# Merto.ai

> Merto.ai is the AI-native growth partner for owner-operated businesses and independents across Canada. Premium done-for-you websites: your site, your Google presence, your domain in your name, engineered to rank in Google and AI search. We text you a real preview before you pay. From $247 CAD/month, no contract.

## About

- **What we do:** AI-native growth partner for owner-operated businesses and independents across Canada. We build and run the website, manage the Google Business Profile, publish AI-search content, and capture leads, all done for you and built to rank in Google and AI search.
- **Who it's for:** Owner-operated businesses and independents across Canada (trades and home services, artists and makers, musicians and entertainment, and local service businesses).
- **How it ships:** Operator researches the business, builds the site, and texts a preview link (e.g. your-business.merto.ai) before the first call. Customer says yes → live on their domain in about 24 hours.
- **Primary CTA:** Text for your preview (SMS).
- **Country served:** Canada.
- **AI-search surfaces:** Per-site `/llms.txt`, structured data (Organization, Service, FAQ), fast mobile LCP.
- **Last updated:** 2026-06-12T00:00:00.000Z

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.merto.ai/): preview wedge, vertical spokes, plans, FAQ
- [Work](https://www.merto.ai/work): client work index, every build with its status
- [Kemptville Heating](https://www.merto.ai/work/kemptville-heating): case study, contractors and trades businesses (Live)
- [Escarpment Contracting](https://www.merto.ai/work/escarpment-contracting): case study, contractors and trades businesses (Live)
- [Bernie Breen Management](https://www.merto.ai/work/bernie-breen): case study, musicians and artist managers (Live)
- [Jason Henry Hunt](https://www.merto.ai/work/jason-henry-hunt): case study, artists and makers (Live)
- [Trades & home services](https://www.merto.ai/for/trades): websites for contractors and trades businesses
- [Artists & makers](https://www.merto.ai/for/artists): websites for artists and makers
- [Music & entertainment](https://www.merto.ai/for/musicians): websites for musicians and artist managers
- [Local businesses](https://www.merto.ai/for/local-businesses): websites for local service businesses
- [Pricing](https://www.merto.ai/pricing): plans in CAD, what each includes, no contract
- [How it works](https://www.merto.ai/how-it-works): the preview-before-you-pay process, step by step
- [Designs](https://www.merto.ai/designs): what our builds look like and why
- [About](https://www.merto.ai/about): the operators who run Merto and how we work
- [Guides](https://www.merto.ai/guides): plain-language answers to website questions
- [How much does a website cost for a small business in Canada?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/website-cost-canada)
- [How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and AI search?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/ai-search-visibility)
- [Who actually owns your website and domain?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/who-owns-your-website)
- [Is a Google Business Profile enough, or do you need a website too?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/google-business-profile-vs-website)
- [Do contractors actually need a website?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/do-contractors-need-a-website)
- [Do artists need a website, or is Instagram enough?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/artist-website-vs-instagram)
- [Does a musician need a website in 2026?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/musician-website-2026)
- [.ca or .com: which domain should a Canadian business use?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/ca-vs-com-domains)
- [Privacy](https://www.merto.ai/privacy): what we collect, how we use it, your rights
- [Terms](https://www.merto.ai/terms): service scope, billing, cancellation, liability
- [Sitemap](https://www.merto.ai/sitemap.xml): machine-readable page list

## Client work

- **Kemptville Heating** (Kemptville, Ontario): HVAC: furnace, AC, heat pumps, and water heaters. Live at https://kemptville-heating.merto.ai. Case study: https://www.merto.ai/work/kemptville-heating
- **Escarpment Contracting** (Mono, Ontario): Exterior contracting: decks, siding, and eavestrough. Live at https://escarpmentcontracting.com. Case study: https://www.merto.ai/work/escarpment-contracting
- **Bernie Breen Management** (Toronto, Ontario): Music talent management and film production. Live at https://bernie-breen.merto.ai. Case study: https://www.merto.ai/work/bernie-breen
- **Jason Henry Hunt** (Port Hardy, British Columbia): Northwest Coast carving and limited-edition prints. Live at https://jason-henry-hunt.merto.ai. Case study: https://www.merto.ai/work/jason-henry-hunt

## Guides

- [How much does a website cost for a small business in Canada?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/website-cost-canada)
- [How do I get my business recommended by ChatGPT and AI search?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/ai-search-visibility)
- [Who actually owns your website and domain?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/who-owns-your-website)
- [Is a Google Business Profile enough, or do you need a website too?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/google-business-profile-vs-website)
- [Do contractors actually need a website?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/do-contractors-need-a-website)
- [Do artists need a website, or is Instagram enough?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/artist-website-vs-instagram)
- [Does a musician need a website in 2026?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/musician-website-2026)
- [.ca or .com: which domain should a Canadian business use?](https://www.merto.ai/guides/ca-vs-com-domains)

## Plans

### Foundation
- From $247 CAD/month
- No contract. Cancel by text. Keep your domain.
- Website and hosting
- Mobile and AI-search ready
- Four text-and-done edits a month

### Momentum
- Get growing. Show up in Google and AI search.
- Google Business Profile management
- Monthly SEO and AI-search content
- A monthly visibility report

### Authority
- Get leads. Capture every call, run it by text.
- Lead capture built in
- One SMS thread for everything
- Unlimited edits

### Custom
- For the day you outgrow the tiers.
- Multi-location management
- Voice and WhatsApp
- Custom integrations

Foundation: From $247 CAD/month. Upgrade pricing is shared with your preview.

