Who you gonna call? Not Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) support, as phone help was retired in 2021.

But don’t fret—there are a plethora of other places (both official and unofficial) to turn to for GBP help.

Whose job is it to solve issues?

A business listing that disappears from Google Maps… fake listings that push your one down in results… a run of negative reviews that you suspect aren’t real—any of these things can result in lost enquiries, bookings, and revenue. 

And while it’s understandable for these things to cause frustration (and even anger), we need to keep in mind that Google Business Profile is currently a free product.

As such, Google support staff are thin on the ground, and Google Product Experts that support GBP via the Google Business Profile Help Community do so for free.

So if you’re experiencing an issue, the first step is to be proactive in finding a solution for yourself. Start with guidance available from the Google support team and the GBP community.

After that, it’s time to turn detective—below we’ll run through a range of alternative GBP support channels, outline what they’re best for solving, and look at how to get the best out of each of them.

And remember! Karma reigns supreme—be straightforward, polite, and help others if you can. And, of course, always say thank you!

Google Business Profile Help Center

As I mentioned already, support from the actual GBP team is limited and has been for a number of years.

In the help center, you can browse information and GBP guidelines, all of which are organized by topic areas:

I’d suggest becoming familiar with these pages and checking back if and when you have an issue. The GBP landscape is far from static and Google will change their documentation as needed.

It’s particularly important to understand if you’re doing something that contravenes Google’s Terms of Service, for example:

• If you’re wondering why your listing got suspended—read ‘Guidelines for representing your business on Google’.
• If you’re wondering why your Google Business Profile products aren’t being approved—look at ‘Understand product approval’.
• If you’re wondering how to remove photos someone else added to your business profile—see ‘Manage photos or videos for your Business Profile’.

You should always check Google’s official guidelines first—please don’t waste others’ time by asking questions you could have answered yourself.

Google Business Profile Community

When you make a search describing your issue, Google will return results for both help center documentation and community forum posts.

Items marked with (1) are help articles, and items marked with (2) are community forum posts. Look out for ‘recommended answers’ as these have often been supplied by Google Product Experts or active and experienced community members.

If you can’t find an answer to your question, then Google suggests adding a new community forum post:

However, before you do this, I recommend first checking out the following potential avenues for solutions.

Also, don’t be tempted to tack your own issues onto an existing post. If you need to post (once you’ve exhausted the resources below) then you should create your own post with your own unique information.

Browse Local SEO Peeps on Twitter

You’re probably already following a bunch of Local SEO people on Twitter—if not then be sure to check out BrightLocal’s list of local SEO experts. If there’s a GBP bug going around, you’ll probably hear about it there.

You could ask a GBP expert for help on Twitter, but honestly, I’d go to the local SEO community first. I don’t envy Joy Hawkins (or indeed anyone else from the helpful local SEO community) for the number of tweets she gets asking for help, so do the nice thing and ask for assistance in the right place!

Check the Local SEO Content Archives

I’ve written in the past about the hubs of excellent content that are being produced around GBP issues. For example:

• How to avoid a GBP suspension when using a co-working space (BrightLocal)
• Why are my Google reviews not publishing? (Sterling Sky)
• How to avoid a GBP suspension by thinking about your customers first (Kickpoint)
• How to manage your Google review takedown requests (BrightLocal)
• GBP suspended? Here’s how to recover (Search Engine Journal)
• GBP—should I set a physical address or service area business? (Steady Demand)

Once you’re familiar with primary sources of great information, you can search within those sites using an advanced search operator:

site:brightlocal.com OR site:sterlingsky.ca “GBP” or “GBP” suspension

This asks Google to give me results from the BrightLocal or Sterling Sky websites for pages containing either “GBP” or “GBP” keywords, plus content related to suspensions.

You can use my custom local SEO search engine to search within my own carefully-curated list of trusted sites, or create your own search operator as needed.

