Agent-Run AgencyAlex Rowan's build log · Beaverton, Oregon

I'm building a local lead-gen business with AI agents. So far it has made $0.

My agents work on their own computers. They research markets, build sites, audit local businesses and draft the outreach. I approve anything that costs money or leaves the building. This page is the log, including the parts that haven't worked yet.

You get the 9-page AI Agent Team Playbook and the occasional build update. One click to unsubscribe. I don't sell emails.

10 Oct 2026 · the numbers

Where it stands today

154local businesses audited (US and Australia)
78one-page mini-audits generated
10cold emails sent, first batch
4lead-gen sites live
$0revenue

Replies, leads and rankings: [PLACEHOLDER: none to report yet]. I'll update this when there's something real.

10 Oct 2026, ~7:20 pm SGT · sites live

Two rank-and-rent sites went live on 10 October

medfordseptic.com covers septic service in Oregon's Rogue Valley. roanoketreeremoval.com covers tree work around Roanoke, Virginia. They launched at 18 pages each. The same evening the agents added guides and more towns, and both are now 32 pages, hosted free on Cloudflare Pages. Two referral sites went up as well: sfdrainandsewerpros.com (26 pages) and preventhomeleaks.com (27). A fifth, a home-repair cost guide, is built but not live.

Screenshot of medfordseptic.com homepage
Screenshot of roanoketreeremoval.com homepage

Screenshots taken 10 Oct 2026. Yes, the button says "Call [PHONE]". There's no renter and no tracking number yet, so the placeholder stays until there is. The two referral sites have the same problem in a less obvious form: they show 555 test numbers, which don't reach anyone.

Every site ships with a sources file. Anything the agent couldn't verify gets hedged in the copy and listed separately, so I know what to check. This is the folder for the Medford site:

medfordseptic.com/
├── index.html
├── services/   septic-tank-pumping · septic-inspections-home-sales
│               septic-repair-drainfield · risers-att-advantex-maintenance
│               grease-trap-pumping
├── areas/      medford · central-point · white-city · eagle-point
│               jacksonville · phoenix-talent · ashland · talent
│               grants-pass · rogue-river · shady-cove · gold-hill
├── guides/     septic-alarm-what-to-do · signs-septic-system-failing
│               buying-home-with-septic-jackson-county
│               find-septic-records-jackson-county
│               septic-system-types-oregon · drainfield-replacement-cost-oregon
│               winter-wet-season-septic-care
├── septic-pumping-cost-rogue-valley.html
├── faq.html  about.html  contact.html
├── sitemap.xml  robots.txt
└── NOTES_sources.md   (verified vs. not verified)

File list from the live build (index pages in each folder not shown). 32 pages and about 22,100 words for Medford; 32 pages and about 20,300 words for Roanoke.

10 Oct 2026 · the mistake that almost went out

10 of 30 audits cited a problem the business had already fixed

The agents audited 154 homepages and turned the ones with real issues into one-page PDFs. Before sending, a second agent re-checked 30 of those sites live. A third of the PDFs mentioned something that was no longer true. Two prospects had nothing confirmed at all, so I dropped them.

Live homepage re-check, Oct 10 2026

2. Pest control, Knoxville TN: 2 confirmed
3. Roofing, Des Moines IA: 1 confirmed; PDF still mentions
   dropped issue: no reviews/testimonials mentioned on homepage
4. HVAC, Des Moines IA: SKIPPED, no confirmed issue
10. Roofing, Spokane WA: 1 confirmed; PDF still mentions
    dropped issue: no LocalBusiness schema markup

Excerpt from the verification report. Business names replaced with trade and city.

If I'd skipped that step, the first email those owners got from me would have been wrong. The verifier is now a fixed routine before every batch.

Sample one-page mini-audit generated for a fictional roofing business

What the generator produces, run on a fictional business. Real ones carry the prospect's own issues.

The rule

The agents don't spend, send, submit or publish without me

They can do almost everything else. They priced every tool I'd need and wrote it into a purchase list, and nothing on it has been bought. They pre-filled two pay-per-call network applications. Neither has gone in, because the identity, tax and bank details are mine to enter.

# Pay-per-call publisher applications: READY TO SUBMIT (NOT submitted)

First line of the applications file.

Some things are slower this way. The first batch of emails went out by hand after the scripted send timed out. I renamed the brand halfway through day one and the agents had to redo every template. Pick the name first.

The playbook

What's in the free PDF

It won't promise you rankings or income. Local sites take months to rank, and some never do. It's for small-business owners and solo operators who'd rather run a crew of agents than hire one.

The kit

Lead Site Crew Kit, $39

If you want the actual files behind the playbook: the agent briefs and approval gates, the routines, the site generator, the audit and re-check scripts, the outreach templates, the pay-per-call notes, the call tracker and a 10-page SOP. Client and prospect data removed.

It's the setup, not a result. My revenue is still $0, and sites take months to rank.

Buy the kit, $39

Sold through Gumroad. 30-day refund if it isn't useful to you.

About

I'm Alex Rowan. I run Manta Media, an email-only local SEO agency for service businesses in the US and Australia, and I'm documenting this build with screen recordings and voiceover. What readers say: [PLACEHOLDER: real quotes only, with permission].