Plain answers about getting found.

You need three things that agree with each other: a product data source, a linked Google Business Profile with a store code, and store-level inventory kept current. The hard part is the third, forever, from a POS never built to export anything — which is the part Zachcart automates.

A live data connection between your POS and Google that publishes what's actually on your shelf — item, price, and count — and keeps it current as you sell. It's what unlocks "In stock" labels, the See What's In Store shelf, and eligibility for local inventory ads.

It's necessary, not sufficient. A profile proves your store exists; it says nothing about what's on your shelf. Product-level searches — the ones that end in a visit — resolve against inventory feeds. Without one, the answer goes to a store that publishes its stock, even one farther away.

The paid version of the same feed: your in-stock products placed at the top of results, pay-per-click. Google reports +21% store visits for retailers running them alongside Shopping ads (Google data, 2023–2024). Start with the free listings; add ads when you have budget and a reason. From August 31, 2026, Google enables them by default in eligible Shopping campaigns.

Search used to return links; now it builds the answer on the screen — and increasingly completes the purchase inside it. For local stores the bar moved: your inventory must be machine-readable and current, or you're not in the material the answer is built from. The customer didn't leave. The route to them changed.

Google ranks local results on relevance, distance, and prominence — and says plainly that a farther business can outrank a closer one when it's more likely to have what the shopper wants. Chains publish inventory, so they win relevance. Proving what's on your shelf is how a closer store takes it back.

Dark orders happen when apps sell against stale inventory. The fix is structural: a live feed from your register, so counts update within a minute of a sale and sold-out items drop off automatically. Ratings recover because drivers stop showing up for products that are gone.

The 11pm order goes to whatever store the app can verify. A live, SKU-level feed puts your shelf in that answer — brand, formula, and bag size included. The pet page covers the whole picture.

If it can track a sale, almost certainly — cloud systems connect by API, Windows and server systems by a remote connector. The POS directory answers for your system by name.