Local SEO can mean a lot of things. For the sake of this article, it refers to organic visibility in Google Maps via the Local Pack. Or, more plainly, your Google Business Profile (GBP).

GBP is particularly relevant today because small businesses are losing organic clicks from top and mid-funnel queries to AI Overviews (AIO). For any business or marketer, fewer clicks means less data. For these small businesses, it can mean fewer leads, too.

In other words, showing up for bottom-of-funnel search queries is more important than ever. For local businesses, those queries are the ones driving prospective customers to the Local Pack.

How AIOs Impact SMBs: A Quick Look at 2025

For a lot of businesses, clicks go down as AIOs take over relevant search engine results pages (SERPs). This is true even if the business ranks well in the overviews, as the business referenced below does. While some AIO citations result in clicks, many do not.

Correlation is not causation, but this is not an isolated example. SMBs are seeing fewer clicks across the board, and it’s not difficult to guess why.

GBP is a Critical Source of Leads for SMBs

The bright side is this: GBP remains a critical source of leads for SMBs. In fact, I’ve seen about 10-15% more calls come through GBP compared to pre-AIO times.

Additionally, first-time calls to businesses with aggressive marketing packages saw their Google listings start to drive more leads than their organic website traffic (which was unusual for the businesses I work with, historically).

With the advent of AIOs, GBP has overtaken organic search for phone calls by a margin of about 12%.

Small Business Local SEO 101: Make Patterns, Not Big Changes

SMBs need an actionable and consistent approach to GBP. We’ll dive into tactics in a minute, but for now, I want to focus on the right approach: Don’t look for one “big” change to fix everything. Look for small improvements and iterate on them.

Google actually encourages this approach with on-site SEO in its SEO Starter guide. It says “…if you’re not satisfied with your results and your business strategies allow it, try iterating with the changes and see if they make a difference.”

This statement isn’t about GBP, but the same principle applies. Don’t chase the big fixes; instead, iterate on the small ones to create a positive pattern.

This includes things like:

• Posting regularly, in a natural cadence that reflects your business’s updates, events, specials, etc.
• Gathering reviews over time, naturally, and in a way that reflects customer experience
• Consistently reviewing changes to your GBP data and keeping it fresh, accurate, and updated
• Responding to reviews consistently, over time
• Responding to customer questions in the Q&A section as they are asked
• Keeping your website updated with relevant content and information

Let’s Talk Strategy: Tactics that Customers (and Google!) Love

So, what patterns should you create? And which tactics create them? The simple answer is this: Focus on the things you can control, or at least try to.

Below, I’ve listed what I consider the more important local SEO tactics for small businesses. Some of them may seem obvious; others not. But they’re all important, especially when taken as part of a larger strategy.

Keep Your Profile Updated & Accurate

This one’s pretty obvious: it’s important to keep your business information updated and accurate. Not because it’ll help you rank, but because it’s a good customer experience. (And because customers will get annoyed if your information is wrong.)

A 2023 study from BrightLocal found that 62% of consumers would not use a business if they found incorrect information about them online.

It’s also completely within your control and could impact whether or not a customer is able to find or call you. Thus, it’s worth noting.

Describe Your Business Accurately (Don’t worry about the SEO)

As a general rule of thumb, make sure your GBP accurately reflects your business as customers experience it in the real world. This means filling out every field in your profile and adding as much detail as GBP allows, including your business description.

Here are a few best practices for the description:

• DO fill out your business description with as much helpful information as possible, so customers can see what you’re about.
• DON’T use keywords in your description or try to cater to what you think Google wants.

Keep Your Photos Updated (and Helpful)

Include photos of your business storefront so customers know what it looks like from the street or parking lot. Add pictures of the inside, too, so they know what to expect when they get there.

Update images if something changes. This is especially relevant for businesses (such as restaurants) that change their menu frequently. Service-based businesses, such as law firms, may not need to update their photos as often unless something at the business location changes.

A few things to avoid:

• Stock photos
• Geo-tagging your images
• Low-quality images
• Outdated images

Show Customers What You Have to Offer

If it’s available for your business type, add products and services to your listing.

Products are detailed snapshots of what you offer; services are more like a menu of what you do.

I find the products feature particularly valuable because you can add a detailed description, image, and link to a related page on your website from the product listing. Even for service-based businesses (like law firms or dentists), “products” are a great way to give customers more information about how you can help them.

Prep for GBP Suspensions Before They Happen

Google Business Profile suspensions are a hassle. Prepare for them in advance. There are two types of suspensions: hard and soft suspensions. A soft suspension keeps you from editing your business information; a hard suspension completely removes it from SERPs.

If your listing gets suspended, you can appeal it and submit evidence for reinstatement.

Here’s a quick list of what you should have on file to make sure you can appeal your listing quickly in the unfortunate event of a suspension:

• Business registration
• Business license
• Tax certificates
• Utility bills (Internet, phone, water, etc.)

I also recommend keeping a picture of their storefront with signage on hand as well.

Reviews, Reviews, Reviews

Treat reviews like an ongoing part of your business operations and request them consistently.

The number of reviews and average star rating are important, but velocity (how often people review your business) is also important. If you can, I recommend using review management software, such as BrightLocal, GatherUp, or Podium, to request reviews.

A few best practices and notes regarding reviews:

• It’s okay if your star rating isn’t 5/5. People know you’re not perfect, and a 4.8/5 can look more authentic to customers anyway.
• Respond to reviews. Be kind and don’t get defensive. If you’re able, offer to fix the problem. If not, let the customer know you’ll do better next time.
• If a review is fake or harassment, do not respond to it; instead, report it to Google so it can be removed.
• Do not have your employees leave reviews! Only reviews from real customers count.

Perfect Your Intake (Make Every Lead Count)

It’s easy to treat your digital marketing as something separate from your business’s day-to-day operations. Once you get a lead or someone walks through the door, your Google Listing has done its job, right?

Kind of. The next step is just as important, though. When you get a lead (call, form, text), you need to make sure that prospective customers have the same helpful experience they got online. If you can, audit your intake (you’ll need call tracking for this!) and coach your team on how to work with prospective customers/clients when they reach out.

The goal is to turn leads into revenue, and that only happens when the lead converts.

Track everything really well (call Tracking, UTM codes, etc.)

Speaking of call tracking, if your business gets leads over the phone, use call tracking software on your website and your Google listing. Call data is part of your local SEO Strategy.

Set up call recording (if permitted by local laws) and pay attention to the origin of your calls.

Additionally, make sure to add UTM tracking codes to your Google listing and any links on it (appointment link, product link, website link, etc.). I won’t go into too much detail here, but this resource from Claire Carlile has everything you need to know (including a template!).

What about directory listings (other than GBP)?

“Local SEO” used to be synonymous with “directory listings,” and the general rule of thumb was this: The more, the merrier! Today, it’s more closely associated with Google Maps optimization, and it’s worth asking whether other directories are worth the time and money it takes to stay listed in them.

Not long ago, I revised my approach to these third-party listings and removed clients from many of them. Here’s what happened:

• Rankings did not go down (they went up, on average, for important terms)
• Leads did not go down (they went up, on average, for most clients)

This doesn’t mean directories don’t have their place, but syndicating your business information to 80+ listings that will never be indexed or seen by humans simply is not needed to achieve local SEO success.

When Third-party Directory Listings Really Matter

Local SEO is still SEO, so “it depends” applies even to third-party directory listings. There are a few technical instances in which directories are relevant, and not just for your ideal clients:

New Businesses

I’ve worked with some new businesses that struggle to get their Google listing verified because they are so new.

If your business falls into this category, consider getting it listed in more directories than I recommended above. Listings that come with a unique profile that Google can index are best. Syndicating your data to many publishers is one way you can show search engines that your business is, in fact, “legit” and has some semblance of an online footprint.

Website Indexation

The same goes for new websites (often associated with new businesses).

In recent years, I’ve seen new domains struggle to get indexed without the help of some third-party mentions. Directory listings are one way to encourage crawlers to engage with your site.

Of course, your website needs to include some kind of value and helpful content, too, but getting onto directory listings can help move the indexation process along.

Address Changes

Changing an address in GBP can be really easy, but it can also be tough if Google deems the change unreliable. Having additional listings (ones that are easier to update, ideally) with the new address in place can increase the likelihood of Google accepting the change quickly.

LLMs Use Listings for Business Information

Kate Herbert-Smith, Digital Learning Manager at BrightLocal

BrightLocal’s research from July 2025 found that AI has bought citations and listings back into a more prominent position. While their importance had been waning for a few years, LLMs now use them as a regular source of information for your brand.

