Pete Gould · Founder & Architect
Building The Local Internet
Founder and architect developing a connected network for local information, business identity, digital discovery and AI — built around structured records, specialized surfaces and a growing digital namespace.
The Components
What I'm Building
The vision
The Local Internet
A connected Internet architecture for local information, businesses, places and discovery.
TheLocalInternet.comThe front door
The Local Start
The universal starting point for exploring The Local Internet Network.
TheLocalStart.comThe network
The Local Grid
The interconnected map of geographic properties, marketplaces, records, surfaces and infrastructure.
TheLocalGrid.comThe architecture
The Local Internet Stack
The underlying record, knowledge, visibility, citation, surface and agent infrastructure.
TheLocalInternetStack.comThe business identity model
One Business Record
One structured business record capable of supporting many discovery experiences.
OneBusinessRecord.comThe experiences
The Local Surfaces
Specialized digital experiences built around different ways people discover and interact with local information.
TheLocalSurfaces.com
The Model
One Record. Many Surfaces.
Instead of treating every website as an isolated destination, I'm exploring an architecture where structured business information can support many specialized digital experiences.
One Business Record
- Informed
- Organized
- Browsed
- Storefronts
- Reviewed
- Happenings
- Savings
- Featured
- Promoted
- Advertised
- Flow
Surface properties
The Local Internet Network
The project is broader than a collection of websites.
Geographic Network
USA → State → Region → City → Local
Connected Surface Network
Information → Discovery → Storefronts → Reviews → Events → Savings → Media → Promotion
Existing Marketplace Network
100+ independently deployed marketplace and discovery properties
Business Record Infrastructure
Structured identity and information
AI / Search Infrastructure
Machine-readable discovery, APIs, graph and agent-oriented architecture
Geographic Network
National architecture that can become increasingly local.
- 01USA
- 02State
- 03Region / County
- 04City
- 05Community
Origins
From Marketplaces to Infrastructure
The work did not begin with the newest Surface architecture. It evolved from an existing network of more than 100 marketplace and discovery properties.
The marketplace network was deployed independently over many years. Those properties are separate from the newer shared-data Surface architecture, and they do not all operate from the centralized Business Record infrastructure today.
Scale
Current scope
2,900+
Strategic domains
100+
Marketplace nodes
7M+
Existing listings
50-state
Namespace and geographic architecture
Multiple
Deployed Local and USA surfaces
These figures are indicators of the project's scope drawn from internal inventories and operating records. They are not valuation, revenue or market-share claims, and they change as assets and deployments evolve.
The Thesis
Domains Are the Namespace. Infrastructure Makes Them Useful.
A domain by itself is an address. A coordinated namespace combined with shared records, data, software, APIs, knowledge relationships and AI-assisted deployment can become something much larger.
- 01Strategic Namespace
- 02Structured Records
- 03Shared Data
- 04Platform / API / Graph
- 05Digital Surfaces
- 06Search + AI + Human Discovery
Founder Perspective
Why Local?
- Local information is still fragmented across thousands of disconnected systems.
- A single business maintains its identity in dozens of places, and none of them agree.
- Communities generate an enormous amount of genuinely useful information that never gets structured.
- Search is changing, and the results page is no longer the only destination.
- AI agents increasingly need information that is structured, understandable and attributable.
- A digital experience no longer has to be confined to one monolithic website.
The Local Internet is my exploration of what happens when these pieces are designed as a connected system.
The Story So Far
- 01Marketplace Network
- 02Strategic Namespace
- 03Business Records
- 04Shared Infrastructure
- 05Connected Surfaces
- 06The Local Grid
- 07The Local Internet
From individual marketplaces to an interconnected local Internet architecture.
Background
Builder. Technology Leader. Founder.
The architecture comes out of decades of running real infrastructure in environments where accuracy, continuity and accountability were not optional.
Professional background →- 25+ years in public-sector technology
- 13+ years of IT leadership
- Enterprise infrastructure
- Cybersecurity
- Technology strategy
- Project and portfolio management
- Business continuity and disaster recovery
- Enterprise systems
- Public-sector technology environments
- Major capital technology projects
- AI and automation
Founder Notes
From Pete's Notebook
All notes →Business Records
A listing can become much more than a listing
Why the Business Record — not the web page — is the right unit of local infrastructure.
7 min read
The Local Internet
AI didn't create the thesis. AI expanded it.
The Local Internet started with marketplaces, geography and domains — years ago.
6 min read
Strategic Domains
Geography is a namespace waiting to be organized
USA → State → County → City → Region → Community.
5 min read
In progress — not yet published
- Why One Business Record Matters
- From Listings to Records
- Why I Built TheLocalStart.com
- One Record, Many Surfaces
- Why the Local Internet Needs a Grid
- From 100 Marketplaces to a Connected Network
- Domains as Digital Namespace
- What Happens to Local Discovery in an AI-First Internet?
- Why Local Information Needs Structure
Want to See What I'm Building?
Don't start with the architecture. Start with the experience.
The front door to The Local Internet Network.