Aug 28 2025
2025 AI SERP Changes: New Strategies To Gain Local Search Visibility

This post was sponsored by DAC. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

The new reality of Search and brand discovery requires an Enterprise-to-Local strategy.

Traditional keyword-driven search engine results pages (SERPs) are being disrupted by AI-driven experiences that anticipate, summarize, and even act on users’ needs.

As generative AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews and platforms such as Perplexity become more prominent in the Search journey, the marketer’s task expands: It’s no longer just about ranking well on Google but being visible wherever decisions begin.

For multilocation businesses, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. AI is flattening the competitive playing field, restructuring what influences purchasing decisions, and automating formerly human-led interactions.

Here are four key takeaways to help local marketers understand what’s changing, what strategies are needed right now, and what the future holds.

Strategy 1. You Must Navigate Google’s AI-First Search Experience To Stay Visible

Google’s inclusion of AI Overviews has introduced an entirely new kind of SERP.

These AI-generated summaries often sit atop the page, pushing traditional blue links down. Unlike the 10-blue-link layout of old, AI Overviews synthesize answers across sources, citing a few but effectively removing the need to click.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

Google’s AI Mode, now available as a Labs experiment, prioritizes user intent by stitching together information to answer nuanced queries (e.g., “best affordable Thai near me for a date”) into a conversational response.

For local queries, it factors in:

What No Longer Works

Structured data or map pack signals alone do not supply enough context to be recognized in a modern AI-first search experience.

Strategy 2. Adopt An Enterprise-To-Local Strategy To Capture Both Informational & Local Intent

DAC’s study of over 700 real SERPs across four major verticals (Apparel, Auto Services, Financial Services & Insurance, and Home Services) revealed a clear divergence between the kinds of queries that trigger AI Overviews (AIOs) and those that surface the traditional Maps Pack.

Only 1% of queries triggered both features in the same SERP. When both appeared, the AIO came first, pushing the Maps Pack below the fold.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

AIOs dominate informational queries, while Maps Packs dominate transactional or locational ones:

  • Queries beginning with question words (“how,” “why,” “what”) triggered AIOs 28% of the time, but Maps Packs <1%>
  • “Near me” queries triggered Maps Packs 100% of the time and never triggered an AIO.
  • Pluralized terms (e.g., “jackets”) were more likely to trigger AIOs than singular or specific terms.

Marketers, especially those managing multilocation brands, need a bifurcated strategy:

For AI Overviews

  • Invest in informational content that addresses common customer questions.
  • Ensure that content is structured, educational, and aligns with E-E-A-T principles (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness).
  • Use clear question-answer formatting to increase chances of AIO inclusion.

For Maps Pack Visibility

  • Optimize your Google Business profile.
  • Encourage reviews and manage responses.
  • Create localized landing pages with clear CTAs and schema markup.
  • Use local backlinks and citations to build trust.

Strategy 3. Gain Visibility In Alternate Search Experiences With A Distributed Content Footprint

Many users, especially younger generations, are increasingly bypassing traditional search engines altogether.

Inject your brand into new channels and open your windows and doors to complete visibility.

Perplexity AI has seen a remarkable rise in adoption, with around 22 million monthly active users in 2025, positioning it as a major alternative search platform.

Perplexity can geolocate the user and surface locally-relevant searches through its own web crawling, but also offers specific Local Search functionality that is enriched by a Yelp integration, and a restaurant booking capability that integrates with OpenTable – highlighting the importance of strong business listing data partnerships for any AI-based search that wishes to challenge Google’s dominance.

Reddit has become a trusted resource for recommendations, given the importance consumers are placing on social proof. Reddit commands strong loyalty among younger users, with over 70% of its user base being Millennials or Gen Z.

Its long-lasting content delivers value over time; 34% of Reddit posts continue to be viewed more than a year after posting. While Reddit does not offer an explicitly local search function, local business discovery is discussion-based.

Local content can be prioritized in the interface through the user’s geolocation, and explicitly local subreddits (e.g., r/Vancouver) can become forums for brands to build authentic connections with local customers.

TikTok is also a strong contender. A 2024 Adobe study revealed that 64% of Gen Z and 49% of Millennials have used TikTok as a search engine. While TikTok does not provide a maps-based search, its “Nearby” feed supports the discovery of content posted by local creators.

TikTok is currently testing an experimental feature that will place user-generated reviews into the Comments section when a place or local business has been tagged in the content.

In this way, TikTok can support local brand discovery through a blend of metadata, location tagging, and algorithmic signals. TikTok’s rapidly evolving paid search capabilities also support geotargeting as granularly as the zip code level.

The generational differences in Search behavior are clear. Gen Z often turns to TikTok and Reddit for inspiration and discovery rather than Google.

Millennials blend traditional, AI-assisted, and visual search, while Gen X and Boomers still lean toward Google, though they’re increasingly open to AI-generated summaries.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

To reach these diverse platforms and audiences requires tailored content. Video-first assets optimized for TikTok, Reels, and YouTube cater well to short-form, visual-first consumption.

On forums such as Reddit and Quora, building textual credibility through authentic, conversational answers is key.

Pinterest thrives on visuals and moodboards, while FAQs, how-to guides, and structured content (with schema markup) are crucial for AI engines that reward clear, structured information.

In this evolving landscape, marketers must build a distributed content footprint to ensure a presence wherever people are searching, and where AI tools may source it.

As AI platforms increasingly summarize content from various social and community channels, your brand’s participation in those discussions becomes essential,  not just for visibility, but to be cited accurately.

Strategy 4. Prepare For The Future Of Agentic Local Search

We are entering the agentic era, where users don’t just search, they delegate.

Google’s experimental “Call with AI” feature allows users to let an AI assistant call local businesses on their behalf. This transforms search from a real-time human task into an asynchronous agentic process.

What To Look For, Learn About & Incorporate

Key Impacts:

  • Proximity matters less: If AI finds a better deal 20 minutes away, you may be willing to make the trip
  • Price pressure increases: Transparent price comparisons and AI-led negotiations could initiate a race to the bottom
  • “Vibes” matter less: Warm greetings won’t influence the AI. Decision-making shifts from emotional to transactional.
  • Big brands lose leverage: Without human biases for logos or familiarity, small businesses can compete if they meet the decision criteria

Operational Challenges

  • Call volume may spike, but call value drops; your business could receive 100 AI-generated inquiries while winning only a few sales.
  • Unanswered calls = lost sale. AI agents will move on quickly if a call goes unanswered.
  • Scalability issues: AI can contact 100 businesses in seconds. Human-staffed phones can’t scale similarly.

Long-Term Adjustments

  • Structured pricing data must be public and machine-readable.
  • Agent-to-agent negotiation will require new infrastructure, with bots communicating with each other to confirm inventory and schedule appointments.
  • Local search becomes asynchronous: Agents might initiate requests at midnight and complete transactions during business hours, with no human involved.

Evolving Local Search, Enduring Foundations

There has been a seismic shift in how users discover brands and make decisions.

Businesses, especially multilocation enterprises, must adapt to a new hybrid model where visibility is dictated by both informational depth and local precision.

