No, no. You need to try this one instead.
That it's the kind of place that's either exactly right for you or completely wrong, and there's not much in between
What structured identity looks like
I was staying at a hotel in east London a few months ago. First night, didn't know the area, wanted something to eat.
I did what most people do now. Asked my phone. Indian restaurant, nearby, good reviews. It gave me a place on Brick Lane. Photos of the food, a few lines about the menu. Fine.
As I was leaving, the concierge asked where I was headed. I told him. He paused for a second, then said: "No, no. You need to try this one instead."
He wrote down a name. It was about ten minutes walk past Brick Lane, past the places that are Instagram-famous now and always have a queue outside, down a side street that doesn't look like it's going anywhere. The kind of place you'd only find if someone told you about it.
He was right. It was much better.
When I got back that night, I looked the place up. I was curious what the AI would have said about it if I'd known to ask.
It knew it existed. Got the basics right. Location, cuisine, price range. "Authentic." "Popular with locals." A few lines pulled from reviews.
But reading it, you'd never understand why the concierge sent me there instead of Brick Lane. You'd never know that the owner decides what you're eating, or that the room is plain and loud and you'll end up talking to the next table. That it's the kind of place that's either exactly right for you or completely wrong, and there's not much in between.
Where the knowledge lives
The character of that restaurant exists. It's not a mystery. The owner knows it. The regulars know it. The concierge at a hotel ten minutes away knows it. Anyone who's been once and paid attention knows it.
But that knowledge lives in people's heads. It doesn't travel. When someone asks an AI for a recommendation, the AI can't call the concierge. It works with what it can see: a basic website, a couple of reviews saying it was good. Basic visibility.
The concierge knew in about three seconds that I'd like it there. He'd been sending people to that restaurant for years. He knew who it was for.
The AI knew it existed. That's not the same thing.
What it would take
For a place to be known to AI the way the concierge knows it, its character has to exist somewhere the AI can see. Not marketing copy. Not a list of features. Something closer to what the concierge carries: who this place is for, what it's like to be there, why someone would love it or leave confused.
The restaurant down the side street doesn't need more visibility. It needs its character to travel. In a form that means something to a machine, not just a person walking past.
The concierge has been doing that work for years, one guest at a time. The question is whether that knowledge can scale — whether it can reach the people who'd love the place but never thought to ask.