Recently, at the Cobalt Dealer Conference in Horseshoe Bay, Texas, I had an interesting conversation with a dealer. They were considering engaging with a company to create a massive number of location pages by creating a location page for every boat they sell to boost their SEO for “near me” phrases. While that might seem like a shortcut, I explained that it’s not the best long-term strategy. Instead, we discussed a far richer and more meaningful approach to local SEO—one that not only helps with search engines but also ensures you’re found in AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
The Problem with Mass-Produced Location Pages
While it’s tempting to create hundreds (or thousands) of similar location pages for every boat, as it’s so easy and cheap to do with AI, that is a strategy that can hurt more than help. It costs Google tens of millions to billions annually to visit or crawl web pages. Google has a limited crawl budget—it doesn’t want to waste time adding to their search engine or indexing low-value duplicate content content.
In fact, SterlingSky (a fellow SEO Agency) reported a client receiving a manual penalty after publishing over 3,000 location pages, even though each page had slightly reworded content. Why? Google considered them low-value, templated pages.
Search Engine Land echoes this warning:
“Local landing pages with duplicated content can be considered doorway pages, which are against Google’s guidelines.” (SearchEngineLand)
Worse, flooding your site with thin content can dilute your site’s overall quality signals. According to SEMrush, websites that reduced their number of indexed pages (by pruning thin content) saw significant improvements in traffic and rankings—proving that less can be more. (SEMrush)
Supporting Stats That Matter
- 46% of all Google searches have local intent
- 76% of people who search locally visit a business within 24 hours
- “Near me” searches have grown 500% over the past two years
- Businesses with complete Google Business Profiles are 70% more likely to attract in-person visits
- In 2025, 13.14% of all queries trigger Google’s AI Overviews—up from just 6.49% in January
Sources: Backlinko, Digital Silk, Pew Research, SEMrush
What to Do Instead: Quality Over Quantity
If you’re a dealership with multiple locations, it’s smart to have a dedicated, high-quality page for each physical location. But instead of creating templated pages for every surrounding town, shift your focus to meaningful content strategies like:
- Creating regional landing guides that speak to the people who make the community great, the culture, lakes, events or the activities in those areas
- Developing authentic community-focused content, like local event roundups or boating guides
- Highlighting real testimonials from customers and stories of where they boat
- Embedding schema-coded FAQs that clarify the towns you serve, distances from metro areas, and transportation tips
- Make sure your pages are fast loading and have engaging videos and local photography
Leverage Google Business & Bing Places
Rather than duplicating town pages, ensure each real location has a fully optimized profile on Google Business Profile and Bing Places. This helps search engines validate your local presence and improves visibility for “near me” queries—without risking penalties.
Bonus: Get Found in AI Results
Generative AI search platforms are changing the game. A 2024 research study cited by Search Engine Journal found that adding credible quotes, structured data, and statistics dramatically increased visibility in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity search answers.
(Search Engine Journal)
This means well-written content backed by trusted data is more likely to be referenced by AI—not just ranked by Google.
Final Thoughts
There’s no substitute for quality. Mass-producing templated town pages may seem like a fast path to traffic, but in reality, it’s a risky move that could sink your SEO. The best agencies that win awards for SEO results (like Mannix Marketing) will not engage in these practices. Instead, double down on content that’s local, useful, and rich with value. You’ll not only improve your rankings—you’ll build lasting trust with your local community and future customers.