What’s Changing:

  • AI reshapes SERPs: Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode prioritize synthesized answers and intent-matching over clickable links, reducing organic link visibility.
  • Query types split visibility paths: Informational queries are now more likely to trigger AI Overviews, while transactional/local queries still favor Maps Packs; rarely do both appear together.
  • New platforms drive discovery: Reddit, TikTok, Perplexity, and Pinterest are no longer fringe sources – they are now primary discovery tools for younger generations.
  • Agentic search emerges: Users increasingly delegate tasks to AI (e.g., “Call with AI”), reshaping search from human-led interactions into asynchronous, bot-to-bot transactions.
  • Operational pressure increases: Businesses must prepare for surges in AI-driven interactions, increased price competition, and reduced influence of brand familiarity or emotional cues.

What’s Staying The Same:

  • Relevance and trust still rule: Google’s EEAT ranking principles remain crucial for AI visibility.
  • Local optimization is still vital: For transactional/local intent, the Maps Pack remains dominant. Accurate business listings, reviews, and structured local content continue to impact discoverability.
  • Content matters: Informational, structured, and platform-tailored content remains the cornerstone of any successful visibility strategy, only now must it live across multiple channels and formats.
  • Brand credibility drives citations: AI systems rely on trustworthy sources, so being the “answer” in AIOs or Perplexity depends on being referenced as a reputable, visible voice across the web.

To thrive in this transformed landscape, marketers must double down on creating a distributed content footprint, intent-driven optimization, and technical readiness for AI delegation, while still leaning on the fundamentals of trust, relevance, and local authority.

At DAC, we help brands thrive in this complexity with strategies that balance informational depth, local precision, and future-ready adaptability. Our recent analysis of 700+ SERPs across four major industries reveals how AI Overviews and Maps Packs divide visibility and what multilocation brands must do to capture both.

If you’re ready to turn today’s search disruption into tomorrow’s growth, get the full insights in our new whitepaper.

Download the Whitepaper

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by DAC. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Aug 15 2025
Local SEO Best Practices Aren’t Universal: Yext Study via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

A new Yext analysis of 8.7 million Google search results suggests many common local SEO tactics don’t perform the same across industries and regions.

The dataset, drawn from the company’s Scout Index, focuses on what correlates with visibility in Google’s Local Pack, not just overall map presence.

What Yext Found

Review Management Emerges As The Strongest Signal

The clearest pattern is around reviews. Yext states “Review engagement dominates,” calling it “the most consistent driver of Local Pack visibility across all industries and regions.”

Within the study’s feature rankings, review signals top the list, including review count, new reviews per month, and owner responses.

Businesses with many positive reviews and prompt owner responses tend to outperform competitors.

Industry Differences Vs. One-Size-Fits-All Playbooks

While profile completeness and timely replies generally help, their impact varies by vertical.

  • Food & Dining: Recent, highly rated reviews correlate more with visibility than total volume or profile completeness. A steady flow of new, high-quality reviews appears more influential than maximizing every profile field.
  • Hospitality: Photo quantity shows a weaker or even negative correlation with higher rankings. Yext notes that “a smaller set of curated, high-quality photos has more impact than a large, unfocused collection” for hotels and similar businesses.
    • At the same time, hospitality still benefits from strong ratings, clear descriptions, and curated visuals. Quality and focus matter more than volume.
  • Other sectors: The report highlights universal positives such as profile completeness, but stops short of advising identical tactics everywhere.

Regional Patterns

Geography also changes the picture. The Northeast appears less sensitive to many traditional SEO factors, while the South and West are more affected by slow review responses.

Yext calls out weekend response gaps: waiting until Monday can cost visibility, especially in the Midwest.

The practical takeaway is to maintain timely review engagement every day, not just during weekday office hours.

Methodology

Yext’s Scout Index compiles more than 200 structured data points per business, including review patterns, hours, contact details, media assets, social activity, and Google Business Profile completeness.

The analysis covers six industries across 2,500 populous ZIP codes and compares Local Pack placements against baseline Google Maps results.

Study caveats: This research involves vendor analysis using a proprietary dataset. It reports correlations rather than causal effects. Please consider these findings as directional and validate them in your own markets.

Looking Ahead

Yext’s conclusion is: “The one-size-fits-all approach seems to be a relic of the past.”

For marketers, this means testing industry-specific and region-specific strategies. Local search performance appears to reflect differences in both what people search and where they search.

Review management is the baseline to get right. Prioritize the cadence and quality of reviews, and respond quickly. Consider ways to cover weekends where delays correlate with lost visibility.

Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jul 17 2025
Your Reviews Are Ranking You (Or Not): How to Stay Visible in Google’s AI Era

This post was sponsored by GatherUp. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

If your business has a great local, word-of-mouth reputation but very few online reviews, does it even exist?

That’s the existential riddle facing local businesses and agencies in 2025.

With Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) now reshaping the search experience, visibility isn’t just about being “the best.”

It’s about being part of the summary.

And reviews? They’re no longer just trust signals. They’re ranking signals.

This article breaks down what’s changing, what’s working, and how agencies can keep their clients visible across both traditional local search and Google’s evolving AI layer.

Reviews Are Now A Gateway To Search Inclusion

Reviews have long been seen as conversion tools, helping users decide between businesses they’ve already discovered. But that role is evolving.

In the era of Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs), reviews are increasingly acting as discovery signals, helping determine which businesses get included in the first place.

GatherUp’s 2024 Online Reputation Benchmark Report shows that businesses with consistent, multi-channel review strategies, especially those generating both first- and third-party reviews, saw stronger reputation signals across volume, recency, and engagement. These are the exact kinds of signals that Google’s systems now appear to prioritize in AI-generated results.

That observation is reinforced by recent industry research and leaked Google documentation, which suggest that review characteristics like click-throughs, content depth, and freshness contribute to both local pack visibility and AIO inclusion.

In other words, the businesses getting summarized at the top of the SERP aren’t just highly rated. They’re actively reviewed, broadly cited, and seen as credible across sources Google trusts.

Recency Is A Signal. “Relevance” Is Google’s Shortcut.

More than two-thirds of consumers say they prioritize recent reviews when evaluating a business. But Google doesn’t necessarily show them first.

Instead, Google’s “Most Relevant” filter may prioritize older reviews that match query terms, even if they no longer reflect the current customer experience.

That’s why it’s critical for businesses to maintain steady review velocity. A flood of reviews in January followed by silence for six months won’t cut it. The AI layer, and the human reader, needs signals that say “this business is active and trustworthy right now.”

For agencies, this presents an opportunity to shift client mindset from static review goals to ongoing review strategies.

Star Ratings Still Matter, But Mostly As A Decision Shortcut

During our recent webinar with Search Engine Journal, we explored how consumers are using star ratings to disqualify options, not differentiate them.

Research shows:

  • 73% of consumers won’t consider businesses with fewer than 4 stars
  • But 69% are still open to doing business with brands that fall short of a perfect 5.0, so long as the reviews are recent and authentic

In other words, people are looking for a “safe” choice, not a flawless one.

