWFREE CALLWhere no probe reachesa free 15-minute call coverswhat nothing can measureNEVER RE-SCANS THE SITEit re-scores evidence already storedthe unsettled items in the reportare the agenda for the callNO SECOND PROBE

The challenge

  • Small-business owners have no cheap, honest way to learn what is broken about their online presence
  • Most free audits are sales sheets where every finding routes to "hire us"
  • Automated scanners overclaim, presenting what they could not verify as if it were a finding

What we built

One crawl feeds two standards: 45 automated readiness checks covering the domain, DNS, email authentication, and the site itself, and the AI visibility checks covering crawler access, structured data, performance, and how AI answer engines see the business. What no probe can reach becomes the agenda for a free 15-minute Snapshot Review call, and an optional intake sheet re-scores the stored evidence without touching the site again.

  • Reports only what was actually verified: an unrun check is reported as unmeasured, never presented as a finding
  • What we would not sell renders before what we would: roughly a fifth of recommendations route to a licensed professional or the owner themselves
  • A clean verdict requires real evidence coverage; the scan refuses to tell a business it is fine on the strength of nothing

How it's built

A deterministic check engine behind one command, with a pre-send check that blocks a report carrying a retired name, a missing disclosure, or a headline that disagrees with its own list, and a spend ledger that caps what any run can cost. Every request is reviewed by a person before the report goes out.

Results

  • A report is not send-ready until the pre-send check passes and no part of the run was skipped
  • The same stored evidence can be re-scored under a new rubric for free, and a re-scan against a different rubric says so
  • Report integrity rules are enforced by tests, not review: disclosures first, evidence named, and recommendations that describe work rather than outcomes

What can a stranger see about your business?

Request a free Business Snapshot. A person runs it and replies by email, usually within one business day.

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