A few of our findings:

• Yelp is used as a source in a third of all searches, and often multiple times in one search.
• LLMs use reviews from Yelp, Google Business Profile, and other sources to get additional rich information.
• LLMs also take information from social media channels.
• Businesses own websites are incredibly important sources for LLMs.
• Industry niche directories are a regular source of information.

Read the full study

Your On-site SEO Matters, Too!

Your website is part of your local SEO strategy, too. Not only because it can rank for local queries, but also because your website optimization can impact your performance in Google Maps.

It goes without saying that for your GBP to reap the benefits of an optimized and authoritative website, you need a live website to optimize. But research shows that only 40% of SMBs said they had a dedicated website for their business.

Here’s an example of how an active website can impact your local SEO:

I encountered a business not too long ago that wasn’t new, wasn’t indexed except for the home page. Additionally, Google refused to display their website on GBP (would deny the update every time). Initially, the clear problem was thin content. However, the site encountered the same issues after that was fixed.

After checking the site’s technical elements (robots.txt, internal links, etc.), I noticed unsavory backlinks in the client’s backlink profile and submitted a disavow file.

Within two weeks, the site was indexed, and the firm’s visibility in Google Maps increased by 44%. Calls followed a similar pattern:

In short, the relevance of your website impacts the relevance of your Google listing.

If you’re interested in how to structure your website for local success and how to optimize your service pages, check out my course on mastering service page optimization from BrightLocal Academy.

Conclusion

SEO is iterative, and local SEO is no exception. Don’t look for one big lever you can pull and walk away. GBP isn’t a slot machine. If you treat it like one, you’ll end up disappointed. Look for the little things you can do consistently (and well!) that pile up over time. That’s how you win.

The good news, though, is that Google Business Profile will play a key role in what comes next.

As he put it:

“Google Business Profile is the digital storefront. It’s the point of truth across Google Search and Maps.”

From Keywords to Conversations

According to Riaz, search has moved far beyond “pizza near me.” Today’s customers type, or speak, more nuanced queries: “find me a gluten-free deep-dish pizza with vegan cheese that I can enjoy on a dog-friendly patio.” These conversational searches carry more context and more commercial intent.

“We’ve gone from people typing ‘pool cleaning’ to asking ‘why is my pool green and how do I fix it?’ Search is becoming more conversational and contextual.”

For businesses, this means two things:

1. Your visibility depends on how complete and accurate your information is.
2. Customers are closer to taking action when they find you.

Search Without the Search Box

Riaz pointed to Google Lens, Circle to Search, and AI Overviews as proof that discovery is expanding. One in five Lens searches already has purchase intent.

“One in every five Lens searches has commercial intent. That’s a huge opportunity for businesses.”

Add to that AI summaries at the top of results, and even AI Mode, which reasons through complex questions, and you have customers discovering businesses in entirely new ways. 

Local businesses can no longer rely solely on text-based search. Visibility now requires being present in images, summaries, and AI-driven conversations.

Google Business Profile: The Digital Storefront

Despite the buzz around new AI features, Omar stressed the central role of the Google Business Profile. He described it as the “point of truth” across Maps and Search, and now, increasingly, across AI-driven results.

“Businesses with complete profiles see up to seven times more clicks than those without.”

Complete profiles, with categories, attributes, hours, and rich visuals, are far more likely to surface in conversational queries. In other words, GBP is no longer just a listing; it’s the storefront through which AI introduces your business to customers.

For practical steps, see our guides on Google Business Profile optimization.

SEO Isn’t Dead, It’s Evolving

Riaz was clear: don’t throw away your SEO playbook. The fundamentals still matter — crawlability, technical health, and unique content remain the foundation.

“The fundamentals of SEO are even more important now than before. The goal is still to help people find outstanding original content that adds unique value.”

But in an AI-first world, the yardstick is shifting. Success is measured less in raw clicks and more in engagement, conversions, and loyalty. For marketers, that means rethinking what performance looks like — focusing on outcomes, not just traffic volume.

Our Local SEO Checklist can help make sure you’ve got the essentials in place.

2025 Priorities for Local Businesses

Looking ahead, Google is steering businesses toward four key content priorities:

• Messaging and chat: adding WhatsApp and SMS directly into GBP.
• Social integration: linking Instagram, YouTube, and X to build authenticity.
• Google Posts: using posts as part of an active social strategy.
• Structured menus and ordering: especially for restaurants and cafés, where customers expect to browse and book without friction. For more, check out our restaurant SEO guide.

“We’re advising businesses to treat Google Posts as part of their social strategy — updating at least once a week improves visibility.”

The thread running through all of these? Freshness, completeness, and authenticity. Google wants GBP to be an active channel, not a static listing.

The Data Gap and What Comes Next

One audience concern resonated: visibility into AI traffic. Right now, tracking is limited. While Omar acknowledged this frustration, he noted that these are very new products, and analytics will evolve.

“AI Mode has only just launched in over 180 markets. Tracking and analytics will evolve, but right now it’s still very new.”

For now, his advice was to double down on what’s within your control: strong content, complete business profiles, and consistent engagement.

Google Doubling Down

Omar Riaz’s session underscored an important truth: Google isn’t moving away from local business visibility, it’s doubling down on it. By weaving AI into search, by expanding the role of Google Business Profile, and by emphasizing fresh, authentic content, Google is signaling that the businesses that adapt now will be best positioned tomorrow.

As Riaz made clear;

“Those who invest in completeness, authenticity, and adaptability will be the ones who thrive in Google’s AI-first future.”

Citations and local listings are back in the spotlight

There’s been a lot of talk about citations in the context of AI search. For traditional SEOs, citations mean unlinked brand mentions, i.e., your business being mentioned in a news article, blog post, or PR, but without a direct link back to your site. While these have always been part of a solid online presence, now these unlinked mentions, along with local citations and listings, are being seen as key for ranking in AI searches.

Obviously, for local SEOs, citations are something we’ve been using for years.

Citations in the form of local listings and aggregators used to be absolutely vital for local visibility. In recent years, they have become more of a foundational task. But with AI-driven search on the rise, they’re making a big comeback, often being referenced directly by these new AI platforms.

For example, Data Axle points out how crucial it is to get your locations synced with major voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri, and to ensure accuracy for GPS services like Uber. If your business doesn’t refresh and rebuild its listings and citations for this new AI-driven world, it’s definitely going to miss out.

Foursquare’s surprising role with ChatGPT

Here’s a real head-scratcher that shows just how important diverse local data sources are: the partnership between Foursquare and ChatGPT. A few months ago, Foursquare teamed up directly with ChatGPT, meaning Foursquare’s location data is now powering many of the AI’s responses.

What’s really wild about this is that Foursquare has pretty much retired its consumer-facing apps and websites. Yet, it’s now a key aggregator for AI search. It’s important to note that Foursquare isn’t necessarily appearing as a directly linked source in the way other citation or listing sites might. Instead, AI models are pulling information straight from their vast database. Reports suggest that a significant 60% and 70% of local results on ChatGPT come straight from Foursquare’s city guide listings, especially for smaller towns or niche businesses.

This really hammers home that listings beyond just Google Business Profile (GBP) and Yelp have real value. If ChatGPT doesn’t find enough info on Foursquare, then it turns to other sources, including Google Business Profile. With over 100 million points of interest in more than 200 countries, Foursquare’s database is a surprisingly powerful player in the AI search game.

Source

What we’re seeing in AI search: All LLMs are using directories for sources, and Yelp is prevalent

From what we’re observing across various AI search platforms, there’s a clear shift in how local business info is being pulled and presented. We did some real-world searching and found the following.

Directories are key for AI search

All LLMs are using directories and citations for business information across every industry.

• Platforms like MapQuest were frequently leveraged by both Google AI Mode and Perplexity, demonstrating that even long-standing directories remain highly influential in the AI ecosystem.
• For specialized sectors, AI models exhibit a strong preference for industry-specific directories.
  • In our dentistry searches, for example, ChatGPT exclusively sourced information from ten different dental directories. Toprateddentist.com appeared as a key source for Gemini, AI Mode, and ChatGPT across these searches.
  • Similarly, sites like Superlawyers.com and Findlaw.com were heavily relied upon by ChatGPT and Perplexity for legal-related queries. This emphasizes the need to be present and accurate within your specific industry’s leading directories.