A few solid 4-star reviews with real detail from the past week often carry more weight than a dozen perfect ratings from 2021.

Agencies should help clients understand this nuance, especially those who are hesitant to request reviews out of fear of imperfection.

First-Party & Third-Party Reviews: Both Are Necessary

AI Overviews aggregate information from across the web, including structured data from your own website and unstructured commentary from others.

  • First-party reviews: These are collected and hosted directly on the business’s website. They can be marked up with schema, giving Google structured, machine-readable content to use in summaries and answer boxes.
  • Third-party reviews: These appear on platforms like Google, Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor, and Reddit. They’re often seen as more objective and are more frequently cited in AI Overviews.

Businesses that show up consistently across both types are more likely to be included in AIOs, and appear trustworthy to users.

GatherUp supports multi-source review generation, schema markup for first-party feedback, and rotating requests across platforms. This makes it easier for agencies to build a review presence that supports both local SEO and AIO visibility.

AIOs Pull From More Than Just Google Reviews

According to recent data from Whitespark, over 60% of citations in AI Overviews come from non-Google sources. This includes platforms like:

  • Reddit.
  • TripAdvisor.
  • Yelp.
  • Local blogs and industry-specific directories.

If your client’s reviews live only on Google, they risk being overlooked entirely.

Google’s AI is scanning for what it deems “experience-based” content, unfiltered, authentic commentary from real people. And it prefers to cross-reference multiple sources to confirm credibility.

Agencies should encourage clients to broaden their review footprint and seek mentions in trusted third-party spaces. Dynamic review flows, QR codes, and conditional links can help diversify requests without overburdening the customer.

Responses Influence Visibility & Build Trust

Review responses are no longer just a nice gesture. They’re part of the algorithmic picture.

GatherUp’s benchmark research shows:

  • 92% of consumers say responding to reviews is now part of basic customer service.
  • 73% will give a business a second chance if their complaint receives a thoughtful reply.

But there’s also a technical upside. When reviews are clicked, read, and expanded, they generate engagement signals that may impact local rankings. And if a business’s reply includes resolution details or helpful context, it increases the content depth of that listing.

For agencies juggling multiple clients, automation helps. GatherUp offers AI-powered suggested responses that retain brand tone and ensure timely replies, without sounding robotic.

How Agencies Can Make AIO Part Of Their Core Strategy

Google’s AI systems are designed to answer user questions directly, often without requiring a click. That means review content is increasingly shaping brand narratives within the SERP.

To adapt, agencies should align client visibility efforts across both search formats:

For Local Pack Optimization

  • Keep Google Business Profile listings fully updated (photos, categories, Q&A).
  • Build and maintain steady review velocity using email, SMS, and in-person requests.
  • Respond to reviews regularly, especially nuanced or negative ones.

For AIO Inclusion

  • Collect first-party reviews and mark them up with schema.
  • Rotate requests to third-party platforms based on vertical relevance.
  • Capture reviews with photo uploads and detailed descriptions.
  • Build unstructured citations through community involvement, media mentions, and event participation.

Download Our Complete Proactive Reputation Management Playbook for Digital Agencies for templates and workflows to operationalize this as a branded, revenue-generating service.

Reputation Is No Longer Separate From Rankings

AI Overviews now appear in nearly two-thirds of local business search queries. That means your clients’ next customers may form an impression—or make a decision—before ever clicking through to a website or map pack listing.

Visibility is no longer guaranteed. It’s earned through content, coverage, and credibility.

And reviews sit at the center of all three.

For agencies, this is a moment of opportunity. You already have the tools to guide clients through the shift. You know how to structure content, build citations, and amplify voices that resonate with customers.

Reputation management isn’t optional anymore. It’s infrastructure.

About GatherUp

GatherUp is the only proactive reputation management platform purpose-built for digital agencies. We help you  build, manage, and defend your clients’ online reputations.

GatherUp supports:

  • First- and third-party review generation across multiple platforms,
  • Schema-marked up feedback collection for AIO relevance,
  • Intelligent, AI-assisted response workflows,
  • Seamless white-labeling for full agency control,
  • Scalable review operations tools that can help you manage 10 or 10,000 locations and clients.

Agencies who use GatherUp don’t just react to algorithm changes. They shape client visibility, and defend it.

To learn more, watch the full webinar for actionable strategies, data-backed insights, and examples of AIO-influenced local search in the wild.

Watch the full webinar

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by GatherUp. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jul 16 2025
Google Search Can Now Call Local Businesses Using AI via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has introduced a new AI-powered calling feature in Search that contacts local businesses on a user’s behalf to gather pricing and availability details.

The feature, rolling out to all U.S. Search users this week, allows people to request information from multiple businesses with a single query.

When searching for services like pet grooming or dry cleaning, users may now see a new option to “Have AI check pricing.”

How It Works

After selecting the AI option, users are guided through a form to provide details about the service they need.

Google’s AI then calls relevant local businesses to gather information such as pricing, appointment availability, and service options. The responses are consolidated and presented to the user.

The experience starts with a typical local search, such as “pet groomers near me.” If the AI calling feature is available, users can specify details like:

  • Pet type, breed, and size
  • Requested services (e.g., bath, nail trim, haircut)
  • Time preferences (e.g., within 48 hours)
  • Preferred method of communication (SMS or email)

According to a Google spokesperson, the AI determines which businesses to contact based on traditional local search rankings. Only those that appear in results for the relevant query and match the user’s criteria will be contacted.

What It Looks Like

Examples show a multi-step process where users enter information and confirm their request.

Google displays responses from participating businesses, including prices and availability, all gathered through automated calls.

Before submitting a request, users must confirm that Google can call businesses and share the submitted details. The process is governed by Google’s privacy policy, and users are informed of how their data will be used.

Business Participation & Control

Businesses can manage whether they receive these AI-driven calls via their Business Profile settings.

Google describes the feature as creating “new opportunities” to connect with potential customers, while also giving businesses control over participation.

Available to All (With Premium Perks)

The AI calling feature is available to all users in the U.S., though Google AI Pro and AI Ultra subscribers benefit from higher usage limits.

Google says more agentic AI features will debut for these subscribers before expanding globally.

What This Means

Because the AI selects businesses using standard local search rankings, maintaining strong local SEO becomes even more important.

Businesses with optimized listings and higher rankings are more likely to receive calls and capture leads.

This could also shift how businesses handle inbound requests. Those that rely on phone calls may want to prepare staff or systems to handle more frequent, possibly scripted, AI-initiated inquiries.

Looking Ahead

By automating time-consuming tasks like gathering service quotes, Google aims to make Search more actionable.

Adoption will depend on how well the AI handles real-world complexity, as well as how many businesses opt in.

For marketers and local service providers, it’s another sign that search visibility directly connects to lead generation. Keeping Business Profile data accurate and staying visible in local results could increasingly determine whether a business gets contacted at all.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jun 27 2025
Mastering Local SEO: A Strategic Imperative For Travel And Tourism Operators via @sejournal, @JRiddall

The travel and tourism industry thrives on inspiration, discovery, and experience. While increasingly being challenged by social media and friend & family referrals, the first point of discovery for many travelers is still a search engine.