Google Business Profile YouTube Channel

Google Business Support does have a reasonably active channel with some useful videos. I recommend taking a look to see if there’s a solution to your problem, for example:

• Transfering primary ownership of a business
• Requesting removal of customer photos
• Moving reviews across business profiles
• Fixing suspended business profile
• Flagging reviews in your account

Google Business Profile Social Channels

In the olden days, you could tweet or Facebook message GBP support and expect a reply. Sadly social support is now very limited, and you’re unlikely to get a reply from the social teams.

Google Business Profile Forms

Google has a number of task-specific forms that you can complete without having to contact support:

• Business redressal form—for submitting spam reports for Google Maps.
• Request reinstatement—if you’ve experienced a suspension and want to let Google know that you’ve fixed the issues.
• Request access to a listing—if you want to manage a listing that’s already claimed by someone else.
• Report issues with third-party food provider links—for example, if you’d like to remove Deliveroo (or similar) links from your Business Profile.
• Third-party violation report—for example if you’d like to report an agency for violating third-party policies.

Google Business Profile ‘Contact Us’

If you can’t find a solution via any of the sources above, then the next step is to contact the Google Business Profile team to ask for their direct support: https://support.google.com/business/gethelp

Alternatively, you can log into your GBP dashboard and select ‘Support’ from the left-hand side menu.

You’ll be asked to select the business you need help with and to describe the issue. Google will then give you a list of articles and community posts that it thinks might be helpful.

Click ‘Next step’ to continue with the process. Google will present you with one or more contact options, that—for me—currently only includes ‘email’:

You’ll then need to fill in a form with the following details:

• Issue type (select from drop down):

• Your relationship to the business
• Your email address
• Your phone number
• Business name
• Business address
• Maps link for the business
• Business website
• Describe the issue
• Add related case IDs (it might be that you’ve already been in touch with the same issue)

Be sure to keep a copy of your requests, as there’s no way to access this information after you submit the form to Google.

Once you’ve submitted the form, you’ll usually be given a case ID—make a note of this somewhere so that you have a record. You’ll also receive an email from Google to confirm their receipt of your support inquiry.

Read to the bottom of this email… don’t just file it away thinking they’ll get back in touch with you:

That’s right, you’re going to need to actively contact them again! If you’ve already written up your notes into a Google document then you can use this to shape your email reply and (hopefully) get the help you need.

Ask the Google Business Profile Help Community

If you haven’t found a useful answer or potential solution, then now’s the time for you to make your own community forum post. Be aware that if you go to the help community without following the ‘support’ steps above, they will send you there first.

Don’t be tempted to tack your own issues onto an existing post. If you need to post be sure to create your own post with your own unique information.

You’ll need to be logged in for this, and in order to get the best help possible I’d suggest using the following points to compose your post:

• Always make sure that you adhere to the Google Help Communities Content Policy.
• Make the subject line (1) brief and descriptive of your issue.
• (2) Explain your issue in full with clear details—but be concise! Show that you have read and understood Google’s guidelines, if applicable.
• If you need to include screenshots or links then it’s best to include this in a Google doc (named appropriately) that is viewable by anyone with the link. Just write a brief message outlining the issue in field 2 and then include the link to the Google doc.
• Include full details of your business name, your address if relevant, and your CID number (a unique identification number for that business on Google Maps) of the business listing. If your concern is about reviews, then include the account names of the persons leaving the reviews in question.
• For (3) choose the most relevant category for your post:

Run through the final steps (make sure there isn’t already an answer on the forum, specify which platform the problem is occurring on) and then you can go ahead and post.

See this example of a forum post that was quickly and expertly answered by a Gold Product Expert. You’ll be able to see all of the questions you’ve previously asked in your profile’s ‘Post history’ area:

Wrapping Up

There are a lot of options for getting help with your Google Business Profile… some via official Google help channels and some outside of them.

It’s up to you to fully investigate a solution before you contact official support—in this way, you’ll help protect limited resources so that they can deal with bugs and help everyone enjoy a better future experience.

Go forth and prosper!