Yelp is a strong influence

Despite a fluctuating reputation among some users, Yelp remains an undeniable force in AI search:

• Yelp was used as a source in 33% of our overall searches. Perplexity notably used Yelp in every single industry we investigated, though not for every individual search within those industries.
• While Google Gemini was the only LLM that did not directly cite Yelp, Google AI Mode still pulled information from Yelp for multiple industries, including dental, hospitality, and fitness.
• LLMs utilized Yelp not only to extract specific business information but also, crucially, to surface and summarize customer reviews.

Google Business Profile is still essential for Google’s LLMs

Unsurprisingly, Google’s own AI models heavily favor Google Business Profile listings:

Even in instances where GBP wasn’t the main cited source, AI Mode would still display GBP information within its results. It often summarizes key details via text alongside data from other sources before presenting the full GBP listing further down. This highlights its importance for visibility within Google’s AI environment.

Your business website really matters

Perhaps the most reassuring finding for businesses is the continued importance of their own websites.

In our previous ChatGPT source study in December 2024, we found that ChatGPT used business websites as a source 58% of the time. This continues to be the case.

The vast majority of sources across every single LLM and industry were businesses’ own websites. This finding really highlights just how critical it is to have your own, well-maintained website. Your website serves as the ultimate authoritative source for LLMs seeking the most accurate and complete information.

How to Build a Local Business Website From Scratch (Without Screwing It Up)

Learn more

Other notable findings

While directories and your website form the backbone, our research also points to other content types and platforms influencing AI search results:

• For industries like hospitality, blogs and lifestyle-oriented websites frequently appeared as sources, indicating the value of content marketing and partnerships beyond traditional listings.
• Social platforms are increasingly contributing to the AI search landscape.
  • Instagram was cited as a source by both Google AI Mode and Perplexity.
  • Facebook was used by Google AI Mode and ChatGPT.
  • YouTube content influenced results for both Gemini and Perplexity.

This shows your business needs a complete online presence with accurate information, good review management, and engaging content on many different platforms to help AI find you easily.

What this means for your business

The rise of AI search is a game-changer for how your business needs to approach getting found online. To make sure your business stays in the running in this new era, here’s what you need to focus on in terms of citations and listings: 

1. Build and optimize your foundational citations (including niche and key directories)

Our research clearly shows that directories are key for AI search. LLMs are extensively using them across every industry. This means actively working on getting your business mentioned across all sorts of online platforms, both broad and niche-specific. 

Platforms like MapQuest were frequently cited, highlighting the continued importance of even long-standing directories. Also, for specialized sectors like dentistry (where Toprateddentist.com was a key source) or legal (with Superlawyers.com and Findlaw.com), AI models show a strong preference for industry-specific directories.

Our Citation Builder service can streamline this process. Our team of experts finds and builds high-quality citations on relevant directories for you. You can also use our Citation Tracker tool to keep an eye on your existing citations, helping you spot inconsistencies or new opportunities that can boost your online authority.

2. Prioritize Google Business Profile

Google AI Mode consistently relied on GBP as a primary information source, often summarizing its details even when other sources were also used. This highlights that a complete, accurate, and optimized GBP is non-negotiable for visibility within Google’s AI environment.

3. Optimize your website

Our findings show that your business’s own website is often the dominant source for LLMs. This means your website is truly your most important online asset. Ensure it’s up-to-date with essential information, including your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP), detailed services offered, current opening hours, compelling photos, answers to FAQs, customer reviews (and links to review platforms), and comprehensive business descriptions. 

4. Leverage data aggregators

Platforms like Data Axle, Foursquare, Neustar, and others are crucial for making sure your business info gets shared across AI search engines, voice assistants, and navigation systems. These aggregators push your core data out widely, ensuring LLMs have access to consistent information.

As part of our Citation Builder service, we offer direct submissions to the five major Data Aggregator Networks (including Data Axle, Foursquare, and Neustar). This ensures your core business information is pushed out to thousands of directories, apps, and mapping services, widening your reach to where AI models get their data.

5. Stay on top of your listings management

Our research, particularly on Yelp, demonstrates the strong influence of review platforms. Yelp was a source in a significant 33% of our searches, used not just for business info but crucially, to summarize customer reviews. This underscores the need to make absolutely sure your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) are identical across all your online listings, your website, Google Business Profile, Foursquare, Apple Maps, and social media. 

Keep all your profiles complete, accurate, and up-to-date with details like categories, hours, and photos. And don’t forget to actively manage customer reviews; they play a big part in how AI pulls together information and ranks businesses. Also, using strategic keywords in your listings can help improve their performance in local searches.

Our Active Sync tool ensures your most important business information is consistent and accurate across major platforms like Google, Facebook, Apple Maps, and Bing. It helps prevent unwanted edits and quickly pushes out updates. 

With our Reputation Manager tool, you can monitor reviews across 80+ sites, get notified of new feedback, and even generate more positive reviews, all helping to build the strong online presence AI algorithms are looking for.

6. Cultivate local mentions and PR

Beyond directories and your website, our findings show that other content types and platforms are influencing AI search. For instance, content and lifestyle sites were sources for hospitality queries, with reputable lifestyle publications like Time Out and smaller, more location—or industry-specific blogs.

Social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube were also cited by various LLMs. 

Cultivating local mentions and securing links from local news sites, community blogs, and other authoritative online sources is increasingly important. Our research into AI sources shows that these types of online local mentions are key signals in the eyes of AI algorithms. So, investing time in local public relations and actively seeking out these non-directory mentions will play a crucial role in your success.

AI search isn’t something that’s coming; it’s here now. Adapting your local SEO strategies to fit this new AI landscape will put you in the best position to get seen by customers, no matter where they’re looking.

You’ve likely heard this before, but is it truly embedded in your strategy? I have worked with many global brands over the years. A common disconnect brands suffer from is failing to tune into the “Familiarity Factor.”

Brands are an integral part of the social fabric of any community they operate in. They must act like it or risk being deemed untrustworthy by customers.

We’re Drawn to What We Know: Understanding ‘Familiarity Bias’

Cognitive science provides a valuable insight into why your local marketing efforts can feel tone-deaf: humans have a familiarity bias. This mental shortcut means we naturally gravitate towards what we know and find familiar because it feels inherently safer. When you tap into it, you’re not just aiming for clicks; you’re building cognitive trust and confidence. You are effectively guiding customers by demonstrating a genuine understanding of their context.

This is where true localization distinguishes itself from mere translation.

Translation alters words, but localization adapts your entire message to resonate with local culture, dialect, colloquialisms, and consumer behavior. It’s the difference between a generic approach and one that says, “I understand this specific community.” A nod to Giulia Panozzo, a neuroscientist turned marketer who breaks it down even further.

When Automation Misses the Mark: The Limits of AI in Localization

I have a wonderful anecdote regarding LLMs. ChatGPT helped me solve a decades-long search in one query.

I grew up surrounded by one side of my family speaking Hungarian and broken French, while the other spoke perfect French and fluent Yiddish. My father had many nicknames for us, and upon his passing, I could never figure out what one of them meant for my brother. How could I spell something that I’d never seen written?

Many years spent Googling didn’t help me.

And Yiddish speakers are so few and far between in my world now that I had no one left to ask. It turns out, and thanks to ChatGPT for this, that my brother’s nickname meant “little stick”, which was such a sweet and fitting description.

I literally had to speak it to get it found.

Except that such tools are not necessarily to be trusted blindly with localization. Their outputs can feel wildly off.

For instance, I once dedicated several hours attempting to guide an LLM in creating a vintage Hawaiian postcard, including some food staples from my childhood. The outcome was a collection of inaccuracies: typos, incongruous shapes, and what could only be described as “unholy textures.”

It was fundamentally wrong.

The reason? The machine lacks the lived experience and nuanced understanding that a human possesses.

Consider the “shaved ice” emoji . Emojipedia describes it as a “mound of shaved ice (snow cone) served in a dessert bowl… flavored with a cherry-red syrup… Associated with Hawaiian shave ice or Japanese kakigori.”

This is close, but misses a key local detail.

For those who truly know Hawai’i, it’s not called “shaved ice.” It’s “shave ice“—no ‘d’. This is a Hawai’i Pidgin term. Using “snow cone” or adding the ‘d’ instantly signals a lack of local familiarity. It’s a subtle distinction, but a potent one—a form of local shorthand. It clearly signals that you aren’t from there, that you are passing through as a tourist or a military person stationed on the island.

This isn’t linguistic pedantry, these nuances are foundational to genuine local connection.

Brand familiarity translates to increased cognitive trust and confidence in decision-making processes for customers. A great piece for further reading on this is: Familiarity and Its Impact on Consumer Decision Biases and Heuristics.