For operators in this competitive sector, ranging from boutique hotels and niche tour providers to vacation rental property owners and managers, as well as local attractions, a commanding online presence isn’t just beneficial – it’s fundamental to survival and growth.

This is where Local SEO emerges as a critical driver, connecting businesses with high-intent travelers actively seeking their next destination or experience.

As the search journey includes more AI-driven results, a sophisticated and adaptive Local SEO strategy is crucial.

This guide will navigate the essentials of Local SEO tailored for travel and tourism, incorporating strategies to thrive in the era of Google’s AI Overviews and other AI search platforms.

We’ll explore established best practices and new frontiers to help you enhance visibility, attract qualified leads, and convert searches into bookings.

Why Local SEO Is Non-Negotiable For Your Travel Business

Today’s travelers are digital nomads even before they pack their bags. They meticulously research, compare, and seek out authentic local experiences, with search engines as their primary guide.

A staggering 87% of consumers used Google to evaluate local businesses in 2022, according to BrightLocal, and this trend is particularly pronounced in the travel sector.

A robust Local SEO strategy ensures your offerings are prominent when potential customers conduct geographically specific searches. Consider these compelling reasons:

Hyper-Targeted Visibility

Local SEO puts your business in front of users searching for “boutique hotels in downtown Austin” or “eco-tours near me,” connecting you with an audience demonstrating clear local intent.

Increased Organic Traffic & Direct Bookings

Higher visibility in local search translates to more qualified traffic to your website, reducing reliance on commission-heavy Online Travel Agencies (OTAs).

Enhanced Credibility And Trust

Businesses appearing in top local search results, especially those with strong reviews, are perceived as more trustworthy. Indeed, according to Expedia group, studies show that 95% of travelers read reviews before booking

Competitive Edge

In a crowded marketplace, a sophisticated Local SEO strategy will differentiate your unique local offerings from larger, and perhaps less localized competitors.

Cost-Effectiveness

Compared to paid advertising, organic Local SEO can deliver a higher return on investment (ROI) over the long term by building sustainable visibility.

Building A Future-Proof Local SEO Strategy For Travel

To maximize visibility and capture the attention of modern travelers, operators must build their SEO strategy on several key pillars:

An Optimized Google Business Profile (GBP)

For businesses with a physical presence or those catering to broader service areas, a Google Business Profile is arguably the most potent Local SEO tool currently available.

It’s often the first interaction a potential customer has with a brand online, as Google Maps appears at the top of most local searches.

Here are the key GBP best practices you need to implement to leverage this important channel.

  • NAP Optimization: Claim and thoroughly complete your GBP listing. Ensure the accuracy of your business Name, Address (or service area), Phone number (NAP), website, hours, and a compelling, keyword-rich description.
  • Precise Categorization: Select the most accurate primary and secondary categories truly reflecting your business’s services, e.g., “Boutique Hotel,” “Adventure Tour Operator,” “Vacation Rental Agency.”
  • Service Area Definition: For businesses without a fixed customer-facing location (like tour operators) or those serving a broader region, accurately define your service areas. Google advises that this shouldn’t exceed a 2-hour drive from your base. If you serve an area beyond this 2-hour range, you will need to find ways to convince Google via reviews from customers located in the broader area, local partnerships, or perhaps establishing an actual satellite location.
  • Visual Storytelling: Invest in and share professional, high-resolution photos and videos of your business, properties, tours, amenities, local ambiance, guest experiences, team, etc.
  • Active Engagement via GBP Posts: Regularly use GBP posts to share updates, special offers, upcoming events, new blog content, and local insights. This signals to Google that your business is active and engaged in your community.
  • Review Management: Ask for and monitor customer reviews on GBP. Respond promptly and professionally to all reviews. This not only impacts rankings, but can also heavily influence booking decisions – 76% of consumers would update their negative review to a neutral or positive if a company acknowledged and fixed the complaint. Larger organizations with review volume across multiple locations will want to consider centralized and automated review management solutions such as BirdEye or BrightLocal.
  • Proactive Q&A Management: Monitor and answer questions in the GBP Q&A section to provide valuable information and manage customer perceptions.

Maintain A High-Performance, Locally Optimized Website

Your website is your digital flagship, where inspiration meets transaction.

Websites remain a core focus for all businesses because they are still the place where primary product and service content is housed, as well as for travel businesses where bookings begin, even if they are ultimately completed off-site.

Several components are involved in optimizing a site for local search.

Strategic Keyword Research

Identify terms your target audience uses at each stage of the travel planning funnel, and particularly those used during the Engage and Booking stages.

Focus on location-specific queries (“luxury safari tours Kenya”), property types (“beachfront villas Maui”), and unique selling propositions (“pet-friendly cabins in the Blue Ridge Mountains”).

On-Page Optimization

Craft unique, keyword-rich Title tags, hierarchical heading structures, and internal/external links for every key bottom-of-the-funnel page.

Review keyword rank, search volume, organic search traffic, and conversion data to determine the primary pages to focus on.

Larger organizations will want to take a broader, scalable approach with page templates, but will still hone attention and focus on key locations where some level of authority and visibility has already been established, upon which momentum can be built.

Dedicated Location/Service Pages

If you cater to multiple distinct areas or offer specialized tours/services per location, create unique, detailed landing pages for each location.

These pages should include unique localized content (particularly if services or products differ by location), local team information, testimonials, contact details, and embedded Google Maps.

Image & Video Optimization

Use descriptive filenames and alt text for all visuals, incorporating relevant keywords and location data, where applicable.

Optimize image file sizes for fast loading (the WebP format is recommended) without compromising quality. This is admittedly a challenge for many in the travel space as images and video can make or break a property, tour, or experience listing.

Mobile-Friendly Design

With a significant portion of travel searches and bookings occurring on mobile (mobile devices made up 70.5% of global online travel traffic in 2024), a responsive, fast-loading website is critical.

Furthermore, site speed is a recognized ranking factor, for which tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Core Web Vitals are available to gauge and diagnose potential bottlenecks.

Rich, Informative Content

Develop content marketing plans to address traveler questions and showcase your local expertise via detailed itineraries, destination guides, “things to do” lists, and booking information.

Structured Data (Schema Markup)

Implement relevant schema, such as:

  • LocalBusiness.
  • Hotel.
  • LodgingBusiness.
  • VacationRental.
  • TouristAttraction.
  • TouristTrip (for itineraries).
  • Event.
  • FAQPage.
  • Article.

Schema helps search engines (and AI models) understand your content contextually.

Relevant, comprehensive structured data will improve your content’s eligibility for rich snippets and AI Overviews in Google, which are showing up in organic search results with increasing regularity across travel and all industries.

User Experience (UX) And Accessibility

A seamless UX with intuitive navigation, clear calls-to-action, and an easy booking process directly impacts conversion rates.

Further, ensuring your website is accessible to people with disabilities (based on WCAG Guidelines) broadens your target audience and is widely considered SEO best practice.