The ‘activities’ module has been spotted on a range of business profiles including hotels.

Google Business Profiles now shows the Add "Acitivies" option for Hotel Category businesses. #GBPupdate #LocalSEO #SEO #googlebusinessprofiles@googlemybiz@rustybrick pic.twitter.com/qEBK9Byhnv

— Sohan Jain (@sohanjain) November 3, 2023

Though, personally, I have not yet seen this rolled out to hotels or accommodation categories.

If you have these buttons, lucky you! By adding your tickets or your activities, you’ll be able to secure a presence in any of the free ‘Things to do’ units that Google might be adding to your local knowledge panel. We’ll talk you through what this means below.

What is Google’s ‘Things to do’?

Google’s ‘Things to do’ program is part of Google Travel. It aims to make it easier for searchers to find and book tours, activities, and tickets based around Points of Interest (POIs).

A ‘Point of Interest’ is a place that someone might find interesting. For example, if you are on holiday you’ll find restaurants and places to stay of interest. If you’re looking to relocate to a new geographic area you’ll find schools, libraries, and hospitals of interest. 

Google Maps (as well as other platforms like travel apps, event apps, food and drink apps) uses POIs to help searchers find places that they are interested in. Your business on Google Maps (and indeed any of those other platforms) is a POI.

Since ‘Things to do’ is part of Google Travel, the POIs will consist of the types of business locations that have relevance—attractions, experience providers, restaurants, and hotels. If you’re involved with the Google Business Profile listing of any businesses like this, Google’s ‘Things to do’ program could very likely be making an appearance in your SERPs of interest.

There are both ‘free’ and ‘paid ad’ elements to ‘Things to do’.  This is how Google describes it:

“With Things to do, partners can surface their inventory via free listings and through a dynamic ad format. We encourage attractions, tour operators, and activity providers to work directly with their restech provider to take part.”

‘Things to do’ products are displayed in various formats across several surfaces. To simplify requirements they can generally be split into four different modules, 

• the Ads module, 
• booking module, 
• experiences module and 
• the operator booking module

It’s the ‘booking module’ (‘tickets’ in the NMX) and the ‘operator booking module’ (‘activities’ in the NMX) that we’ll focus on in this post. Both are free and can be populated by the business using the NMX.

‘Things to do’ and Third-party Listings

If you’ve been involved in digital marketing for hospitality businesses like restaurants and hotels you’ll be aware that OTAs (online travel agencies) and third-party platforms (such as DoorDash) can make paid or organic appearances in our business’s local knowledge panels:

Below: Ads in a hotel’s local knowledge panel

Below: Third-party providers making an appearance in Alinea’s local knowledge panel

It’s worth noting that there isn’t much we can do about the ads—if you have a third-party partnership and Google chooses to show third-party provider ads then beyond no longer working with third parties you don’t have much of a choice (check out the work of Tim Capper for more details on how hotels pull the short straw when it comes to free and flexible functionality).

Google Business Profile for Hotels: How to Set Up and Optimize Google Hotel Listings

Read More

At the time of writing, there is something that a business can do when Google includes an OTA or a third party in one of the ‘not paid for’ units. 

Businesses need to proactively monitor what is appearing in their local knowledge panel and make sure that they make the most of all opportunities to add their own content. In many cases, adding their own content will push those third-party listings further down and reduce the number of eyeballs and clicks that those third-parties can earn. The same can be said when they add their tickets or activities. Moreover, Google will add an ‘official site’ badge to the activities or tickets that you add:

Ticketing/Admissions: The ‘Booking Module’

The local knowledge panel for many attraction-type businesses will include a ‘ticketing’ section.

On a desktop it can look like this:

Click on the tickets link to see all of the ticketing options:

Note that if you have added your own activities, you’ll appear right at the top of the list, above the third-party listings that can populate this section.