From Keywords to Connection: Weaving Familiarity into Your Local SEO

Your mission is to deliver localized experiences to users based on their geography and language preferences. How do we translate this understanding into practical local SEO? First and foremost, you should be able to point out a few examples of “not like us” in your own area. It’s about being both present and relevant.

True localization transcends language to tap into the psychological drivers behind decision-making.

1. Understand Local Behaviors and Preferences (I Call it the “Haupia Pie” Principle)

McDonald’s is a global brand, but they know that good old American apple pie is not the standard there. They offer Haupia Pie, a fried pie with a traditional Hawaiian coconut pudding filling.

McDonald’s understood that to be truly local, they needed to cater to the local palate.

This principle extends to items like “loco moco” (a popular local dish) or “furikake popcorn.” These are cultural touchstones that I seek out when I want comfort. They are something that you should know about if you are marketing to folks living in that beautiful state.

Are these appearing in your local keyword research? (Consider their search volumes: “loco moco burger” sees around 170 monthly searches, and “furikake popcorn” around 390.)

2. Be Locally Authentic 

I grew up with Paprika and a healthy fear of Russia. It used to be a baseline for Hungarian parents and grandparents coming from Hungary. So you can imagine that a Samsung advertisement that translated an American video into Hungarian but retained the phrase “pardon my French” was very, very confusing for many of my peers.

What does France have to do with Samsung…and us? This was a misstep because the idiom doesn’t resonate in Hungary.

In fact, a Hungarian expression for telling someone to go away translates literally to “go to France.” The ad felt inauthentic and disconnected.

Even details like phone number formatting contribute. The US, Canada, France, Germany, and Italy each have distinct conventions for “chunking” phone numbers to aid memory. Adopting the local format is a subtle acknowledgment of familiarity. Consider idioms, formats,, and keywords to truly connect with your audience.

3. Integrate Local Customs, Imagery, and Traditions

When targeting a market like Hawai’i, consider Aloha wear. It’s not merely casual clothing; it can be formal attire. There’s matching Aloha wear, Aloha print dresses, and traditional (and formal) Hawaiian muumuu dresses.

These terms have search volume because they are integral to the local culture. Your imagery should also reflect this understanding, featuring local scenery, symbols, and people. You should be able to do this as a local marketer. Otherwise, something is wrong; you’re not truly embedded in the local culture and will be treated as an outsider.

That stock imagery you added to your Google Business Profile that you’d hoped was humanizing? It could be doing the complete opposite if you’re not careful. Make sure you’re actually marketing effectively to your truly local audience and use images that reflect that.

4. Acknowledge Local Market Realities (The “Poké” Example)

For many outside of Hawai’i, “poké” is often perceived as a trendy restaurant item, usually a poké bowl. For a Hawai’i resident, however, it’s frequently a supermarket delicacy—a special treat one might look for on sale at local stores like Times Supermarket or Foodland.

Consequently, a poké restaurant in Hawai’i competes not only with other restaurants but also with local supermarket deli counters. Your local SEO strategy must account for this. Tools like AlsoAsked can provide valuable insights here, revealing common user questions such as, “Does Times Supermarket have poke?” or “Does Costco have poke?”.

Time to Make it Your Own: Actionable Insights for Effective Localization

Brand familiarity can streamline user experiences, making interactions feel intuitive and trustworthy.

(If you’re ready for a real deep dive, read this report: Elucidating trust-building sources in social shopping: A consumer cognitive and emotional trust perspective).

If you haven’t got time for that, though, then the magic formula in a neat bullet point list is: 

So what does that look like in practice?

• Shipping and Availability Transparency
  For island communities or remote areas, a primary concern is often, “Do they ship here, and what are the costs?” Queries like “Does Wayfair ship to Hawaii?” are prevalent. Clear information is key.
  
• Localized Promotions and Discounts
  In Hawai’i, the “Kama’āina” rate offers discounts to locals. Given the significant military presence, military discounts are also common. Recognizing and catering to these with specific landing pages or offers can build meaningful goodwill.
  
• Leverage Local Holidays and Events
  Beyond mainstream holidays, are you aware of regional events? In Hawai’i, this includes Prince Kūhiō Day (March 26), Lei Day (May 1), and King Kamehameha I Day (June 11), as well as the Aloha Festivals or the Merrie Monarch Festival. These present opportunities for locally relevant content, promotions, and community engagement.
  
• Adhere to Legal and Geographic Nuances
  Be aware of local regulations. For instance, Hawai’i has implemented its own data privacy laws. Compliance and awareness are crucial.
• Optimize Microcopy
  Your meta descriptions, image alt-text, and even button text are all opportunities to subtly incorporate local language and references.
• Build Local Trust Signals
  Seek reviews and testimonials from region-specific publications and influencers. An “upscale twist on the traditional Luau” review from a local Hawaiian magazine, for example, can carry more weight within that community than a generic endorsement.
• Refine Internal Site Search
  Ensure your internal search engine understands local terminology. If it doesn’t recognize that “manapua” is the local term for “char siu bao” or “pork buns,” or if it doesn’t account for regional variations in product names (e.g., “hair dryer” vs. “blow dryer”), you risk creating user friction.

Human Touch Breeds Familiarity in an Algorithmic World

Machine translation and AI offer scalability at a speed never before seen. Quality and speed are not synonymous though: crafting true resonance requires a multi-local approach—one driven by human understanding of subtle cultural nuances. It involves delving deeper than surface-level keywords to grasp the intent and context behind user searches.

Having lived and worked across diverse markets like the US, Canada, France, Germany, Portugal, Italy, and Denmark, I’ve consistently observed a fundamental factor: the deep-seated human need for familiarity. The goal is to move beyond simple translation and strive for genuine connection. Immerse your strategy in local customs, dialects, cultural references, imagery, and traditions. Aim to become that trusted local guide who understands the community’s unique perspectives. When you make your audience feel seen, understood, and comfortable, that’s when truly effective marketing occurs.

If you find yourself navigating a particularly complex local market, remember that these details matter. Paying attention to them is a cornerstone of successful local SEO.

Algorithms are evolving. Zero-click SERPs are more common, through AI Overviews (AIO) and Search Generative Experience (SGE). And, consumers’ social awareness has shifted. Having a recognizable and trustworthy brand can make or break your local visibility in 2025.

In our recent Live Masterclass: How Important is Brand for Local Search Visibility in 2025?, expert panellist Elizabeth Rule unpacked how brand strength influences local SEO performance. 

Here are the top takeaways from Elizabeth’s session to help you align your branding efforts with your local SEO goals—and get found by more customers in 2025.

Watch the Replay

Brand Is As Important Now As It Always Has Been

Why is everyone talking about brand right now?

The hype of AIOs and SGE, alongside the increase in zero-click search has brought brand right into focus. A good example of this is how Forbes tends to rank across multiple AIO searches, and continues to show up after various algorithm updates. It feels like Google is favoring bigger brands with more domain authority over smaller brands. 

Alongside this, Google is launching a new brand profile through the merchant center (not all local businesses will be able to use this), which is a clear indicator that Google is shifting toward focusing on what a brand can bring to a topic or industry in search results. 

Tip 1: A Strong Brand Is More than Just Your Logo

Having a strong brand means people know and trust your business. They’re more likely to click on your listing or your website than a brand they don’t know.

Trust and awareness in your brand can come from the local community, your review profile and through zero-click search.

Tip 2: Tap into Communities

Offline communities, online communities, and social media are all great ways to get your brand out to your target audience. 

Brands that use more traditional marketing, such as billboards and branded vehicles, do a little better in SEO because more people are aware of and engaged with the brand in general. This engagement helps you rank better, and the more people click your website, the higher up in the SERPs you’ll show.  

Spread your marketing efforts beyond Google and your website. Local social media groups or community forums, like Facebook groups, Next Door, or local SubReddits, are great ways to get your brand out there. 

Tip 3: Your Brand Website Is Critical

Getting your website up to date is crucial, as it’s a valuable source of truth for Google. Mention the important information about your business—who you are, what you do, the services you offer, and where you do it. Make it easy for Google and your customers to understand all of this information. 

While this information helps Google build its organic results and customers move further down the funnel, it could also help your brand if and when it appears on AIOs. Though there doesn’t seem to be a known indication of Google’s ranking factors for AIO, or how they pull the information that appears from it, it is known that Google sometimes pulls through incorrect information.