Building Authority With Off-Page SEO And Reputation Management

Off-page signals from relevant local and/or industry-specific sources significantly influence your local ranking and perceived trustworthiness.

Brand mentions, whether linked or not, are being recognized as an important factor in AI Search visibility.

Businesses looking to boost their local visibility need to consider their broad web presence, in addition to the content they control on their website and GBP.

  • NAP Consistency & Local Citations: Ensure your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) are identical across all online directories (e.g., Yelp, TripAdvisor, local tourism sites). Inconsistent NAP can harm rankings. Larger operators with multiple locations will want to consider implementing a centralized Listings Management tool like SOCi or Yext.
  • Strategic Link Building: Earn and obtain high-quality backlinks from relevant local organizations (tourism boards, chambers of commerce), travel blogs, local press, and complementary businesses.
  • Local Partnerships & Community Engagement: Collaborate with nearby businesses (restaurants, activity providers, event organizers) for cross-promotion and local link opportunities. Sponsoring and/or physically participating in local events can also help build visibility and relevant local links.
  • Local Influencer Collaboration: Partner with local travel and lifestyle influencers to tap into their engaged audiences with relevant content and messaging, thereby gaining authentic, local endorsements. These types of collaborations generally take time to establish and build trust, but can reap significant benefits by tapping into a loyal, local customer base.

Content Marketing: The Engine Of Local SEO And AI Visibility

High-quality, relevant content is fuel for both visibility in traditional organic and AI-driven search.

  • Audience-Centric Content Strategy: Understand your ideal traveler and their journey. Create content that inspires, informs, and facilitates booking.
  • Hyperlocal & Unique Storytelling: Develop blog posts, guides, videos, and itineraries highlighting your unique offerings and deep knowledge of the local area. Focus on what makes your experience or destination special, sharing authentic stories and insider tips.
  • Answer Questions Directly: Create content, including dedicated FAQ sections, and directly answer common traveler queries. Incorporate a Question and Answer schema to clearly call out this content for search and LLM crawlers. This is vital for appearing in Google’s AI Overviews and being useful to other AI chatbots.
  • Diverse Content Formats: Utilize blog articles, high-resolution photo galleries, engaging videos (destination spotlights, property tours, guest testimonials), interactive maps, and downloadable guides. Short-form video is highly effective on social media.
  • Content Promotion: Share your content strategically via GBP, social media, email marketing, and local partnerships to maximize its reach and opportunity to be shared further.

Thriving In The Era Of AI Overviews And AI Search

We can’t have an SEO conversation today, Local or otherwise, without considering the impact of AI on search.

Google’s AI Overviews and other AI tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT are changing how users find information.

In a recent Whitespark study, it was determined that AI Overviews are appearing for a significant 68% of local business-type searches.

To optimize for this new paradigm at a local level, there are a few things to consider, some of which you’ll note are in line with the SEO recommendations made above:

  • Prioritize E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): AI models, especially Google’s, are designed to prioritize information from sources that demonstrate the four qualities of E-E-A-T. Ensure your content is accurate, well-researched, or proprietary, written by experts (or showcases expertise), and your website projects credibility.
  • Create Comprehensive, Factual, and Well-Structured Content: AI loves well-organized information. Use clear headings, bullet points, and ensure your content thoroughly covers a topic, directly answering common questions. This makes it easier for AI to parse and use your information for generating and displaying summaries.
  • Optimize for Conversational & Question-Based Queries: Think about how users ask questions about your business, products, or services verbally or in natural language. Structure content around these queries (e.g., “What are the best family-friendly hotels in Orlando with a water park?”).
  • Reinforce Entity Recognition: Ensure clear and consistent information about your business (your “entity”) across the web – your name, what you do, where you’re located, and unique offerings.
  • Structured Data Matters Even More: As mentioned, schema markup helps search engines and AI Large Language Models (LLMs) understand the specifics of your content (business, products, etc), thereby improving its ability to be accurately represented in AI-generated results.
  • Ensure Broad Web Presence and Citations: AI models like Perplexity cite their sources. Being mentioned and linked to from other authoritative travel sites, blogs, and news outlets can increase your chances of being referenced.
  • Monitor Your Appearance in AI Search: While direct tracking in AI Overviews and other AI search platforms is still in development, consider leveraging new third-party tools and conducting manual checks to determine if and how your business or content is appearing in AI-generated responses for relevant queries.

Track, Analyze, And Adapt

Any worthwhile and effective Local SEO effort is backed by data.

Use Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and other SEO tools to monitor key metrics, including organic traffic, keyword rankings (especially local), Google Business Profile insights (views, clicks, calls, direction requests), conversion rates, and referral traffic from local sources.

This data will be key to helping you continually refine your strategy as modern SEO (and now GEO or AEO) is a moving target.

The Future Is Local And AI-Enhanced

Local SEO is no longer a niche tactic, but a foundational element of a successful digital marketing strategy for any travel and tourism operator.

By focusing on providing genuine value to travelers, creating exceptional local experiences, and meticulously optimizing your online presence across all relevant platforms, you can attract more customers.

As AI continues to reshape search, the emphasis on high quality, authoritative, and clearly structured content, along with a broad-based, brand-forward web presence, becomes even more important.

Embrace the principles and tactics here, stay agile, and you’ll be well-positioned to navigate the evolving digital landscape and welcome more guests through your virtual and physical doors.

More resources:

Featured Image: RobinRmD/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jun 9 2025
Google’s Local Job Type Algorithm Detailed In Research Paper via @sejournal, @martinibuster

Google published a research paper describing how it extracts “services offered” information from local business sites to add it to business profiles in Google Maps and Search. The algorithm describes specific relevance factors and confirms that the system has been successfully in use for a year.

What makes this research paper especially notable is that one of the authors is Marc Najork, a distinguished research scientist at Google who is associated with many milestones in information retrieval, natural language processing, and artificial intelligence.

The purpose of this system is to make it easier for users to find local businesses that provide the services they are looking for. The paper was published in 2024 (according to the Internet Archive) and is dated 2023.

The research paper explains:

“…to reduce user effort, we developed and deployed a pipeline to automatically extract the job types from business websites. For example, if a web page owned by a plumbing business states: “we provide toilet installation and faucet repair service”, our pipeline outputs toilet installation and faucet repair as the job types for this business.”

Developing A Local Search System

The first step for creating a system for crawling and extracting job type information was to create training data from scratch. They selected billions of home pages that are listed in Google business profiles and extracted job type information from tables and formatted lists on home pages or pages that were one click away from the home pages. This job type data became the seed set of job types.

The extracted job type data was used as search queries, augmented with query expansion (synonyms) to expand the list of job types to include all possible variations of job type keyword phrases.

Second Step: Fixing A Relevance Problem

Google’s researchers applied their system on the billions of pages and it didn’t work as intended because many pages had job type phrases that were not describing services offered.

The research paper explains:

“We found that many pages mention job type names for other purposes like giving life tips. For example, a web page that teaches readers to deal with bed bugs might contain a sentence like a solution is to call home cleaning services if you find bed bugs in your home. They usually provide services like bed bug control. Though this page mentions multiple job type names, the page is not provided by a home cleaning business.”