Be aware that this module in Google search allows potential customers to quickly and easily compare entry ticket prices between the official ticket provider (you, as a business) and the OTAs. So, if you’re offering discounted rates to OTAs this won’t look appealing to potential customers, who are likely to click on a third-party listing if it appears to offer a cheaper rate.

This is what Google tells us about how these results are displayed:

“Tickets are ranked based on several factors, but mainly by price. Official tickets are given preference in the ranking. Ticket suppliers don’t pay Google to appear in these search results and can’t pay to influence their ranking.

Prices are based on standard adult entry and may vary depending on the specific ticket types, dates or eligibility for other discounts. Displayed currencies may differ from the currencies used to purchase tickets.”

All attraction businesses are eligible for ‘tickets’. If you are an attraction and you don’t have the option to add tickets you should contact Google Business Profile help. You’ll need to make sure that you’re following Google’s ‘Things to do’ general policies and price policies.

How do I add my own tickets?

Click on ‘tickets’ in the NMX. 

From here you can add your ticket options in these fields:

All of the data here must match what is on your product landing page—so make sure that the ticket name and the price are correct.

At this point only the ‘Adult’ visitor type is supported:

You’ll need to add a link to the relevant product landing page. Make sure that you add UTM tagging so that you can use Google Analytics to track visitors to your website from your ticketing links and any conversions that they go on to make.

Activities and Bookings: The ‘Operator Booking’ Module

The ‘Things to do’ operator booking module provides a way for tour operators to display their products on their own Google Business Profile entry. Alongside the tour operator products, tours provided by this operator via different OTAs are also displayed.

If you have activities showing in your local knowledge panel they’ll look like this:

Note that if you have added your own ticketing you’ll appear right at the top of the list, above the third-party listings that can populate this section. You’ll need to monitor your local knowledge panel to see which third-party listings are being pulled in. Click on ‘view more’ to see any additional options:

If you see the ‘activities’ button in your NMX or in your local knowledge panel, you can go ahead and add your own activities:

Just click on the ‘activities’ label and you’ll see this:

Click ‘get started’ to go to the first of 2 screens:

Complete all of the fields according to your product. Remember to UTM tag up your Booking URL link so that you can monitor visits and conversions in GA.

On the second screen:

You can upload a photo according to these guidelines (see full image guidelines here):

• Format: JPG or PNG. No animation.
• Recommended dimension: 2048 x 1366 px (or 1024 x 683 px)
• Minimum dimension: 300 x 300 px
• Maximum file size: 16MB
• Recommended ratio: 1:1 or 4:3
• Quality: Make the attraction or activity the focus of the photo. Use images that are sharp, well-lit, and true to life.

And, at this stage, you’ll also add the activity duration and language.

An Essential for Hotels and Attractions

Adding these ‘Things to do’ is a quick way to show both Google and potential visitors the options they’ll have. Not only that, but it gives you a chance to own the whole booking journey for your customer, helping skip those pesky third-party resellers and allowing you to drive more website visitors from your GBP.

For POI businesses in the relevant categories, it’s now a ‘not to be overlooked’ part of the Google Business Profile optimization.

It’s the longest episode we’ve ever released and for good reason! It’s a meaty topic with plenty to chew on, so step inside Marie’s mind and get the most up-to-date insights on Google and AI today.

PLUS we’re going live with this episode on the same day as Marie’s brand-new book (and accompanying workbooks) ‘SEO in the Gemini Era – The Story of How AI Changed Google Search’. Check it out for yourself now.