Tip 4: Become an Authority in Your Sector

Showcase your authority, knowledge, and understanding of your website through your brand entity. For example, your website is a great place to put your well-crafted content and answer the questions that your customers and potential customers have. 

Tell your audience how to do things and show that you know how to do it best. (An example here would be a decorator—explain to your audience how they can decorate themselves, but also show your authority and expertise in case they’d prefer for you to do it for them.) Become the go-to brand for knowledge and education.

Tip 5: Should You Use Keywords in Business Names?

Your business name is a huge part of your brand, and you want to make sure your business profile appears at the top of search results. With that in mind, adding one or two top-converting keywords to your business name means you can have a keyword-rich Google Business Profile.

An example of this would be to add a unique brand modifier to your name. This could be ‘Tarquin Heating and Air Conditioning’ as opposed to ‘Toronto Heating and Air Conditioning’. 

An oldie, but a goodie… do not do this! 

Tip 6: Online Reputation Is Crucial for Brand

Your brand reputation shows potential customers how well you do business, and reflects your brand as a whole. That’s why reviews are critical for brand, and something you really shouldn’t ignore.

Getting new, regular Google reviews is a ranking factor, and according to the 2025 Local Consumer Review Survey, 27% of consumers would use a business if they can see new reviews from the past month.

So, while you don’t have full control over your Google reviews, you can control how you manage your reputation. Whether that’s responding kindly to a negative review, responding with gratitude for positive reviews, or asking your customers to leave a review for you, reputation can help build trust and conversions. 

All in all, brand-building isn’t a quick SEO fix. It’s a strategic, long-term investment that pays off in trust, engagement, and higher-quality traffic. Having a strong brand will impact the way potential customers perceive you, remember you, and engage with you. 

If you need help building your brand, get in touch with our local SEO services team to discover how we can support your goals. 

Not even 18 months ago, we found that ChatGPT’s local search capabilities were pretty poor. Fast-forward to now, and ChatGPT-4 enables users to search the web in real time, producing local search results similar to Google or Bing.

Hot on the heels of our recent Business Listings Visibility Study, where we analyzed the types of results Google surfaces for local queries, we got straight to work replicating the study for ChatGPT Search. So, ready to dive in?

Methodology and Terminology Used

In this study, we conducted 800 manual local business web searches in ChatGPT, recording the first ten search sources ChatGPT displays in its local results’ ‘Sources.’ It’s important to note that while Google displays results in the hundreds, ChatGPT’s ‘Sources’ can vary significantly—sometimes showing only a handful of sources and other times showing more than ten.

The image below highlights the difference between what ChatGPT displays as results (or answers) to the user query, and the sources for its answers.

We used the exact search terms used within the Business Listings Visibility Study so that we could provide a direct comparison of the results. As we did in that study, we used one ‘transactional’ keyword (e.g. “coffee shop”) and one ‘informational’ keyword (e.g. “best coffee shop”) in searches across 20 different business verticals, using 20 different US cities.

Understanding Definitions Within This Study

For every search result source, we recorded the website name and classification of each website’s ‘type’ using the following criteria:

Search Results Compared

Nearly three-fifths (58%) of all the sources for ChatGPT Search results were business websites. Typically, these were local business websites directly related to the business type or business vertical contained within the search term (e.g. “coffee shop chicago”, “hair salon boston”).

Business websites were also the top result type in the Business Listings Visibility Study (47%). As we noted then, you would generally expect to see business websites dominating search engine results based on the interests and intent of users, so it follows that ChatGPT Search might mimic a similar number of results if it understands intent in the same way.

Business mentions made up more than a quarter (27%) of ChatGPT Search sources across the local searches we conducted. This is significantly chunkier than the 16% we saw for Google’s search engine results. As we’ll get to later on, Wikipedia surprisingly dominates the business mention category throughout this study.

Meanwhile, business directories only made up 15% of ChatGPT Search’s sources. It’s very interesting to note the difference in both the presence and breadth of directory results within this study compared to the business listings study. Not only do directory results show up less for ChatGPT searches than Google searches, but some of the most prominent directories, like Yelp and Facebook, do not appear at all.

The most prominent directory found as a source throughout this study was Three Best Rated, making up almost a quarter of all directory sources (24%), followed by Expertise (18%). Although it seems odd that some of the best-known business directories are missing from the first ten sources, it serves as a reminder that brands and businesses should take the opportunity to boost visibility in all the relevant places, and not just the most well-known ones.

When we look at the breakdown of results for transactional and informational search terms, the pattern stays the same. 

However, informational search terms see more of a level split between business website results (43%), business mentions (35%) and directories (22%), while transactional search term sources are largely skewed towards business websites (72%). 

Healthcare and Wellness

Searches for healthcare and wellness businesses predominantly surface business website results. It largely makes sense when you consider the general nature and urgency of a person needing to find a healthcare business. For more urgent care, they’re less likely to want to spend time comparing business information, and will just want to see which businesses are closest to them on a map.

There are just four terms in this group where business website results appear for fewer than 50% of the first ten ChatGPT sources: ‘best chiropractor,’ ‘best day spa,’ ‘best dentist,’ and ‘best gym.’

In these cases, we see more directory sources, yet there does not seem to be a clear reason for this—particularly when Three Best Rated appears as a directory source for so many different business searches. 

It does make sense that ‘best day spa’ and ‘best gym’ would have a higher percentage of business mentions within ChatGPT Search sources. After all, these are the more wellness-focused businesses, for which potential customers might want to read different types of articles and reviews before making a decision.

Hospitality

The hospitality searches are dominated by a range of business mention results. These include well-known hospitality publications like Thrillist, Eater, and The Culture Trip, while local blogs and news sites like Secret Seattle and San Diego Magazine appear for specific location terms.

It is surprising that directories are not more prominent for hotel searches. While giants like Tripadvisor, Expedia, and Booking.com did appear in source lists, they are largely overshadowed by business mentions. If you think about the results you would see in Google’s SERPs, hotel results tend to be very transaction-led, and travel directories themselves have become commercial comparison or booking platforms—so it could be that this is intentional on ChatGPT’s part.

However, the most common business mention source was Wikipedia, which also seems an odd result for hotel searches. It’s not exactly the glossy, photo-laden review content you might expect from Condé Nast or similar.

Services and Trades

A typical search engine user might expect to see many directory results in the Services and Trades group, such as Thumbtack, Angi, BBB, and so on. It’s surprising, then, that only two of the search terms generated a significant number of directory results in the source lists (“best electrician” at 62%; “best storage facility” at 35%).

It’s also not clear why there is such a difference between the number of directory results appearing for ‘best electrician’ and ‘best storage facility’ searches.

As with the healthcare group, sources for Services and Trades searches are mostly in the business website category. Arguably, there is also some degree of urgency attached to the intent behind local services searches, which might explain why the results are mostly business websites. 

Then again, because ChatGPT Search is still so new, we don’t know enough about how well it understands web search intent.

‘Your Money or Your Life’ (YMYL)

The ‘Your Money or Your Life’ group concerns businesses that can impact clients’ lives, health, and finances. Here, directory results take a stronger share of the sources. 

It makes sense that someone searching for these types of businesses would want to compare professionals and businesses by using directories. Directories provide the opportunity to compare customer reviews and read professional profiles in more of a side-by-side view than simply flicking between business websites.

It’s also notable that these percentages tend to increase for informational terms, where a user is more likely to be looking for a comparison.

Entertainment

The Entertainment group is another interesting one where directories are surprisingly absent, although the findings are similar to those of our business listings study.

Both ‘betting store’ search terms see a very large number of business mentions, which, as we discovered in the Business Listings Visibility Study, is likely due to gambling regulations varying so much from state to state. Therefore, local and trade publications are likely to cover the topics.

Notable Findings

Mentions on Wikipedia

As we touched on in the hospitality and entertainment sections above, Wikipedia makes a surprising number of appearances throughout this study. Generally, where local business searches are concerned, Wikipedia is an uncommon result—particularly to appear within the first ten results. This is likely because, as a largely educational platform, it does not match the ‘informational’ intent behind searches such as ‘best coffee shop’ or ‘best hotel.’

Wikipedia probably appears as a source in ChatGPT Search because the platform is trained on Wikipedia’s articles and media. Although this suggests that LLMs might still have some learning to do regarding search intent, it does highlight the value of a Wikipedia presence—something many business owners and brands might not have previously considered.

The below screenshot highlights an example of a local business with its own Wikipedia entry.

If you’re interested in learning more about the relationship between Wikipedia entries and search engine sources, this guide explains how managing brand entities via Wikipedia can inform Google and influence features like knowledge graphs.