Limiting the crawling and indexing to identifying job type keyword phrases resulted in false positives. The solution was to incorporate sentences that surrounded the keyword phrases so that they could better understand the context of the job type keyword phrases.

The success of using surrounding text is explained:

“As shown in Table 2, JobModelSurround performs significantly better than JobModel, which suggests that the surrounding words could indeed explain the intent of the seed job type mentions. This successfully improves the semantic understanding without processing the entire text of each page, keeping our models efficient.”

SEO Insight
The described local search algorithm is purposely excluding all information on the page and zeroing in on job type keyword phrases and surrounding words and phrases around those keywords. This shows the importance of how the words around important keyword phrases can provide context for the keyword phrases and make it easier for Google’s crawlers to understand what the page is about without having to process the entire web page.

SEO Insight
Another insight is that Google is not indexing the entire web page for the limited purpose of identifying job type keyword phrases. The algorithm is hunting for the keyword phrase and surrounding keyword phrases.

SEO Insight
The concept of analyzing only a part of a page is similar to Google’s Centerpiece Annotation where a section of content is identified as the main topic of the page. I’m not saying these are related. I’m just pointing out one feature out of many where a Google algorithm zeroes in on just a section of a page.

The System Uses BERT

Google used the BERT language model to classify whether phrases extracted from business websites describe actual job types. BERT was fine-tuned on labeled examples and given additional context such as website structure, URL patterns, and business category to improve precision without sacrificing scalability.

The Extraction System Can Be Generalized To Other Contexts

An interesting finding detailed by the research paper is that the system they developed can be used in areas (domains) other than local businesses, such as “expertise finding, legal and medical information extraction.”

They write:

“The lessons we shared in developing the largescale extraction pipeline from scratch can generalize to other information extraction or machine learning tasks. They have direct applications to domain-specific extraction tasks, exemplified by expertise finding, legal and medical information extraction.

Three most important lessons are:

(1) utilizing the data properties such as structured content could alleviate the cold start problem of data annotation;

(2) formulating the task as a retrieval problem could help researchers and practitioners deal with a large dataset;

(3) the context information could improve the model quality without sacrificing its scalability.”

Job Type Extract Is A Success

The research paper says that their system is a success, it has a high level of precision (accuracy) and that it is scalable. The research paper says that it has already been in use for a year. The research is dated 2023 but according to the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine), it was published sometime in July 2024.

The researchers write:

“Our pipeline is executed periodically to keep the extracted content up-to-date. It is currently deployed in production, and the output job types are surfaced to millions of Google Search and Maps users.”

Takeaways

  • Google’s Algorithm That Extracts Job Types from Webpages
    Google developed an algorithm that extracts “job types” (i.e., services offered) from business websites to display in Google Maps and Search.
  • Pipeline Extracts From Unstructured Content
    Instead of relying on structured HTML elements, the algorithm reads free-text content, making it effective even when services are buried in paragraphs.
  • Contextual Relevance Is Important
    The system evaluates surrounding words to confirm that service-related terms are actually relevant to the business, improving accuracy.
  • Model Generalization Potential
    The approach can be applied to other fields like legal or medical information extraction, showing how it can be applied to other kinds of knowledge.
  • High Accuracy and Scalability
    The system has been deployed for over a year and delivers scalable, high-precision results across billions of webpages.

Google published a research paper about an algorithm that automatically extracts service descriptions from local business websites by analyzing keyword phrases and their surrounding context, enabling more accurate and up-to-date listings in Google Maps and Search. This technique avoids dependence on HTML structure and can be adapted for use in other industries where extracting information from unstructured text is needed.

Read the research paper abstract and download the PDF version here:

Job Type Extraction for Service Businesses

Featured Image by Shutterstock/ViDI Studio

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
May 14 2025
Local SEO: How To Make More Customers Click, Choose & Walk Through Your Doors [Webinar] via @sejournal, @hethr_campbell

How do you turn local searches into real foot traffic?

If your business relies on being found locally, clicks alone aren’t enough. You need future customers to choose you and show up.

Whether you’re managing search visibility, local listings, or digital customer experience, this session will help you turn more searches into measurable visits and offline conversions.

Join us for “Local SEO: How To Make More Customers Click, Choose & Walk Through Your Doors” on Wednesday, May 28 at 2 PM ET.  In this session, we’ll explore real consumer behavior and how it shapes your local SEO strategy.

Why This Webinar Is Worth Your Time:

Based on consumer research from over 2,000 individuals across the UK, US, France, and Germany, this session will give you a clear picture of what makes people take action.

In this session, you’ll learn: 

✅ What gets consumers to choose one business over another.
✅ Actionable tips to optimize local SEO strategies across Google, Apple, voice search, AI tools & more.
✅ How to improve visibility, clarity, and trust across every location you manage.
✅ Digital signals that matter most to consumers.

Presented by Krystal Taing (VP) and Paul Modaley (Content Marketing Manager) at Uberall, this event is built for businesses that want to capture more high-intent traffic and convert it into real-world outcomes across any industry.

Register Now!

What Makes This Session Different:

You won’t hear guesses or theories. 

You’ll walk away with real data and proven strategies based on how people search, decide, and shop in your area.

Let’s help you drive results for your local and multi-location brick-and-mortar businesses.

Register Now!

Can’t make it live? Sign up anyway, and we’ll send the full recording to your inbox.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Apr 30 2025
Google & Apple Maps: 20% of Local Searches Now Start Here via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

New research shows that map platforms have become key search engines for local businesses.

One in five consumers now searches directly in map apps instead of traditional search engines.

BrightLocal’s Consumer Search Behavior study found that Google, Apple, and Bing Maps make up 20% of all local searches.

This is a big part of search traffic that many marketers might be missing in their local SEO plans.

The Rise of Map-First Search Behavior

The research found that 15% of consumers use Google Maps as their first choice for local searches. This makes it the second most popular platform after Google Search (45%).

The study reads:

“Another significant finding is the prominence of Google Maps in local search. 15% of consumers said they would use Google Maps as their first port of call, meaning they are searching local terms—which could be brand or non-brand terms—directly in Google Maps.”

It continues:

“Google Maps, Apple Maps, and Bing Maps combined make up 20% of default local search platforms. This reinforces the importance of ensuring you’re optimizing for both map packs and organic search listings. You might have a strong presence in the SERPs, but if consumers are looking for businesses like yours on a map search, you need to ensure you’re going to be found there, too.”

This change shows that consumers favor visual, location-based searches for local businesses, especially when making spontaneous decisions.

Generational Differences in Map Usage

Different age groups use map platforms at different rates:

  • Eighteen percent of Gen Z consumers use Google Maps as their primary local search tool, which is three percentage points higher than the average.
  • 21% of Millennials use Google Maps as their default local search platform.
  • 5% of Millennials prefer Apple Maps as their primary local search option.
  • Younger consumers appear to be more comfortable using maps to discover local businesses. This might be because they’re used to doing everything on mobile devices.

