The King of AEO Launches Maptimal

SEO veteran James Dooley unveils a Google Maps and AI-answer optimization service for local businesses in the US and UK

LEIGH, GREATER MANCHESTER, ENGLAND / ACCESS Newswire / October 13, 2026 / James Dooley, the search marketer widely known as the "King of AEO" (answer engine optimization), has launched Maptimal (maptimal.com), a new service that helps local businesses climb the Google Maps rankings and get named in AI-generated answers from Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Gemini.

Why the King of AEO is turning to the map

Answer engine optimization is the practice of making a business easy for AI tools to understand, trust and recommend. As more customers ask an AI assistant "who's the best plumber near me?" instead of scrolling through links, the businesses those assistants name stand to win the call.

Dooley earned his "King of AEO" title by staying ahead of each shift in how people search. He founded performance lead-generation agency FatRank in 2007, where he pioneered a pay-on-results model. Over nearly two decades he has built and ranked more than 1,000 websites that have generated over 2 million customer inquiries, and he has co-authored eight books on SEO.

With Maptimal, he is applying that experience to the place where local customers increasingly make their decision: the Google Maps listing and the AI answer that sits above the search results.

"Getting found and maximising conversions comes down to ensuring your business communications are consistent and clear about who you are, what you do and why your great. Maptimal helps businesses to do all three! " - James Dooley, Co-founder, Maptimal

How Maptimal works

Maptimal is built around a simple entry point: a $17 audit. The audit shows where a business ranks on Google Maps across its whole service area, what ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Gemini currently say about it, and a prioritized list of fixes with the reasoning behind each one.

The audit covers six areas:

• Categories and services - making sure Google files the business under the right trade
• Service area and hours - the towns, ZIP codes or postcodes actually covered, plus regular and emergency hours
• Photos and posts - evidence that a real business sits behind the listing
• Reviews and replies - the material both customers and AI tools draw on
• Consistency across the web - matching name, address, phone and hours on the website and directories
• Local and trade mentions - suppliers, associations and local press that reference the business

Business owners can keep the plan and make the changes themselves, or hand the work to Maptimal's done-for-you service at $247 a month. That covers ongoing Google Business Profile optimization, website and listing fixes, advanced local strategies and a monthly report placing the business's map rankings side by side with what the AI answers say. There is no contract, and customers can cancel at any time.

Measured, not promised

Maptimal aims to lift a client's map rankings in under 60 days, but is upfront that no one can guarantee a position on Google or a place in an AI answer. Instead, the team tracks a fixed set of searches each month, runs each one several times, and records whether the AI answers name the client, how often, and which competitors appear instead.

The company backs this with two commitments: a 100% money-back guarantee on the audit within 30 days, and the "Maptimal Promise" - if a business isn't recommended more often across the same questions after 90 days of agreed fixes, Maptimal keeps working for free until it is.

A founding team of search specialists

Dooley launches Maptimal alongside two co-founders:

• Paul Truscott, billed as the "King of Google Maps," has worked in SEO since 2015, specializing in semantic SEO and entity optimization. His own sites have generated more than 150,000 leads for local service businesses.
• Peter Jones, the "King of Local Lead Gen," has worked in search since 2008. He runs lead generation bringing in more than 20,000 leads a year for a single service business, has managed over £1 million in Google Ads spend, and wrote Echo, a playbook for getting businesses named by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.

Availability

Maptimal serves local businesses in the United States and the United Kingdom, with pricing in both dollars and pounds.

About Maptimal

Maptimal is a Google Maps and AI Overview optimization service for local businesses, founded by James Dooley, Paul Truscott and Peter Jones. The company helps trades and service businesses improve their Google Business Profile, map rankings and visibility in AI-generated answers. Maptimal has offices in Leigh, Greater Manchester, and Pwllheli, Wales, and is open 6am to 10pm UK time, seven days a week.

Company Details

Company Name: Maptimal
Contact Person: Peter Jones
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 0161 4101825
Address: 5 Holden Brook Close, Leigh, Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
Website: https://www.amptimal.com

SOURCE: Maptimal