Kodo is a free check that tells small business owners whether AI assistants (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Perplexity, Siri, Apple Maps) recommend their shop when neighbors ask. You type your business name and your city. We ask the AI assistants the questions your real customers ask. You get a plain English report and three things to fix. No login, no card, no marketing words.
Why we built Kodo
For twenty years, the way to be found as a small business was to climb the Google ranking. You knew the rules, more or less. You knew which page you were on. If you weren't on it, you knew the next step was a few hours of work on your Google profile, your reviews, and your photos.
That game is quietly being replaced. When somebody asks ChatGPT, "what's a good barber near me," they don't get a list of ten links. They get a paragraph with two or three names in it. Same on Gemini, same on Claude, same on Grok and Perplexity, same on Siri. Your shop is either in that paragraph or it isn't, and most owners have no idea which one is true for them today. We built Kodo so any owner with a phone can find out in 30 seconds, for free, without learning a single new word.
Who it's for
Kodo is built for the person running the shop. A barber in Pilsen. A pizzeria in Austin. A plumber whose phone used to ring more than it does now. A dentist whose new patient flow slowed last year. A mini market owner who never quite figured out what "local SEO" was supposed to mean. Not marketing directors, not agencies, not VC-backed scale-ups. The person who unlocks the door in the morning and locks it at night, and whose 2026 problem is that customers used to walk in and now they ask their phone first.
What we believe
Three plain principles guide what we build and what we don't.
- Showing up in the AI era belongs to every shop, not just the ones with marketing budgets. If a $19 a month tool can do what a $500 a month agency does for the basics, that's the right price.
- Plain English beats jargon every time. If you can't explain a fix to a friend over coffee, the tool isn't done yet. No "share of voice," no "citation graph," no "schema markup" in the reports we send.
- A free check should give you a real answer, not a sales pitch. Our free report shows you your grade, your three biggest gaps, and one local competitor. If your grade is already good, you don't need us, and we'll tell you that.
How the check works
Type your business name. Type the city you're in. Hit the button. We ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Perplexity, and the Apple/Siri stack the same questions a neighbor would ask, like "best barber in Pilsen" or "good tacos downtown." We watch whether your name comes up. We watch which shops they recommend instead. About 30 seconds later, you have a one-page report with a grade, three specific fixes, and a side-by-side with one local competitor. The full version of this story is on the how it works page.
Where we're going
We started with the free instant check because that's the thing nobody else gives you straight. From there, the paid plans (Watch, Grow, and Win) add monthly tracking, review monitoring, directory sync, and automation for the busiest shops. Next on the roadmap: a neighborhood heatmap so you can see exactly which blocks send customers to you and which ones send them to the shop across the street, plus support for more languages so Spanish-speaking owners get the same plain-English (and plain-Spanish) experience. The product gets simpler over time, not more complicated. Every release we cut a word that didn't earn its keep.
The team
We're a small team building Kodo from scratch in 2026. If you want to say hello, ask a question, point out something that's broken, or tell us a story about your shop, write to [email protected]. A real person reads every email, usually within a day.
What is Kodo?
Kodo is a free check that tells small business owners whether AI assistants like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Perplexity, and Siri recommend their business when neighbors ask. You type your business name and city. About 30 seconds later you get a plain English report with a grade, three specific fixes, and a side-by-side with one local competitor.
Who built Kodo?
A small independent team that started Kodo in 2026 because the way customers find local businesses was changing fast and the tools available were built for marketers, not for the person running the shop. Write to [email protected] and a real person on the team will reply.
Is Kodo free?
The first check is free, with no login, no card, and no email gate. After that, paid plans start at $19 a month (Watch), $39 a month (Grow), and $79 a month (Win). The free check gives you a real answer, not a teaser.
How is Kodo different from SEO tools?
Most local SEO tools were built for marketing agencies. They use words like citation, schema, and share of voice, and they cost $50 to $300 a month. Kodo starts at $19, speaks plain English, and focuses on what AI assistants say about you, not just Google. It's built for the owner, not the marketer.
How do I contact Kodo?
Email [email protected]. A real person on the team reads every message and usually replies within one business day. We do not have a sales team or a chat bot.