Listen to Learn:

• Why Marie thinks Google gave us the API leak data on purpose, and what we should and shouldn’t take away from it
• Why and how Gemini goes beyond other large language models
• Why SEOs shouldn’t be scared of the future of AI and SEO
• What skills will still be important in the new age of AI and search
• How the nature of search is changing, and how marketers can react to it
• How to become resilient to changes, and actually benefit from them
• A whole lot more, including how advancements in wearables and brain-computer interfaces will change the future

Watch the Video

Resources

• SEO in the Gemini Era – The Story of How AI Changed Google Search, by Marie Haynes: https://mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/
• The Creating Helpful Content Workbook, by Marie Haynes: https://marie-haynes-consulting-inc.ck.page/products/creating-helpful-content
• Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book, by Marie Haynes: https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
• How to Use Bard, by Marie Haynes: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-use-Bard-Prompts-skills-ebook/dp/B0CQBCYM2H/
• Google Devising Radical Search Changes to Beat Back A.I. Rivals: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/technology/google-search-engine-ai.html
• Ted 2014: Larry Page on Google’s robotic future: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26658892
• Marie’s Newsletter: https://www.mariehaynes.com/marie-haynes-newsletter/
• Marie’s Podcast, Search News You Can Use: https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12946477/feed
• Marie’s Training Services: https://www.mariehaynes.com/training
• Marie’s online community, The Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/feed
• Follow Marie on X: https://x.com/marie_haynes

We spoke to Amsive’s Dayna Lucio for the lowdown on how, particularly in more complex business models like franchises, it’s crucial for SEO and local SEO to work together for the best possible outcomes.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Understanding the intricate relationship between SEO and local SEO
• The challenges faced by franchises in managing their online presence
• Common misconceptions about local SEO
• Why domain management and backlink strategies are outdated
• Why you should focus on a more integrated and strategic approach to local SEO
• The importance of tailoring strategies to specific regions and cultural contexts
• …and much more!

Watch the Video:

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Claire Carlile is a Chartered Marketer (MCIM) and is BrightLocal’s Local Search Expert. Her work at Claire Carlile Marketing, where she helps businesses of all sizes make the most of the local search opportunity, allows her to provide real-world skills and expertise to what BrightLocal does.

Where to find Claire

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

About Dayna Lucio (Guest)

Dayna is an Sr. SEO Strategist at Amsive and has almost a decade’s experience executing and developing comprehensive strategies for multi-location and franchise brands. Her experience in local SEO has spanned a variety of industries including health, beauty and spa, fitness, home improvement, and more.

Where to find Dayna

• Website
• LinkedIn

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

• • Steve Wiideman on Navigating Big Brand Local SEO
  • Embracing AI with Marie Haynes
  • Crystal Carter on Powerful Applications of Schema Markup

Resources from this episode:

• Women in Tech SEO
• BrightLocal’s Local SEO Content
• Expert Shoutout: Joy Hawkins
• Expert Shoutout: Amanda Jordan
• Expert Shoutout: Lily Ray
• Delivering Local SEO as Part of a Wider SEO Strategy
• AD – BrightLocal’s Listings Visibility Study

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

We spoke to Women in Tech SEO’s Areej AbuAli about her experience building her global community of passionate and supportive women, what drove her to get started, what lessons she’s learned in the process, and what she’s still learning today. This is a must-listen for anyone trying to build a community of any kind—Areej really is one of the foremost voices on the topic.

What you will learn in this episode:

• The many and varied benefits of building a community for a brand
• How to establish rules and guidelines—and the importance of doing so
• How to make a niche community appealing to all
• Which brands are doing a great job with their communities
• How to celebrate exceptional members of the community—and deal with problematic ones
• How best to approach community monetization, if at all
• And much more!

Watch the Video:

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Claire Carlile is a Chartered Marketer (MCIM) and is BrightLocal’s Local Search Expert. Her work at Claire Carlile Marketing, where she helps businesses of all sizes make the most of the local search opportunity, allows her to provide real-world skills and expertise to what BrightLocal does.

Where to find Claire

• Website
• LinkedIn

About Areej AbuAli (Guest)

Areej AbuAli is the founder of Women in Tech SEO, a global digital marketing community. Founded in 2019, Women in Tech SEO has over 10,000 global members and 60,000 followers who connect through online groups and in-person conferences in the UK, Europe, and the USA. Areej is an international speaker, a Google Women Techmaker ambassador, and a UN Women UK delegate.

