Dealt with something similar when a friend put his bike shop online. He was pumped about the real customers at first. But then his phone wouldn't stop ringing with automated stuff. I mean, it got so bad he almost took the listing down. Idk if there's a good answer, maybe you just have to grin and bear it? Maybe it's just me, but that mix of good and awful calls seems to be the price of being found now.
Wondering if your friend ever found a fix for the bot calls. That noise must drive a small biz crazy. Did he consider a separate line just for the listing? Or maybe using an online booking form instead? Curious if the good calls were worth the hassle in the end.
Using a separate line like Google Voice really helped with the bot calls. I set it up to only accept calls during open hours, which cut down on noise. The good calls still came through, so it was worth the setup.
Actually, I used to think those bot calls were just junk you had to ignore. But after seeing how they spike right when your local listing gets traction, it changed my mind. It's like the bots find you the second real people do. I started screening everything through a simple menu prompt ("press 1 for service hours"), and the real customers don't mind. The robots just hang up.