No Forum Presence in ChatGPT

One area we haven’t touched on yet is forums. We first conducted a SERP study to analyze result types in May 2024, when Reddit’s exclusive partnership with Google dramatically altered the types of results being surfaced to users. Since then, the Business Listings Visibility Study found that the presence of forum results had decreased significantly, accounting for just 7% of search results displaying for local business searches.

In the case of ChatGPT Search, it seems to ignore forums completely for local business searches. Although it seems that ChatGPT can access content from Reddit or Quora, based on the response below, there do seem to be limitations preventing ChatGPT from sourcing local business information from it.

Yet, at the time of writing, it appears that the Google-Reddit exclusivity deal is still in place. And it doesn’t explain why other forums like Quora aren’t present in its source lists, other than that ChatGPT might not deem these results ‘helpful’ enough.

How to Appear in ChatGPT Search’s Sources

ChatGPT Search, in its current form, has only been available since October 2024, so it’s unclear just how mainstream it might become as a search engine. Yet we can’t ignore the fact that over 300 million users are using the wider ChatGPT platform weekly, with over one billion messages sent a day. So, that’s a hefty number of people that could use it for local queries.

With that in mind, you want to give your brand the best shot at appearing in ChatGPT Search’s source lists. How?

Optimizing for LLMs

Crystal Carter recently put a guide together on optimizing for large language models (LLMs), so we’d strongly recommend reading this. The document can be quite technical and goes beyond just ChatGPT, but contains actionable insights to consider for ChatGPT, such as:

• Checking release notes and documentation for LLMs to keep up to date with changes
• Reporting inaccuracies regarding your brand as and when you see it
• Optimizing for the search engine that powers the LLM (in this case, Bing powers ChatGPT)

Local Marketing Matters

The good news is that optimizing for ChatGPT Search is not an entirely new area to learn, as the local search tactics that you already employ do make a difference. While the sources for information might vary, ChatGPT generally sources local business information like business reviews and ratings to surface results and inform some of the snippets of information it provides—even including Google reviews.

The prominence of business mentions in this study highlights a significant opportunity in building brand awareness through local link-building. Considering outreach and building relationships with different types of press and publications, like news sites, trade publications, and local blogs, can help secure business mentions in the right places. 

Many LLMs are working on securing partnerships with prominent media outlets to train models on their information, so securing coverage with some of your high-priority media outlets could bring two-birds-one-stone returns.

Summary

As we’ve highlighted, these results are a snapshot of ChatGPT Search right now—and things are moving fast. Even if you’re not quite ready to test the waters of LLM optimization (or GEO), now could be a good time to review your local marketing efforts and ensure your business information is correct and up to date in all the right places.

Have you tested out ChatGPT Search since its launch? Tell us about your experiences, or share your predictions with us! You can catch us over on LinkedIn, X, Blue Sky, or by joining our Facebook community, The Local Pack.

Appendix

Directories as ChatGPT Search Sources

Although business directories only make up 15% of ChatGPT Search’s sources in this study, 50% of all directories were dominated by the following websites:

• Three Best Rated (24%)
• Expertise (18%)
• Tripadvisor (8%)

The remaining 50% of directories are made up of the following:

Known as Google I/O, the keynote is Google’s opportunity to announce the latest advancements in its technology and offer a glimpse at what’s to come. Past Google I/Os have seen the public introduction of such Google products as the Google Assistant, Google Lens, and more.

And, like always, 2024’s summit is the subject of the week in the search industry. Following its May 14th premiere, search professionals are scrambling to figure out what Google’s self-coined “Gemini era” means for the industry. 

As noted by Google’s Liz Reid,

“With each of these platform shifts, we haven’t just adapted, we’ve expanded what’s possible with Google Search. And now, with generative AI, search will do more for you than you ever imagined. So whatever’s on your mind, and whatever you need to get done, just ask, and Google will do the Googling for you.”

There is a lot of fancy talk surrounding what seems to be an even fancier product. But what does that really mean for local SEOs, who already spend their days deciphering Google’s ever-changing algorithm?

In the words of Near Media’s Greg Sterling: Gemini was the star. Search was there… but in more of a supporting role. Nonetheless, search still got its screentime, with four important updates for local SEOs to focus on—AI Overviews, multi-step reasoning, topic clusters, and itinerary planning with Gemini Advanced.

Let’s take a look at the big announcements most relevant to local SEOs…

AI Overviews

This looks more interesting beyond the standard SGE integration we know. Example of an "AI-organized search results page", bringing it together in a dynamic/full-page experience. Apparently this will be launching within the US in the coming weeks (in labs first). #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/QaIvFagETT

— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) May 14, 2024

What is it?

AI Overviews is the official name of what was previously called Google’s ‘Search Generative Experience‘. It uses the information collected via Gemini’s multi-step reasoning (more on this below) to present a clear, organized search result that answers all of the user’s questions… and then some.

AI Overviews are, essentially, a quick overview of the answer to the query with links to learn more. 

Gemini becomes the user’s “personal agent”, offering the user all of the pertinent information regarding their query. This allows for complex questions to be answered simply and clearly, all within a single search result page.

This new feature is due to be rolled out to US users this week, with more countries coming soon.

These search results pages consider information that a typical searcher may not have even considered. Take a query about “anniversary celebration dinner spots in dallas.” Gemini’s approach to search intuits the need to check the weather before offering locations.

Breezy summer evening? Gemini knows that a rooftop bar might do the trick. So, once again, it all comes down to detail—businesses must offer Gemini as much specific information about themselves as possible so that they’re first on Gemini’s list when a relative search is made.

What does it mean for local SEO?

In our article on SGE in June 2023, we explored what an AI-generated search response would mean for local search. Since then, some elements of this new search function have changed, but most remain the same.

The key thing that all content publishers should be wary of is whether Google will be showing links, citations, and sources in its AI Overviews. For now, it seems like there’s no consistent answer to that. Some searches return what you might call a ‘zero-click’ result (where the response provides the answer and nothing more), while more complex or debatable answers are prefixed with ‘According to’ and link to the source of the response, presumably so that Google can put the onus on its sources for contentious or controversial topics.

What about searches for local businesses? Well, examples of this were given quite an airing in the keynote, and it seems like, for now, any business information returned for local search terms comes from the usual places: Google Business Profile, directories, citation sites, review sites, and news articles and blog posts recommending businesses.

Keeping your business profiles across Google and other listings platforms remains as crucial as ever, and some form of the ‘local pack’ will likely remain, as Google has a vested interest in adding value to its Google Business Profile product.

The bigger question will be around whether local businesses will continue to see value in publishing localised or locally-relevant content to attract customers via what was the organic ‘ten blue links’.

In a world where Google can take the contents of your article on “the best events for visitors to [your town]” and hand it to searchers without ever linking to your business, you might be thinking again about investing in an organic search strategy.

Ultimately, AI Overviews is the biggest shift in Google search that we’ve seen in decades, and we’ll be closely monitoring how it works in order to provide our readers with the best advice on improving and understanding visibility in the Gemini era.

BrightLocal’s Take on AI Overviews

Kristian Bannister

Chief Product Officer at BrightLocal

We’re excited by the changes coming in Google’s AI Overview and the potential opportunities for local businesses and those working in local SEO.

We always want to ensure that our products equip our customers with the right data and the best insights to help them deal with the changing landscape of local search. Undoubtedly, the release of AI Overviews is one of the biggest changes we’ve ever seen to search results, and we owe it to our customers to fully understand:

• What this means for our existing ranking tools
• How it will impact local search results, search behavior, and businesses
• How we can help marketers adapt and thrive in this new dawn of search

What This Means for Our Existing Ranking Tools

We always ensure that our existing tools continue to work as expected. Google continually makes small changes to its SERPs, which could impact how we and our partners gather ranking data. We already have numerous alert systems in place to ensure these changes don’t interrupt our tools. But we’re being especially vigilant with the rollout of AI Overviews to ensure there will be no (or at least minimal) interruption to our tools and no impact on accuracy.

We’ll also be looking into ways to help businesses better understand their visibility, with keywords triggered by AI Overviews within our rank trackers if we believe these insights have potential value for our customers.

How This Will Impact Local Search Results, Search Behavior, and Businesses

Right now, we aren’t completely sure what this may mean for local search results and businesses. My personal speculation is that simple “how-to” content is likely to be an area where AI Overviews start to take away traffic, as Google will be able to serve it directly in SERPs. That does pose a significant threat to businesses that have built revenue models on the back of this content.