Where to find Areej

• Website
• LinkedIn

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

• • Steve Wiideman on Navigating Big Brand Local SEO
  • Embracing AI with Marie Haynes
  • Crystal Carter on Powerful Applications of Schema Markup

Resources from this episode:

• Women in Tech SEO Community: https://www.womenintechseo.com/
• “Community Building for Marketers” by Areej AbuAli – coming March 3rd, 2025: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Community-Building-Marketers-Connect-Engage/dp/1398616931/
• Buffer Community: https://buffer.com/community
• HubSpot Community: https://community.hubspot.com/
• Sanity.io Developer Community: https://www.sanity.io/exchange/community
• BrightLocal Local Pack: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thelocalpack/
• AD – Local Marketing Industry Survey: Agency Edition: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/local-marketing-industry-survey-agencies/

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile*.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

*Sadly, this is the last episode of Adventures in Local Marketing hosted by Claire Carlile. We thank Claire for all her hard work picking the brains of experts in the industry, and wish her the best for the future. The BrightLocal Podcast will be back in the new year—watch this space!

Host Claire Carlile is joined by George Nguyen from Wix to discuss how to develop content hubs for brands that want to build their authority and expertise—no matter the vertical.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Examples of brands with fantastic content hubs and brand publications
• How to overcome the challenges you’ll face when starting a content hub
• How to approach working with expert contributors
• How to make your brand publication sustainable in the long term
• The value of diversity in brand publications
• …and much more!

Watch the Video:

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Claire Carlile is a Chartered Marketer (MCIM) and is BrightLocal’s Local Search Expert. Her work at Claire Carlile Marketing, where she helps businesses of all sizes make the most of the local search opportunity, allows her to provide real-world skills and expertise to what BrightLocal does.

Where to find Claire

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

About George Nguyen (Guest)

George Nguyen is the Director of SEO Editorial at Wix. He creates content to help users and marketers better understand how search works and how to use Wix SEO tools. He was formerly a search news journalist and is known to speak at the occasional industry event.

Where to find George

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

Room 404

Find out what George puts in Room 404… rest assured, it’s a search phrase many will be happy to see/hear the back of!

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

• • Steve Wiideman on Navigating Big Brand Local SEO
  • Embracing AI with Marie Haynes
  • Crystal Carter on Powerful Applications of Schema Markup

Resources from this episode:

• Wix’s SEO Learning Hub
• Wix’s Podcast: SERP’s Up
• Wix Business Website Templates
• The Wix Playground in New York City
• Expert Shoutout: Darren Shaw
• Expert Shoutout: Krystal Taing
• Expert Shoutout: Celeste Gonzalez
• Expert Shoutout: Miriam Ellis
• Expert Shoutout: Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and David Mihm at Near Media

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

Host Claire Carlile is joined by Elizabeth Rule from Sterling Sky, to discuss what needs to be in your gameplan when working with a growing brand. They cover what to consider when acquiring another brand, the importance of getting the right information architecture, how reviews and reputation management impact the growth process, and so much more.

What you will learn in this episode:

• Common challenges with growing local businesses, and strategies to resolve them
• How to manage Google Business Profiles for a growing portfolio of locations
• How reviews can make or break rankings and reputation
• How good password management can boost efficiencies
• Pitfalls to avoid when expanding to new locations
• Factors to consider when expanding to new locations
• and much more!

Watch the Video:

Podcast episode timestamps:

00:00 – Intro

02:42 – Strategies for Scaling Local Businesses

06:22 – Acquiring and Rebranding Existing Businesses

08:55 – Managing Google Business Profiles for Multi-Location Growth

13:16 – Turning Negative Reviews into Opportunities

22:45 – Room 404: ‘Optimized for SEO’

25:16 – Preparing for Growth and Management of Passwords

31:46 – Pitfalls to Avoid in Expanding to New Locations

34:27 – Managing Google Profiles and Service Area Businesses

37:05 – Factors to Consider in Choosing a Location

44:50 – Proximity to Competitors and Google’s Local Filter

50:00 – Resources for Local SEO and Multi-Location Businesses

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Claire Carlile is a Chartered Marketer (MCIM) and is BrightLocal’s Local Search Expert. Her work at Claire Carlile Marketing, where she helps businesses of all sizes make the most of the local search opportunity, allows her to provide real-world skills and expertise to what BrightLocal does.