What Consumers Look for in Map Results

The study found key information that drives consumer decisions when using maps:

  • 85% of consumers say contact information and opening hours are “important” or “very important”
  • 46% rate business contact information as “very important”
  • Nearly half (49%) of consumers “often” or “always” plan their route to a business after searching

Map-based searches have high potential to convert browsers into customers, the report notes:

“Almost half of consumers (49%) said that they ‘often’ or ‘always’ go on to plan their travel route to the chosen business. This suggests two things: one, how quickly consumers seem to be making their decisions, and two, that consumers are conducting local business research with the aim of visiting in the very near future.”

SEO Implications for Local Businesses

For SEO pros and local marketers, these findings highlight several actions to take:

  • Prioritize optimizing map listings beyond your Google Business Profile.
  • Ensure accuracy across all map platforms, not just Google.
  • Focus on complete business information, especially contact details and hours.
  • Monitor the “justifications” in map results, which can be sourced from your business information, reviews, and website.
  • Treat maps as a primary search channel rather than an afterthought.

BrightLocal highlights:

“So, don’t lose out to potential customers by not having a correct address, phone number, or email address listed on your platforms—and be sure to check your opening hours are up to date.”

Looking Ahead

Map platforms are evolving from simple navigation tools into search engines that drive sales and revenue.

If you treat map listings as an afterthought, you risk missing many motivated, ready-to-buy consumers.

As search continues to fragment across platforms, investing specific resources in optimizing your map presence, beyond standard local SEO, is increasingly essential for businesses that rely on local traffic.

Featured Image: miss.cabul/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Apr 18 2025
Competitor Analysis In Local SEO And How To Gain An Edge via @sejournal, @JRiddall

In every community, multiple businesses and business types vie for prominence within a limited geographic radius.

As such, when it comes to online visibility and local SEO, competitor analysis isn’t just a best practice – it’s a necessity.

Understanding and responding to your rivals’ strategies, strengths, and weaknesses is the cornerstone of a winning local SEO campaign.

For SEO professionals, this means going beyond surface-level observations and diving deep into data to uncover actionable insights.

Let’s explore how to conduct a thorough competitor analysis and leverage any findings to gain an edge in local organic search, drive targeted traffic, and improve the bottom line.

Identifying Your Local Online Competition

Before you can analyze your competition, you need to identify them.

A business you consider a competitor offline may or may not be a competitor online, which will determine whether or not you can learn and apply anything from how their web presence is structured.

Furthermore, at a local level – and depending on the service or product – you may very well find large players like big box stores or ecommerce offerings appearing in the search results.

Here, too, there may not be much to be learned from a tactical perspective, but you do need to understand what and who you are up against in order to develop strategies for any given keyword or topic.

Understanding who the competition is and how far ahead they may or may not be will help you determine where to focus your attention.

A good starting point for any SEO strategy is from a position of strength.

In other words, those areas where your business has established some authority and visibility relative to your competitors.

If you have limited to no authority or visibility, it may be worthwhile focusing your attention elsewhere and considering paid search or social advertising strategies to bridge the gap.

A simple incognito Google search for your primary keywords in your target location will display a list of relevant businesses along with local directories and industry-specific websites, which all represent competition for your customers’ attention.

Alternatively, SEO tools like Ahrefs or Semrush will call out domains/websites, i.e., competitors found to be ranking for the same keywords your domain does.

These tools provide a wealth of content and keyword gap information, which will be used for much of the analysis outlined below.

Key Areas Of Local SEO Competitor Analysis

1. On-Page SEO Analysis

Any effective competitor analysis will naturally begin with a review of competitors’ websites to see “how” they may be able to outrank you and/or what they may be trying to rank for.

Examine the primary website content of any competitors outranking your website, focusing on relevant local keywords you want to be found for.

What keywords do they use in their titles, page headings, and link anchor text. These are presumably the keywords they have optimized for.

Keep in mind that when reviewing a competitive website or content, the assumption is that it was created and published with SEO in mind. However, this may not always be the case, so don’t be surprised if your competitor’s pages are not optimized; rather, look at this as an opportunity.

Are there pages for specific neighborhoods or landmarks? In other words, are your competitors looking to target customers in areas where you are or are not?

Analyze their structured data/schema markup, which helps search engines understand the context of their content.

Tools like Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool can help with this. Structured data is also an important consideration in optimizing for AI Search, a topic we’ll leave for another day.

Assess their website’s user experience and mobile-friendliness by running a Google PageSpeed Insights report on any of the competition’s ranking pages, along with the same on your own, to see what gaps exist.

Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing, so it goes without saying that a mobile-friendly website is essential for local SEO.

2. Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization

A survey of SEO professionals by Brightlocal found that GBP optimization is the most valuable local SEO service, followed by creating content and web design.

For many businesses, their GBP is as (if not more) important than their website.

As such, reviewing your competitors’ GBP can reveal how often you need to post content or how many reviews you need to compete.

Your competitors’ GBP is a treasure trove of information. Analyze their chosen categories, keyword usage in business descriptions, the quality and quantity of photos and posts, and their engagement in the Q&A section.

Pay close attention to their posting frequency. Are they regularly sharing updates, offers, and events?

According to Google, “Businesses that add photos to their Business Profiles receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.”

3. Local Citation Analysis

Your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) appearing in citations help strengthen local SEO as they confirm your geographic relevance to Google.

Local directory submission still very much matters when it comes to establishing local authority and visibility.

Here, too, you can conduct an incognito search and review local directories, or you can use tools like Whitespark or BrightLocal to identify where your competitors are listed.

Focus on the consistency and accuracy of their NAP information. Inconsistent citations can confuse search engines and negatively impact rankings.

A study by Moz found citation accuracy is a key factor in local search rankings.

4. Local Link Building Analysis

Similar to citations, obtaining links from relevant, local sources such as local blogs, newspapers, and chambers of commerce is highly valuable as backlinks have the effect of validating both the localness and service/product focus of a business.

Building relationships with local influencers and businesses can also help you acquire high-quality local backlinks.

Use tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to analyze your competitors’ backlink profiles. Identify their link sources and assess the quality of those links to see if it would be worthwhile to pursue the same.

Review your competitors’ websites to see if they’ve established local partnerships, and then see if those partners have linked to or mentioned them on their sites.

5. Review And Reputation Analysis

Reviews are a critical factor in terms of establishing customer trust and, by extension, local search authority and rankings.

Effective reputation management can significantly impact local SEO performance.

Analyze the volume, sentiment, and recency of your competitors’ Google, Yelp, or local/industry directory reviews.

Pay attention to how quickly and how your competition responds to reviews, both positive and negative.

6. Local Content Strategy

Content is still king, and a well-planned and effective content marketing strategy can set a local business apart.

Creating and sharing relevant, high-quality content that your customers and prospects want to read, like, and share is key to providing expertise while building authority and trust.

In fact, it can be argued that creating content that will answer all of your customers’ questions about selecting, purchasing, and using your products and services is the basis of modern SEO, local or otherwise.

