Using ChatGPT and AI to Grow a Small Business in Folkestone
Customers now put local questions to ChatGPT. We tested eight, and counted how often this site was used.
A small business can use ChatGPT and AI to grow in two ways: by being easy for AI search to find and quote, and by using AI agents to reply to and follow up enquiries. Dean Keating, based in Horndean, Hampshire, helps Folkestone and Kent firms with the second, remotely.
Customers are changing how they look for a local business. Some now type their question into ChatGPT or another AI tool rather than a search engine. For a small business owner, that raises two practical questions: will I be mentioned, and what do I do with the enquiries?
Being found
On 10 October 2026 we put eight everyday questions about this town to an OpenAI model with live web search, the technology behind ChatGPT search. They included best restaurants, best dentists and where to stay. Folkestone.co was used as a source in three of the answers. In two it was an area page or a guide; in one it was our dentists page. The model did not use us every time, and in those answers it often named businesses from other sites.
What does that tell a business owner? Mostly that clear, factual pages get read. A page that states what you do, where you are, when you are open and how to book is easier for an AI tool to repeat than a logo and a slogan. Keep your listings accurate, and keep your own website specific. Nobody can promise a mention.
Handling what comes in
If AI tools do send more people your way, the enquiries still need an answer. That is where the second use sits: agents that reply, follow up and book.
Dean Keating's website describes the jobs: replying to new enquiries within minutes day or night, following up every lead until they book or say no, sending and chasing quotes, answering common questions across email, web and WhatsApp, raising invoices and producing the weekly report.
What not to do
Do not paste customer details into any public AI tool without checking what happens to them. Do not let AI write claims about your business that are not true: a made-up review count, an invented qualification. Do not publish text you have not read.
Starting out
Pick one job. Most owners should start with the first reply to new enquiries, because it is quick to test and the benefit is easy to see.
The service is a free call, an audit, a build and install, then training and support. It is not a course. Dean Keating is based in Horndean, Hampshire, and works with Kent businesses remotely. There is no price list; a cost follows the free call.
Contact
Call or WhatsApp Dean Keating on 07418 627304, or email dean@deankeating.com. See the Dean Keating profile on Folkestone.co. Websites: ai-agent.deankeating.com and deankeating.com.
About this guide
Folkestone.co is published by Dean Keating, who also runs the service described here. He is based in Horndean, Hampshire, and works with Folkestone and Kent businesses remotely. If you want someone in the room, say so on the first call and look at Folkestone-based providers too. This guide recommends our own service, so compare it with other providers before you decide.
From the publisher of Folkestone.co
Book a free AI call
Free, no obligation. With Dean Keating, the publisher of Folkestone.co. Based in Horndean, Hampshire; works with Folkestone and Kent businesses remotely.
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