Where to find Claire

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

About Elizabeth Rule (Guest)

Elizabeth is an expert local SEO analyst at Sterling Sky. Over the years Elizabeth has been involved with many local businesses as they grow, both through the acquisition of other businesses and by the extension of their own offering as they build out their brick-and-mortar locations on a national scale.

As a Google Business Profile Product Expert, Elizabeth helps businesses crack the code to gain valuable visibility in local search and helps solve complex GBP issues. She is also a faculty member and speaker at the Local U SEO Conference.

Where to find Elizabeth

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

Room 404

Find out what Elizabeth decides to put into ‘Room 404’, as it makes their heart race, but for all the wrong reasons!

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

• Embracing AI with Marie Haynes
• Conversion mindset with Aaron Weiche
• Staying people-first with Julian Hooks

Resources from this episode:

• Sterling Sky’s content and research
• Local Search Forum
• Andy Simpson on X
• Krystal Taing on X
• BrightLocal Citation Builder – for citations at scale

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

Host Claire Carlile is joined by Melissa Popp to discuss how brands can connect with their local audiences through customer-centric storytelling. They also cover the importance of authentic and unique content, how to get buy-in from various departments, common content creation shortcomings for SMEs, measuring ROI, and so much more. Seriously, this episode is jam-packed!

If you are a local marketer looking for an effective way to connect and engage with your audience, this is a must-listen.

What you will learn in this episode:

• What is meant by the terms ‘local narratives’ or ‘storytelling in marketing’
• Why unique and authentic content is important in today’s SERP landscape, and the impact of the recent Google leak
• How ‘brand’ and ‘storytelling’ complement one another
• How to get that all-important buy-in from various departments
• What the common shortfalls in content creation are for SMEs (and even larger brands and enterprises)
• How to do storytelling at scale for multi-location businesses and how to effectively measure ROI
• Plus so much more…

Watch the Video:

Podcast episode timestamps:

02:16 – Explanation of ‘Local Narratives’

03:13 – Importance of unique content

03:29 – Google leak and its impact on unique content

06:15 – How brand and storytelling work hand-in-hand

07:49 – Content volume is the wrong metric

09:15 – Common content marketing shortfalls for SMEs (and larger brands)

14:27 – How tone of voice can be a challenge

15:40 – Melissa’s ‘Buyers Journey Process’ specific to SEO

17:47 – Finding your origin story

24:07 – The role of customer stories

25:00 – Being too hung up about keywords

26:10 – ‘Room 404’ segment

29:00 – How to do it at scale

35:00 – Measuring ROI

36:38 – ‘Recipe for Success’

About Claire Carlile (Host)

Claire Carlile is a Chartered Marketer (MCIM) and is BrightLocal’s Local Search Expert. Her work at Claire Carlile Marketing, where she helps businesses of all sizes make the most of the local search opportunity, allows her to provide real-world skills and expertise to what BrightLocal does.

Where to find Claire

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

About Melissa Popp (Guest)

Melissa is the Content Strategy Director at RicketyRoo. In this role, she oversees all content initiatives for clients and her responsibilities span from creating high-level content strategies to diving into the minutiae of content creation.

Melissa says she lives and breathes everything related to content. Writing has been her passion since she first picked up a #2 pencil, and she takes pride in making content relevant to readers and illustrating to clients how crucial this connection is for reaching potential customers.

Where to find Melissa

• Website
• X
• LinkedIn

Room 404 & Recipe for Success

“And every time someone says we’re going to _________, I love you all in this industry. But I want to punch each and every one of you in the face.”

