Marketing myths, checked.
Twelve things small businesses are told about marketing, each tested against what Google, Microsoft, the regulators and the platforms themselves publish. Guess first: true, partly true or false. Then see what the evidence says.
01
Instagram is enough. A small business does not need a website.
Partly true
Sometimes, for a while. Instagram can be enough while you test an idea, but it is a risky place to keep everything: you rent the account, and most AI search crawlers are told to keep out.
Read the evidence: Do you still need a website, or is Instagram enough?02
SEO is dead now that everyone uses AI.
FalseFalse, with a true part
Clicks from some searches are falling, but Google says optimising for AI search is still SEO, and Microsoft, which calls part of the work GEO, says it rests on the same foundations.
Read the evidence: Is SEO dead now that everyone uses AI?03
Google penalises content written with AI.
FalseFalse, and so is the opposite
Google's policy targets pages made at scale, without value, to manipulate rankings, whoever or whatever wrote them.
Read the evidence: Does Google penalise content written with AI?04
You can pay to be recommended by ChatGPT.
Partly truePartly true, in a narrow way
You can buy labelled ads beside some AI answers from the platforms themselves, with no guarantee even then; nobody can sell you a place inside the answer.
Read the evidence: Can you pay to be recommended by ChatGPT? AI visibility guarantees and GEO packages05
You should only ask happy customers for reviews.
False
Google and Trustpilot forbid it, and the CMA's guidance treats it as cherry-picking, though the Act does not name it and no court has tested that reading.
Read the evidence: Should you only ask happy customers for reviews?06
Running Google Ads helps your organic ranking.
False
Google and Microsoft both say paying for ads does not change organic ranking; ads work alongside SEO, not through it.
Read the evidence: Do Google Ads help your organic ranking?07
Longer pages rank better, so every page needs a minimum word count.
FalseFalse, with a true part
Google has no preferred word count and no ideal page length; thin pages struggle, and a complete answer is sometimes long.
Read the evidence: Does the length of a page matter?08
Adding schema markup improves your ranking.
FalseFalse, as a ranking claim
It makes pages eligible for rich results; Google says no special markup is needed for its AI features, and no AI company says it helps you get named.
Read the evidence: Does adding schema markup improve your ranking?09
You should block AI bots from your site.
Partly trueIt depends which ones
Blocking training crawlers does not remove you from AI search; blocking search crawlers costs visibility; user-triggered fetches may ignore robots.txt.
Read the evidence: Should you block AI bots from your site?10
You need a cookie banner before you can use analytics.
TrueStill true in practice, for now
Since February 2026 some analytics can run without consent, but whether GA4 qualifies is not settled, so keep asking until someone has checked.
Read the evidence: Do you need a cookie banner before you can use analytics?11
You need a twelve-month SEO contract.
FalseUsually not
A long horizon is often right; a long lock-in that only protects the supplier is not. We sell fixed-price projects and say so.
Read the evidence: Do you need a twelve-month SEO contract?12
A bigger agency is safer than an independent.
Partly true
Safer against the work stopping when one person is away, and built for volume; not safer on continuity of people, insurance or data protection. We are an independent agency and say so.
Read the evidence: Is a bigger agency safer than an independent?
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