In local search, we could see AI Overviews becoming a tool for discovering and better evaluating local businesses. Local businesses rely on some sort of transaction, whether it’s visiting a restaurant, getting an oil change, or hiring a plumber. AI Overviews won’t replace the end goal, but they will likely change how consumers find and evaluate businesses, which itself is likely to impact local SEO strategies.

How We Can Help Marketers Adapt and Thrive in This New Era of Search

This is where things get exciting. We’ve been following the development of SGE and anticipating this launch for some time. Like you, we’re in a phase of discovery and exploration with this new technology, focusing on understanding what new problems and opportunities may arise that we can help our customers address. Our mission is to help marketers become brilliant at local SEO, and these changes make that mission even more important as we all enter uncharted territory together.

We’ll be looking outwardly at what our industry peers and experts are saying, but we also want to hear from our customers. If you want to reach out to me personally to share your thoughts and ideas, I’m available any time. Please feel free to reach out at contact@brightlocal.com. And if you see any significant changes in your or your client’s local rankings, we’re on hand to help at support@brightlocal.com, as always.

Multi-step Reasoning

What is it?

Throughout the summit, Google emphasized multi-step reasoning as a key feature of the Gemini era. So, what does that mean? 

According to Google, ‘multi-step reasoning’ refers to the tool’s ability to take a larger, multi-part question and break it down into sections before determining what needs to be answered and in what order. It then uses reason, alongside Google’s vast information index, to answer the questions logically. 

Coming soon, we’ll bring new multi-step reasoning capabilities to Google Search. It breaks your bigger question down into parts and figures out which problems to solve and in what order, so research that might've taken you minutes or even hours can be done in seconds. #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/Op8Iu7K21m

— Google (@Google) May 14, 2024

What does it mean for local SEO?

Considering that Gemini needs to get its information somewhere, it’s more important than ever that businesses provide Google with the most detailed and accurate information possible for Google to find.

Ratings, reviews, business hours, and more can all come into play when someone queries Google, and the last thing a business needs is for Google to spit out the wrong information or, even worse, overlook it entirely.

Topic Clusters

What are they?

Remember the query about anniversary spots? Just because outdoor seating could be a good option due to the sunshine doesn’t mean it’s the only option.

Instead, the personalized search results page will be broken down into what Google refers to as “topic clusters.” These clusters group results based on unique angles of the search, such as “outdoor seating,” “rustic charm,” or “restaurants with live music,” offering users different directions to take their query. 

What do they mean for local SEO?

Details. Details. Details. We can’t say it enough. For Google to determine that a restaurant belongs in that “rustic charm” cluster, it’ll need evidence to prove it. Having a fully filled-out Google Business Profile, a robust history of reviews, and a detailed website all help signify to Google that yes—this is one of the top “rustic charm” restaurants in town.

Gemini Advanced

What is it?

Gemini Advanced takes all the above functionalities and offers a full-fledged itinerary-planning capability. Whether you’re trying to figure out a family-friendly meal plan or planning a romantic trip to New York City, Gemini Advanced uses its multi-step reasoning capacities and topic clustering features to provide a fully personalized AI overview of the ideal plan. 

What does it mean for local SEO?

With Gemini Advanced, Google will look at more than just your business—it’ll look at the context surrounding it.

With the advanced contextualization and reasoning around search results, Gemini Advanced will know not to show the local ice cream parlor in the dead of winter following a Christmas Market. However, it may know to show it if it serves the best hot cocoa in town and is only a block away from the market’s entrance.

But, to make those connections, it needs the correct data to draw upon… such as an updated menu, mentions in local publications, and a host of positive reviews.

Google on Responsibility

Acknowledging the uncertainty that always comes alongside new technologies, Google assures that they’re approaching Gemini with the same AI principles they say they’ve always abided by. 

Google’s AI Principles

• Be socially beneficial
• Avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias
• Be built and tested for safety
• Be accountable to people
• Incorporate privacy design principles
• Uphold high standards of scientific excellence
• Be made available for uses that accord with these principles

Also, according to Google, they are introducing Gemini with the intention of maximizing the benefits for people and society. And, while local SEO may change according to these new tools, we trust Google’s intention to use its AI for a better user experience. 

In Summary

Overall, the significance of these updates to local all comes down to the same thing: data accuracy and detail are more important than ever. With an expert tool crawling the web to find the best possible fit for a user’s query, businesses need to ensure that the tool can find them—and everything it needs to know about them. Things like having comprehensive and descriptive FAQs will become even more important players in visibility.

That being said, this is all based on what we know right now. The most important thing is that businesses continue to stay agile and up-to-date on industry trends; with Google’s constantly changing methods, it’s important never to get too stuck in your ways. This year’s Google I/O is simply further proof of that.

When your head is buried in the day-to-day, whether you’re responsible for a small business or managing several business locations, let’s face it—sometimes you just miss stuff.

With some users already actively engaging with Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), but many others around the world unable to get a feel for this new search experience, it got us thinking about how ‘ready’ local marketers really are. So, we decided to find out.

We polled the BrightLocal user base, including freelance marketers and representatives from agencies, single-location businesses, and multi-location businesses, to get a snapshot of how people are feeling about SGE right now.

Recap: What is SGE?

Announced in May 2023, Search Generative Experience (SGE) is Google’s new way of integrating generative AI into search results. Collating key information from a variety of sources, and presented as a ‘snapshot’ at the top of search results, it’s essentially designed to enable more detailed searches from the beginning and encourage more conversational follow-up queries.

Currently, SGE is available to a limited amount of US-based users via Google Labs, and the wider roll-out date is unknown—yet expected to be in early 2024.

1. Do local marketers feel confident in their understanding of SGE?

Before we can understand how marketers think local search will be affected, we wanted to measure how confident they are in really knowing what SGE is—apart from yet another digital marketing acronym.

• 33% of local marketers have not heard of SGE.
• Just 17% of marketers feel they have a confident understanding of what SGE is.

We expected to see low levels of confidence in terms of understanding what SGE actually is, but we were surprised to find that one-third of local marketers have not heard of SGE at all. It reinforces the point that not everyone in the business of local marketing is fully engaged with SEO news.

Meanwhile, less than a fifth of local marketers (17%) said that yes, they do have a confident understanding of what SGE is. That leaves 50% of users that don’t have a confident understanding of SGE—assuming the 9% of ‘I don’t know’ responses essentially mean ‘no’.

2. Do local marketers think SGE will make appearing in local search results easier or harder?

While we can’t know for certain what the full roll-out of SGE will look like for businesses, we wanted to measure users’ optimism towards potential changes to local search results. Do they think it will be easier to appear in local search results with SGE, harder, or about the same?

• 4% of local marketers think that SGE will make it easier for local businesses to appear in search results.
• 15% of marketers think it will be harder for local businesses to appear in search results.

Overwhelmingly, we can see that local marketers really just don’t know what will happen. Given the general lack of understanding and awareness around SGE, this is not exactly surprising. But it does tell us that, simply, marketers are not ready for the roll-out and its effect on their businesses or clients.

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What should marketers do with this data?

Well, if you’ve also been feeling unsure about what SGE will bring, then the key takeaway is: know you are not alone!

It’s going to be an interesting time as we all get to grips with the Search Generative Experience but, in the meantime, here are some key considerations and sources to help you keep on top of the changes.

Agency and freelance local marketers

If you work for an agency or freelance for local SEO clients, the number one thing you should be doing is managing their expectations for changes to come. There will likely be an adjustment period, but, as more users search with SGE, it will also learn and change over time.

Prepare your clients ahead of time so that, on day one of roll-out, you aren’t bombarded with panicked questions!

Senior SEO Specialist, Andy Simpson, summed this up nicely for us and commented on how much SGE is changing already:

Andy Simpson

Senior SEO Specialist at Digital Law Marketing

 

“SGE (and Google’s Bard) is seeing constant updates and changes, so what we see this week can be different the following week. It’s an exhilarating time to be in the local search space, how will it change the landscape of local search and/or search in general?

At this moment in time, depending on the search query, it dominates the top of the desktop/mobile search experience, users are going to either ignore it and think “what the hell is this” until they get familiar with it OR they won’t scroll down to the 10 blue links below, and the organic SERPs will be lost to many users forever… let’s just see where this ride takes us!”

In-house marketers and local business owners

On the flip-side, if you are in-house or managing local SEO for your own business, don’t panic. As mentioned above, SGE will change as it learns, so we wouldn’t advise making any drastic changes based off of a hunch!