Can you fill in the blank? Find out what Melissa decides to put into ‘Room 404’, as it makes her heart race, but for all the wrong reasons. She also shares her ‘Recipe for Success’ with storytelling.

Want more from Adventures in Local Marketing? We highly recommend checking out these episodes:

• Embracing AI with Marie Haynes
• Conversion mindset with Aaron Weiche
• Staying people-first with Julian Hooks

Resources from this episode:

• BrightLocal’s Brand Review Index
• Mastering Franchise and Multi-location SEO with Steve Wiideman
• Try BrightLocal FREE for 14 days
• Book your personalized BrightLocal demo
• Create Once, Distribute Forever by Ross Simmonds
• The Power of Local Narratives in Content Marketing by Melissa Popp
• Join Women in Tech SEO community

FAQs

Below, we’ve answered FAQs related to topics discussed in this episode. For a more detailed understanding, make sure to listen to or watch the episode.

How is storytelling used in marketing?

Storytelling in marketing is using an engaging or compelling narrative to communicate messages with customers. It’s an effective way for brands and companies of all sizes to connect on a deeper level with their audience.

Is storytelling a strategy?

Yes. Storytelling is one of the most effective and memorable ways to communicate with others. Many brands and organizations use storytelling in their marketing and content strategies, and achieve better results.

Why do brands use storytelling?

Done correctly, brand storytelling can help you stand out from your competitors. It’s all about crafting a compelling story that is authentic and engaging. One of the key goals of brand storytelling is to increase brand loyalty and advocacy.

What are the 5 C’s of storytelling?

The 5 C’s are commonly used to ensure the story being crafted is both engaging and compelling. The 5 C’s include Character, Context, Conflict, Climax, and Closure.

What is meant by customer-centric?

Being customer-centric, or adopting customer-centricity, is a strategy where brands put customers first, in order to create positive experiences and build stronger relationships. To be able to do this, brands and businesses need to understand customer’s situations, perceptions, and expectations.

About Adventures in Local Marketing

Adventures in Local Marketing is *the* podcast for local marketers, hosted by industry expert and popular speaker, Claire Carlile.

Claire chats to a smorgasbord of marketers from various different backgrounds, who each bring their unique insight into facets of the local marketing landscape.

Listen to Learn

• Why businesses often struggle to identify conversion events
• The importance of making a business easy to work with
• Why agencies should prioritize reporting on leads and conversions
• The role testing plays in optimizing conversion funnels
• What to look out for in Google Business Profile’s conversion points
• How authentic media and social proof can skyrocket conversions
• Aaron’s five quick tips for improving conversions

Watch the Video

Resources

• Follow Aaron on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaronweiche/
• Follow Aaron on X: https://twitter.com/AaronWeiche
• Check out the Leadferno blog: https://leadferno.com/blog
• The Leadferno podcast, Conversion Cast: https://leadferno.com/conversioncast

Listen to Learn

• Julian’s five-point guide to a customer-led strategy
• How to use customer insights and pain points to understand and serve customers better
• How to maintain customer focus as a business scales, and why communication is at the heart of it
• Which brands and businesses are getting customer-centricity right, and why it works for them
• How to use data and analytics to identify trends and address issues at a granular level

Watch the Video

Resources

Julian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianhooks/

Local SEO for Contractors, by Julian Hooks: 

Advertising Commissions LLC: https://www.advertising-commissions.com/

Asurion: https://www.asurion.com/

See Julian speak at BrightonSEO San Diego: https://us.brightonseo.com/talks/beyond-algorithms-customer-centric-seo-as-the-key-to-long-term-success

Get started with Search: a developer’s guide, from Google: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-started-developers

Rand Fishkin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/randfishkin

Rand Fishkin’s company, Sparktoro: https://sparktoro.com/

Nicole DeLeon on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicoleldeleon/

Nicole DeLeon’s company, North Star Inbound: https://www.northstarinbound.com/

Product-led SEO, by Eli Schwartz: https://www.elischwartz.co/book