Tips for a Winery's Content Marketing Approach: What to Fix First for Search, AI, and Guests
You don't need to overhaul everything at once. Focus on the right things, in the right order.
If you’ve read any of my past posts on SEO, AEO, and GEO, you may be wondering: where should I start? It can feel a little overwhelming at first, but the good news is that most wineries don't need a complete website rebuild. It’s more likely that a handful of specific, high-leverage fixes can help to turn things around. This is the practical marketing audit approach I use with clients to figure out exactly that: what's broken, what's missing, and what to tackle first for the fastest, most meaningful return.
Tier 1: The Fixes with the Fastest Payoff
1. Audit your Google Business Profile for accuracy and completeness.
Wrong hours, missing seasonal notes, and outdated photos are the single most common reasons a winery loses a visit before its own website is even seen. This is a 30-minute fix with an big return. It’s also not a one-time task, so be sure to check in and update your listing periodically (seasonally is a good schedule to follow).
2. Build or rebuild a genuine FAQ section — with schema.
If your site doesn't have a dedicated FAQ page that’s structured with clear questions, direct answers, and FAQPage schema markup, this is one of your highest-leverage single additions. It serves AEO directly and supports GEO and SEO at the same time.
3. Rewrite your most-visited page to lead with substance, not atmosphere.
Pick the single page that gets the most traffic (probably your homepage, or a "visit us" page) and check whether the first paragraph actually answers a concrete question, or whether it opens with atmosphere and adjectives. If it's the latter, this is worth fixing first.
4. Check consistency across your top three external listings.
Places like your Google Business Profile, your regional tourism board listing, and one major review platform are common listings. Confirm hours, your address, and core details to ensure that they are consistent everywhere. Inconsistency is one of the biggest things that undermines everything else on this list.
Tier 2: Worth Doing Well, Slightly Less Urgent
5. Give distinct experiences their own pages.
If you offer more than one genuinely different visitor experience (casual tasting versus a private tasting room, for example) and they're currently covered together on a single page, splitting them out lets each one rank and get recommended through AI search for its own specific searches. Remember, AI loves specifics and clarity.
6. Replace generic descriptive language with concrete specifics, site-wide.
Go through your core pages and flag every instance of language that could describe any winery (those generic words and phrases like "unforgettable," "world-class," "nestled in the heart of"). Replace each one with the actual specific detail it's standing in for.
7. Establish a simple review-request habit.
A consistent, low-friction ask at the end of a strong visit (it could be verbal, on a receipt, or in a follow-up email) does more over time than any one-off review campaign.
8. Add a light, regular posting cadence to your Google Business Profile.
New wine releases, seasonal happenings, upcoming events etc. are the types of things that are just enough content to keep your Google Business Profile signalling that it's actively maintained. Don’t leave stale or outdated content on the profile. If anything you post is time-dated, remember to go back and delete it later. For that reason, you may want to avoid any content that risks becoming dated, if you don’t have someone who will remember to check back regularly.
Tier 3: Building Real Depth
9. Develop content around real recommendation scenarios.
Content built around who a specific experience is genuinely best for — a milestone celebration, a first-time wine visitor, a quiet solo afternoon — is exactly what performs best for GEO (AI). It takes real thoughtful intent to get this right and ensure that it’s in line with your unique value proposition. But the pay-off can be significant if you can get recommended in AI searches.
10. Pursue genuine third-party corroboration.
Local press features, solid entries in regional wine guides, and consistent detail across review platforms all build the kind of cross-source credibility that AI search platforms weigh heavily. This is a slower process and it’s less within your direct control, but it compounds over time and shouldn’t be skipped. AI is the future of search, so invest the time, effort and thought now and not later.
11. Revisit this checklist periodically, not just once.
Search behaviour, AI tools, and your own offering will all keep changing. Treat this as a recurring quarterly or biannual pass, not a one-time project.
If this Feels Overwhelming, Start Small
You don't need to execute all 11 items before you see results. The first four alone — an accurate Google Business Profile, a genuine FAQ section with schema, a substance-first homepage, and consistent external listings — cover the highest-leverage ground and are achievable in a matter of weeks, not months.
If you'd rather have an outside, experienced eye look at exactly where your specific site and profile stand against this list — what's already working, what's costing you visibility, and what to prioritize first — that's precisely what my Marketing and Brand Audit is built to identify.
See more posts about digital marketing for wineries.
Mike Belobradic is a winery and tourism marketing consultant based near the Niagara wine region, with 30 years of executive marketing and brand leadership experience (including senior roles in high-net-worth wealth management and luxury travel). He holds WSET wine and spirits credentials, has formal culinary training, and is a KCBS-certified barbecue judge.
FAQ
Do I need to do all of these marketing items at once?
No. The first four items — Google Business Profile accuracy, a genuine FAQ page with schema, a substance-first top page, and consistent external listings — deliver the fastest return and are a reasonable place to begin.
How often should I revisit this checklist?
A seasonal or biannual review is reasonable for most wineries. Search behaviour, AI tools, and your own offerings probably change enough over that timeframe to warrant a fresh look.
What's the single most commonly missed item on this list?
FAQ schema markup. Many sites have FAQ-style content, but never add the structured data that lets search and AI systems actually recognize and use it. It’s not the single most important thing, but it’s an easy one to do within your own control.
Can I do this myself, or do I need outside help?
Much of it is genuinely doable in-house with time and attention (and by someone with some marketing expertise and experience). An outside audit tends to be most valuable for spotting the inconsistencies and gaps that you can't easily see from inside your own business, and for setting up a roadmap for you to follow for future ongoing success.