SEO Strategist, Dayna Lucio, highlights how SGE should reinforce the key fundamentals of local SEO, such as Google Business Profile (GBP) information, and customer reviews:

Dayna Lucio

Strategist, SEO at Amsive Digital

“I think it more or less is continuing to showcase the things we already stress in local SEO—provide the information that users are looking for on GBP profiles and within on-page content and continue to pay attention to reviews, because this is another way that Google is highlighting those. Like anything with Google, I expect there to be multiple tests and changes as time goes on, so its hard to say what the impact will be.”

So, the key advice here is to continue to ensure you are grounded by local SEO principles and focus on your customers.

Community, industry news, and expert sources

• If you’re not already, we’d recommend subscribing to our newsletter—we regularly round up the latest and most important news in local marketing and wider SEO practices, as well as release our research findings and expert takes on the most talked-about topics in local SEO.
• Join our community of local SEOs in The Local Pack, a group of over 2,000 strong! This is your place to ask (and answer) questions, exchange insights, and discuss new changes and challenges in local search.
• Similarly, Sterling Sky’s Local Search Forum is a goldmine of all things local search, with many prominent local SEOs answering queries and providing advice.
• Our Expert Focus series sees local and digital marketing take on a variety of topics, from AI in local search, to agency culture and client engagement.
• Follow Google Search Liaison on Twitter (sorry, X…) for updates on SGE.

Do you have any strong feelings around the future of local search and SGE? We’d love to hear your thoughts or help answer any questions. Please feel free to comment in The Local Pack, tweet us @BrightLocal, or email research@brightlocal.com. 

Methodology

This poll was conducted within the BrightLocal tool platform and received 378 responses from our user base, including local SEO consultants, and representatives from agencies, single-location businesses, and multi-location businesses.

• Do you feel you have a confident understanding of what SGE is?
• How do you think SGE will affect local search results?

We asked the experts how they’re using AI at the moment, and how they think SGE will change the landscape of local search. 

(One small caveat—in the past few weeks we’ve seen new features and functions added to SGE. By the time this piece goes live, we’re sure there will have already been some major changes!) 

Ben Fisher

Founder and VP of Marketing at Steady Demand

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

AI is a great assistant for our SEO team. They use it for research, some technical tasks, and coming up with ideas for our writers. We don’t use AI for anything that is forward facing like blog post content, and our clients prefer it this way. We play with prompts every day and create a vault of useful prompts. AI assistants can save us a lot of time, especially with the right prompt. Our SEO team can focus more on strategy and critical thinking/analysis because AI can execute many tasks to save time.

Overall, AI assistants can be a valuable asset to any SEO team. They can help SEO professionals save time, improve the quality of their work, focus on more strategic and creative tasks, and stay ahead of the curve.

Despite AI’s impressive capabilities, the human touch remains integral to our processes, ensuring that our strategies are not only data-driven but also empathetic and user-centric.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

There is a glimmer of hope for the local SEO profession, as the 3-pack results appear to be the same as what you would see in a regular search. However, I think that as Google learns, there will be new winners and losers. Unfortunately, I think that SMBs will suffer, as the real estate they were used to will be replaced by new features.

Dayna Lucio

Strategist, SEO at Amsive Digital

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

Mainly it’s been a lot of testing of different platforms to understand the capabilities and differences of each. Right now, I’ve been using AI to help streamline processes such as summarizing data, mapping cities to zip codes for local tracking, or building regex filters for GSC. It’s also been helpful in brainstorming ideas for content such as sourcing questions for FAQs or coming up with metadata tests. I think in general things are moving really fast—something new seems to come up every day! Brands should definitely be thinking about how platforms like BingChat, Bard, ChatGPT, and SGE are providing information about their company, products, or services, and what types of content gaps need to be filled or opportunities they can explore.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

I think what we’ve been able to see so far has been interesting, the local examples that Google shared with the comparison layout between restaurants definitely shows how this can be used on a local level. However, I think it more or less is continuing to showcase the things we already stress in local SEO—provide the information that users are looking for on GBP profiles and within on-page content and continue to pay attention to reviews, because this is another way that Google is highlighting those. Like anything with Google, I expect there to be multiple tests and changes as time goes on, so its hard to say what the impact will be. Once more people have access to SGE I think it will be important to test different types of queries and questions about local businesses to see how the answers and layouts changed based on what’s being asked. 

Amanda Jordan

Director of Digital Strategy at RicketyRoo

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

I currently use AI to help generate ideas and consider new ways to think about data. Right now I think the best use case for many AI tools is for SEOs to understand how generative AI actually works. Knowing the capabilities and limitations of this technology can help us understand what to expect from Search in the future.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search? 

I hope SGE is the end of sites being filled with generic content. My hope is that SGE will encourage websites to focus on unique, personalized, and usable content for users. I believe truly understanding your customers and being obsessed with the customer experience will be extremely important in the future.

Jess Peck

Machine Learning Engineer at Local SEO Guide

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

We’re currently using machine learning for a series of tasks: analysis, clustering data, forecasting, text analysis, and to an extent content generation. We use several different ML techniques including lda, keyword extraction, text summarization, and technologies like using Google’s APIs and TensorFlow. Like many people, we are also using LLMs like GPT, though not entirely relying on them. For example, we tend to chunk our outputs, and then use other ML techniques to check the input matches the output, and check for plagiarism: we use knowledge graphs and entity extraction to try and streamline parts of these processes.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search? 

Despite being a machine learning engineer in practice I’m deeply ambivalent about SGEs. I don’t actually think these kinds of experiences usually improve sites, and it still feels like Google is scrambling to catch up while ChatGPT eats it’s lunch. 

While I do think SGEs are a logical next step for Google and other search engines I also see it as a way for Google to wash its hands of the consequences of serving certain data to the public. LLMs are trained on all of us, so surely it’s all our fault when they go astray? I think an ideal scenario would have Google back away from OpenAI style chatbots and towards using a combination of LLMs and extractive data to continue down the conversational path they have been going down, but how can that be done without robbing sites of their advertising? 

Fundamentally if your site relies on visitor metrics you must focus on unique aspects that cannot be replaced by a machine. I think UGC might end up being extremely useful: sites like Wirecutter that specialize in human, comprehensive reviews: small hobbyist sites with a human touch. The race is as it has always been: do it better than Google, and invite people into your site.

Andy Simpson

Senior SEO Specialist at Digital Law Marketing

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

Our team is currently learning how we can use things like ChatGPT as a tool for SEO. We’re definitely not using it for creating site content, we have our own brilliant content team for that. They have been using ChatGPT for some content outlines and ideas but we’re a firm believer in creating good, unique content, unlike the content spewed out by ChatGPT. Bing Chat and Google’s Bard are way off the mark when it comes to anything related to content creation. Very recently we used ChatGPT to expand and suggest additions to our local business schema, it’s fantastic for writing the code for FAQ and HowTo schema, we verify what’s produced but it’s been very good to date. Will Reynolds very recently posted how you can use ChatGPT to help with internal link-building suggestions, it’s a great video to watch and make you start thinking about how you can use ChatGPT as a tool for SEO.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

Not an easy one to answer in just a few lines, I recently voted “Meh” to Lily Ray’s question on Google’s SGE, BUT I do like it! It’s “meh” because it’s good but not great and that’s not surprising as this is Version 1.0 of whatever SGE will be eventually before it’s launched to the masses. There’s no doubt it will be launched but in what iteration we don’t know yet. SGE is only open to those that want to take a look at it, it’s not open to the general public yet, so I’m not too worried about what we are currently seeing i.e. I am not panicking if my client does/does not display in results displayed by SGE—it’s nice when they do and interesting to see what does display when they don’t. As someone who’s been doing SEO for more than two decades, it’s great to have a new toy to play with. SGE (and Google’s Bard) is seeing constant updates and changes, so what we see this week can be different the following week. It’s an exhilarating time to be in the local search space, how will it change the landscape of local search and/or search in general? At this moment in time, depending on the search query, it dominates the top of the desktop/mobile search experience, users are going to either ignore it and think “what the hell is this” until they get familiar with it OR they won’t scroll down to the 10 blue links below, and the organic SERPs will be lost to many users forever… let’s just see where this ride takes us!

Conclusion: 

Overall, it looks like AI is a great tool to help SEOs manage processes, generate top-level ideas, and help structure content. But, we’re all clear that generative AI should not be a replacement for content creation. 

Additionally, SGE proves an exciting time for local search specifically, with a general sense of optimism around it. Let’s see what happens in the coming months! 

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