A lantern for Main Street.
Lantern is an AI-native directory for American small businesses. We help local shops, services, and operators get found by the AI tools their customers actually use — without pay-to-play games, ad auctions, or sponsored rankings.
A fairer local web.
Local search is changing — fast. We think it should change fairly.
For decades, the local web rewarded budget over merit. The business with the highest ad spend won.
That era is ending. AI tools — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and the rest — are quickly becoming the key source of local recommendations.
In this new AI era, the businesses that win will earn it through quality and trust. Not auctions. Not ads. Not the old games.
Lantern makes sure that quality wins.
How we operate.
Three commitments that shape every product decision.
- 01
No pay-for-play.
Lantern rankings reflect quality and are data-driven — powered by our transparent Lantern Score, never based on spend.
- 02
Partnership, not extraction.
We grow when local businesses grow. Our model is performance-driven and fully aligned. No commitments, complete transparency.
- 03
Built for AI, written for humans.
Every profile reads like a thoughtful neighbor wrote it — and parses cleanly.
We've helped thousands of small businesses win.
Jay Ashton
Jay has built multiple technology companies, including Revinate — a hospitality platform trusted by thousands of hotels worldwide.
He started Lantern after recognizing that AI has fundamentally changed how people choose local businesses, and that most owners don't have time to keep up. Lantern is their unfair advantage.
Matt King
Matt is a builder of communities and downtowns. Over two decades, he founded multiple real estate platforms focused on walkable urban centers and university towns — supporting local businesses by design.
He sees Lantern as the tool that lets local businesses compete in an increasingly crowded landscape.
The definitive AI-ready directory of American small businesses.
- Ranked lists
- 5,550+
- Categories
- 50+
- Locales
- 130+
- Businesses
- 90,000+
Business data is sourced from Google Places, verified customer reviews, and direct business partnerships. Every profile is structured with Schema.org markup for accurate AI citation. See an example: Best Wellness & Med Spas in Charlottesville, VA.