Analyze the types of content your competitors are producing. Are they creating blog posts about local events, neighborhood guides, or customer success stories?

Identify content gaps and opportunities to create unique and valuable content for your local audience.

Leveraging local news and events can create very relevant content.

Expanded Strategies To Gain An Edge Through Competitor Analysis

Identify Gaps And Opportunities

This is the foundational step in leveraging the competitive analysis you’ve done.

Your competitor analysis should reveal where your rivals are falling short. These gaps represent opportunities for you to excel and surpass them.

Don’t just note the gaps; prioritize them. Which weaknesses, if addressed, will yield the most significant impact on your local SEO?

Consider factors like search volume for related keywords and the potential for increased customer engagement.

For example, if you note your competitors have not taken advantage of certain sub-categories in their Google Business Profile, ensure you do and key on those sub-categories with content like blog posts, images, or videos you create and share via GBP posts and elsewhere.

Reverse Engineering Successful Strategies

Reverse engineering what your competitors have done doesn’t mean blindly copying their website, content, or campaigns.

It’s about understanding why their strategies work and adapting them to your unique business. Again, be sure to select your true online competitors validated by performance data.

Analyze the elements of their successful strategies. Is it their content, their link-building tactics, their GBP optimization, or something else?

Once you identify the key components that appear to be boosting their presence relative to yours, brainstorm ways to improve upon what they and you are doing. Focus on adding value and differentiation.

For example, a local fitness studio might observe a competitor’s blog posts on “healthy meal prep” generating significant engagement on social media.

It analyzes the competitor’s content, noting the use of high-quality images, easy-to-follow recipes, and local ingredient recommendations.

It then creates its own blog posts on the same topic, but it also includes video tutorials, printable shopping lists, and interviews with local nutritionists, providing a more comprehensive and engaging experience.

Hyperlocal Content Creation

As discussed, content built to resonate with your local audience is essential for local SEO. It can be the difference between you and your competition in terms of both organic search ranking and engagement with your customer base.

Go beyond generic content. Focus on creating content specific to your target location. This could include neighborhood guides, local event calendars, or interviews with like-minded local business owners.

The goal is to establish your business as the trusted source of local information, particularly in areas where you have unique expertise and experience.

As an example, a local bookstore creates a blog series called “Neighborhood Spotlight,” featuring interviews with residents about their reading habits and favorite books or magazines.

It also creates a “Local Author” section on its website, showcasing books by writers from the area.

Local stories about neighbors can be of real interest to residents of a community and can initiate conversations about the business both online and off.

Another example could be a local hardware store or plumber creating, publishing, and sharing “how to” videos on their website, YouTube, and GBP centered around local weather conditions.

In a northern community, one such video might be titled “How to prepare your pipes for a winter freeze in [town name],” while in the south, it becomes “How to guard against flooding in [town name] during hurricane season.”

Building Local Relationships

Networking and partnering with other local businesses and influencers can significantly boost your local authority and visibility.

You may notice thriving local businesses or competitors in your area leveraging these types of partnerships, and if so, this should be a clear signal for doing the same.

If not, this becomes an important opportunity to differentiate your business.

Building relationships takes time and effort, but they will certainly pay off if properly planned and nurtured.

Participate in local events, join local business associations, and collaborate with other like-minded businesses on joint promotions.

The goal is to create a network of local connections that can amplify your reach, credibility, and trust.

A local coffee shop partners with a nearby bakery to offer a “coffee and pastry” combo deal. The shop also collaborates with a local artist to display their artwork, creating a unique and engaging atmosphere.

All three businesses benefit from increased exposure to each other’s customer base.

In another example, a local clothing boutique sees a competitor gain traction from partnering with and supporting a local community organization.

It then looks to establish similar relationships but ensures the return on investment (ROI) of each partnership by co-creating content, running events, and providing unique, branded promotional codes and URLs for tracking engagement and sales.

Monitoring And Adapting

Local SEO is an ongoing process. You need to regularly monitor your competitors, identify any new entrants or tactics, and adapt your strategies as needed.

Track key metrics, such as keyword rankings, organic website traffic, content publishing/sharing, and review volume. The tools noted above can help you do so on a scheduled basis.

Turning Competitor Insights Into Local SEO Success

Competitor analysis is an indispensable component of any successful local SEO strategy.

By properly identifying the competition and understanding your rivals’ strengths and weaknesses, you can identify opportunities to improve your local search visibility and stave off any threats as they arise.

Remember, SEO is a continuous process that requires ongoing monitoring and adaptation.

By leveraging the tools and strategies outlined here, you can work towards gaining and maintaining an edge.

More Resources:

Featured Image: HZ Creations/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Apr 7 2025
Google Maps Gets An Upgrade To Combat Fake Reviews via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google has updated its AI systems for Maps and Business Profiles, which now use Gemini to identify risky profile edits and fake reviews.

Gemini Finds Suspicious Profile Edits

Google is employing Gemini to spot fake changes to Business Profiles.

It can distinguish between a regular update, like a slight name change, and a sudden, suspicious shift, such as changing a business category from a “cafe” to a “plumber.”

In its announcement, Google said:

“We trained a new model with the help of Gemini that identifies potentially suspicious profile edits. A business that changes its name from ‘Zoe’s Coffee House’ to ‘Zoe’s Cafe’ isn’t suspicious—but a business that suddenly changes its category from ‘cafe’ to ‘plumber’ is.”

Google says this new system has blocked thousands of risky edits this year.

New Tools to Stop Fake Five-Star Reviews

Google will use Gemini to spot fake five-star reviews by tracking reviews over time. This allows the system to find new signs of abuse, even after the review is posted.

The company has launched alerts in the US, UK, and India. These alerts warn users when suspicious five-star reviews have been removed. Google plans to roll out the alerts worldwide next month.

See an example of the alerts below.

2024 in Numbers: Content Moderation

Google shared strong numbers from its work in 2024:

  • Over 240 million policy-violating reviews were blocked or removed before many people saw them.
  • More than 70 million risky edits to Maps listings were stopped.
  • Over 12 million fake Business Profiles were removed or blocked.
  • Posting was restricted on over 900,000 accounts that broke the rules repeatedly.

What This Means for SEO and Local Marketers

For SEO specialists and local marketing professionals, these updates underline the need for honest review strategies and careful Business Profile management.

As Google’s AI improves, tricks like fake reviews and unauthorized profile changes are easier to catch. Companies using shady tactics will face steeper penalties, while those focusing on genuine customer engagement will gain more trust from Google.

Best Practices for Local SEO

Given these advancements, local SEO professionals should:

  1.  Ensure client review practices follow Google’s rules.
  2. Ensure all Business Profiles are correctly claimed and managed.
  3. Monitor profile changes and review patterns.
  4. Focus on getting honest customer feedback.
  5. Use Google’s tools to report any suspicious activities by competitors.

Looking Ahead

Google plans to keep improving its systems. The company stated it will “keep working on the front lines and behind the scenes to keep content on Google Maps helpful and reliable.”

More details are available in its Content Trust and Safety Report.

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