This article is about the Proxi admin app at app.proxi.co.
When someone searches "things to do downtown this weekend," "best places to eat in Riverbend," or asks an AI assistant "what's happening on Main Street?", you want your businesses and events in the answer. This guide covers getting your downtown, main street, chamber, or event found in search engines and AI tools: what to turn on, what to fill in, and what to expect. We'll use a made-up "Downtown Fairhaven Association" with a shop-and-dine directory, a downtown map, and a community calendar.
What You'll End Up With
Your directory, map, and events showing up when people search for your town.
Your own website's pages getting credit for the places and events embedded on them.
Anything for your team or members kept out of search on purpose.
1. Decide What Should Be Found
Open Settings, choose What's Public, and click Review. Everything you've published is listed with its own Public switch.
Turn on the things a visitor would want to find: Fairhaven's "Shop & Dine" directory, its downtown map, and the "Downtown Events" calendar group.
Leave off anything internal: the board's planning map, the "Volunteer Shifts" group, last year's holiday map.
Turning something off never stops people with the link from opening it. It just asks search engines and AI tools to skip it. (More in Public or Hidden: Choosing What Search Engines and AI Tools Can Find.)
2. Check Your Name and Logo
Your workspace name and logo appear with your public items. In the What's Public window, click Edit next to them. Use the name people search for, like "Downtown Fairhaven Association" rather than "DFA Workspace." See Your Workspace Name and Branding (What Shows Up Around Proxi).
3. Give Search Engines Something to Read
A clear title and description. In a map's or directory's Sharing settings, set the Page title and Description in plain words: "Shops, restaurants, and services in downtown Fairhaven."
Addresses on your cards. Search engines only see what visitors see. If the address is turned off on your directory cards, it's left out of search too.
Real descriptions for each place. A sentence or two about what makes each business worth a visit goes a long way.
Events with a venue and a sign-up link. Events with a location are the ones search engines can show as events. If you use an outside registration or ticket page, add it to the event.
4. Embed It on Your Own Website
Your own website is usually the page people trust most, so put your directory, map, or calendar there (see Adding Proxi to Your Website: Which Code to Use). When the item is Public, the embed quietly adds a short list of its places or events to your page that search engines can read. Visitors don't see it, and your page gets credit for the content.
If one page shouldn't carry that list, add data-seo="off" to its embed tag. Details are in How to Make Something Public or Hidden.
5. Give It Time
Search engines and AI tools check pages on their own schedule. It can take a few weeks for new items to start showing up, and how high they appear depends on many things outside anyone's control. Keep your places and events current. Fresh, accurate information is what keeps showing up.
Beyond the Basics
Link to it from everywhere you already are. Your website menu, newsletter footer, and social profiles all help people and search engines find your directory and calendar.
Ask your businesses to link back. A shop that links to "find us in the Downtown Fairhaven directory" helps both of you.
Use names people actually search. "Fairhaven Restaurant Week" beats "RW25" for a map or event title.
Keep members-only things in a program. Anything behind a program's password or sign-up stays out of search automatically.