A social media business page on the left and a simple five-page business website on the right, joined by an arrow labelled home base.
Social media is where conversations happen. A website is where the facts live, and where search engines and AI assistants go to check them.

Many small businesses start on Facebook, and that is a sensible choice. It is free, your first customers are probably already there, and you can post a photo of your work in a minute.

The question usually comes later. Work is steady, but new customers mostly come from people who already know you. You start to wonder whether a website would change that, or whether it is just another thing to pay for.

The short answer: a Facebook page is enough only while nearly all your customers come from people who already know you. Once you want strangers to find you through Google or an AI assistant, you need a website. It does not replace Facebook. It gives Facebook somewhere to point.

When is a Facebook page enough on its own?

A Facebook page can be enough when three things are true. Your customers come mainly from word of mouth. You are testing an idea and not yet sure it will last. And you already have more work than you can handle.

A weekend market stall, a new side business or a tradesperson booked out for months may fit this. In those cases, spend your time on the work, not on a website.

The picture changes when you want customers who have never heard of you. Those people do not start on Facebook. They type a question into Google or ask an AI assistant, and the answer comes mostly from public websites.

Who really owns your Facebook page?

Meta does. You control what you post, but the platform, the rules and your access all belong to Meta. Its terms of service say it can suspend or disable accounts that break its rules or community standards.

Most businesses never have a problem. But accounts do get locked after a login alert, taken over by a scammer, or flagged by an automated check. Meta's terms also say it may disable an account if someone else used it and the owner cannot prove it is theirs. While you wait for support, your reviews, photos and messages are out of reach.

A website on your own domain name works differently. You can change hosting providers, move the content, and keep the same address on your business cards. It is the one place online that you rent on your own terms.

Can Google and AI assistants read your Facebook page?

Only partly, and often not at all. Search engines and AI tools rely on crawlers, programs that visit public pages and read them. A site's robots.txt file tells those crawlers which pages they may read.

When we checked in September 2026, Facebook's robots.txt file allowed a list of named crawlers, including Googlebot and Bingbot. It then blocked every crawler not on that list. OpenAI's search crawler, OAI-SearchBot, was not on the list.

OpenAI says OAI-SearchBot is what surfaces websites in ChatGPT's search answers. So a business that exists only on Facebook gives ChatGPT very little of its own to quote. The assistant has to rely on directories, reviews and whatever other people have written.

Even where crawling is allowed, visitors who are not logged in often see a login prompt instead of your posts. We explain the wider picture in where AI tools get their facts, and you can test your own business with our 10-minute ChatGPT test.

Can new customers find the answers they need on Facebook?

Usually not quickly. A Facebook page is a feed, so the newest post sits at the top. Your prices, service area and booking steps slide down the page and out of sight within a week.

Someone comparing three businesses wants direct answers. What do you do? Where do you work? Roughly what does it cost? How do they book? If they have to scroll through posts to find out, many will ask the next business instead.

A website gives each answer a fixed home. One page for each main service, one clear contact page, and a short FAQ. These are also the pages Google and AI assistants quote, which is why we recommend writing service pages that AI tools understand.

Does a Facebook-only business look trustworthy?

For small jobs, often yes. For larger jobs, it can raise a quiet doubt. This is our opinion from working with small businesses, not a measured result, but it comes up often.

A customer about to spend a few thousand dollars wants to see a real business: a clear name, a way to contact you, proof of past work, and an email address that matches your own domain. A Facebook page can show some of this, but it looks the same as every other page on the platform.

A simple website with your own name, real photos and plain answers shows you plan to be around. It needs to be clear, not fancy.

Can you see what brings in enquiries?

On Facebook, you see likes, reach and messages. You do not see what people searched for before they found you, or which questions they had before they got in touch.

With a website, free tools such as Google Search Console show the searches that lead to your pages. Google Analytics shows which pages people read before they send an enquiry. Our guide to tracking AI traffic explains how to see visits from ChatGPT and other assistants too.

What is the smallest useful website?

Five pages are enough for most small businesses to start. You do not need a blog, an online shop or dozens of pages.

  • Home: what you do, who you do it for and where, in the first two sentences.
  • Services: one short page for each main service, with what is included and a rough price guide.
  • About: who is behind the business and why customers can trust you.
  • FAQ: the five questions customers ask most, answered in two or three sentences each.
  • Contact: phone, email, service area, opening hours and a short enquiry form.

Most of the words already exist in your Facebook posts and your replies to customer messages. Copy the best answers across and tidy them up. Our small-business website checklist covers the finer details.

This is the kind of site Green Kauri builds with its websites service. You answer a few simple questions, we create the pages, and the plan costs USD 99 a year. You do not need to know the technical parts.

How should Facebook and your website work together?

Give each one a separate job. Facebook is for conversation: new photos, quick updates, replying to comments and messages. The website is for facts: services, prices, area, contact details and answers to common questions.

Then connect them. Put your website address in your Facebook page's details. Link your Facebook page from your website. When a post mentions a service, link to that service page instead of repeating the details in the comments.

Keep the facts identical in both places. If your opening hours, phone number or service area differ between Facebook and your website, search engines and AI tools may not know which to trust. Update the website first, then the page.

What if you already have a website nobody visits?

Then the problem is not Facebook. It is usually that the website is too general, has one page covering every service, or cannot be read clearly by Google and AI tools. We cover the common causes in why a website does not get traffic.

Improving an existing site so search engines and AI assistants understand it is what we call xEO optimisation. It covers SEO, GEO, AIO and AEO together. You do not need to start again.

Which official sources support this guidance?

Facebook page vs website FAQs

Do I need a website if I have a Facebook page?

You need one if you want new customers to find you through Google or AI assistants. A Facebook page works well for people who already know you. A simple website on your own domain gives search engines and AI tools clear, public facts about your services, area, prices and contact details.

Can Google find my Facebook business page?

Sometimes. Facebook allows Googlebot to crawl parts of its site, so a page may appear when someone searches your exact business name. It rarely appears for broader searches such as a service in your town. For those searches, Google usually shows business websites and its own business listings.

Can ChatGPT read my Facebook page?

Usually not directly. When we checked in September 2026, Facebook's robots.txt blocked crawlers that were not on its approved list, and OpenAI's search crawler was not listed. ChatGPT may still mention you using directories, reviews and other websites, but your own words mostly come from your website.

Should I stop using Facebook once I have a website?

No. Keep Facebook for conversations, quick updates and photos of recent work. Use the website for facts that should not get lost in a feed. Link each one to the other, and make sure your phone number, hours and service area match exactly in both places.

How much does a simple small-business website cost?

Costs vary widely, from free builders you set up yourself to custom designs costing thousands. Green Kauri's website plan costs USD 99 a year and includes mobile-friendly pages with search and AI optimisation built in. Whatever you choose, ask what the yearly cost is after the first year.

Once people can find you, the next step is replying well. Green Kauri can build a custom AI agent that gives every website or Facebook enquiry a fast, useful first reply while you are busy with work.