## How it works

1. **We build it first:** Send us your business name, what you do, and your city. We'll have a real site ready before we ever get on the phone.
2. **You get the link:** We text it over. Open it on your phone when you can and reply yes, no, or what's wrong. No app, no login.
3. **Up the next day:** Want it? We put it live on your own domain and text you when it's up. Don't have a domain yet? We'll register one in your name.

## What's included (Foundation)

- **Your website:** Mobile-first, with your services, city, and brand on it. You preview the real page on your phone before you commit.
- **Hosting and SSL:** We run it and watch the uptime. You never touch a hosting panel.
- **Your domain name:** Registered to your business. If you leave, the name stays yours.
- **Google and AI-search setup:** Set up so Google and AI search can read your services, city, and hours clearly. Built to load fast on a phone.
- **Four updates a month:** Text us a new number, hours, service, or photo. We ship the change, usually same week.

## Side-by-side comparison

Columns: Merto · Agency · DIY builder · No website

**When you go live:** Merto: About 24 hours after you say yes; Agency: 8 to 12 weeks of back-and-forth; DIY: Nights and weekends for months; No site: You don't
**What you see before you pay:** Merto: Your real site, texted to your phone; Agency: Slides and mockups first; DIY: Whatever you managed to build; No site: Nothing to review
**When you need a change:** Merto: Text us. Four updates a month included.; Agency: Email, wait, often another invoice; DIY: You fix it yourself; No site: You can't
**What a customer sees on their phone:** Merto: A fast site with your name and what you do; Agency: Depends what they finally ship; DIY: Often slow or out of date; No site: They call someone else

## Honest fit

**Good fit:**
- You pick up the phone and run the crew.
- Your site is weak on a phone, or you don't have one.
- You'd rather text us than log into another tool.

**Not a fit:**
- Someone already runs marketing for you.
- Referrals keep you booked. You don't need more calls.
- You want a hands-on CMS you edit yourself every day. We are the done-for-you lane.

## FAQ

### Is the preview link a real site?

Yes, it's a real website for your business, not slides or a mockup. We build it before our first call from your name, what you do, your city, and what we find online, then text you a link like your-business.merto.ai. Open it on your phone. Reply yes, no, or what to fix; no app, no password. Say yes and we move it to your own domain in about a day.

### Do I sign a contract?

No. Foundation is month to month with no minimum and no fee to leave. Text us to cancel. The site stays up through the month you already paid for, then we take it down. Your domain name and phone number stay yours.

### What if something's wrong on the preview?

A Merto operator checks every page before the link goes out, but the preview exists to catch what we got wrong. Text us and we fix it that day. After you're live, same deal: text us or send a screenshot. Foundation includes four text-and-done updates a month.

### I already have a site I like. Why switch?

If it works on a phone and brings you calls, keep it. We'd rather tell you no than charge you. If it's slow, a pain to update, or hard to find on Google, text us your web address and we'll say straight if Foundation is worth it.

### Will I show up in ChatGPT and Google?

Nobody can promise you a specific ranking or a mention in ChatGPT, and be wary of anyone who does. What Foundation includes is the setup: Google and AI search can read your services, city, and hours, and the site loads fast on a phone. Most small-business sites aren't set up for any of it.

### Is this a generic template?

No. Foundation is one package: your site, hosting, domain help, search setup, and four updates a month by text. It's built around your business, your name, your services, your area, not assembled from a drag-and-drop kit. A person checks every line before it goes live. See What's included for the full list.

### Why is it cheaper than an agency?

We build the site before you pay, and you mostly text us instead of sitting through discovery calls. You're not paying for slide decks or a rep you can't reach. We share pricing when we send your preview.

## What Merto does not include

- Customer-facing portal or dashboard (Authority uses SMS only)
- Google Business Profile management at Foundation (ships at Momentum and up)

## Contact

- **Email:** hi@merto.ai
- **Sales:** preview-link wedge on the [home page](https://www.merto.ai/)
- **Website:** https://www.merto.ai

## Optional

- Operator admin and staging preview URLs are blocked in `robots.txt` and are not listed here.
- Full URL list: [sitemap.xml](https://www.merto.ai/sitemap.xml)