Local SEO
Ranking in the map pack and local results, and keeping the position.
Where answer engines get local recommendations
Run the same fifteen prompts through two engines, log who is named and what is cited, and you will find the records quietly answering on your behalf.
The mid-year audit of your local presence
Half the year is gone. The profile fields, listings, photos, hours and unanswered questions we go back over in July, in the order we work through them.
Reviews under enforcement: fix your flow
The fake reviews rule has been in force since October 2024. Incentives, staff reviews, AI-written replies, and the review flow we build to stay clear.
Google says optimizing for AI is still SEO
Google published guidance on its generative AI features and called the work plain SEO. What to stop buying, and what the end of FAQ rich results changes.
The local website that earns its keep
Five standards we hold a local business site to: speed, real photographs, a page per service, booking that works after hours, and readable structure.
How patients find a dental practice now
The map, the answer, the reviews and the phone are the four doors into a practice. Which ones you control, and what to fix in each this spring.
Fewer clicks, more answers: the plan for 2026
Our plan for the year in the accounts we run: what fewer clicks actually did to local demand, what has not changed, and the order we are doing the work in.
Six weeks left: posts, reviews and January
The holiday posts, the review recovery habit and the January pages that decide whether your first week back in the new year is booked or quiet.
What we switch on in a local Ads account
Google I/O and Marketing Live are days away. The automation we run in a local Google Ads account, what stays off, and how we judge the rest.
AI Mode is here. Get named, not just ranked
Google put AI Mode in Labs and started a core update. What we are checking on client listings, and why being named now matters as much as ranking.
Listing fields that quietly cost you calls
The February profile audit we run for local clients: categories, services, hours, attributes and photos, and the fields that quietly lose calls.
Two core updates, and next year's local budget
Google finished one core update on the 5th and started another on the 12th. What we are budgeting for next year, and three things that did not change.
A year-end content audit for a local site
Another core update is rolling and site reputation enforcement just widened. The page by page audit we run on a local business site before January.
The fake review rule is final. What it forbids.
The FTC finalized its rule on fake reviews and testimonials last week. What it bans, what it means for staff reviews and incentives, and the October date.
AI Overviews are live. What local results do now
Google turned AI Overviews on for everyone this week. What changed above the local pack, where the early answers get it wrong, and what feeds them.
A core update, new spam policies, and INP
Google's March core update is rolling out with three new spam policies, and INP becomes a Core Web Vital this week. What to check and what to leave alone.
Planning around AI answers and consent
Google announced Gemini and the FCC adopted a one-to-one consent rule. How we are planning local visibility and lead capture for next year.
Two Google updates in two days. Hold steady.
A spam update and a core update landed a day apart. How we read the churn, what we refuse to touch this month, and the work that keeps paying.
When a client asks for AI-written pages
Clients want service pages written by ChatGPT. Where we use AI, where we refuse, and how to price content now that words are no longer the scarce part.
AI in search, and what we are not changing
Google showed an AI answer above search results at I/O and AI-written ad assets at Marketing Live. What a local business should do now, and what can wait.
Dental reviews: how to ask and how to reply
The rules on asking patients for reviews, the ask that works in an operatory, and two reply templates that keep a practice out of trouble.
What a chat answer does to local search
Microsoft is adding OpenAI models to its products and Google says answers are coming to Search. What a single answer would change for a local business.
Apple Maps is worth claiming this year
Apple Business Connect launched this week. What it does, whether it deserves your hour, and the order we are fixing local listings in this year.
The site audit we run before the new year
Speed, structure, service pages and forms. The audit we run on local business websites in November, and the quiet leaks it finds most often.
Another quality update, and your city pages
Google finished another product reviews update. Why local sites with thin service pages and a stack of city pages should read that as a warning.
Opposite review rules on Google and Yelp
Google wants you to ask for reviews. Yelp asks you not to. The rules on each, what a not recommended review really is, and how to ask well.
The app retires, and Google edits your hours
Managing your Google Business Profile from Search and Maps now the app is going away, plus what to do when Google changes your hours for you.
The vicinity update and your business name
Local results pulled closer to the searcher and keyword-stuffed names lost their lift. How we are planning next year around proximity and reviews.
Performance Max is open to every advertiser
Performance Max just reached general availability and it serves on Maps. Why your listing decides whether the campaign has anything good to work with.
Google rewrites titles: two client conversations
Google has started rewriting page titles in results. What to check, what not to fix, and how to talk to clients about control you no longer have.
How to read a core update without panicking
Google's June core update is rolling out in two parts and page experience starts within days. How we read the movement before we change anything.
The dental backlog is not a marketing win
Practices are reopening into a backlog. How we triage demand, rebuild the hygiene column and stop paying for new patients who never fit the practice.
Listing messaging, and the safety attributes
Google My Business messaging now works from Search and Maps on desktop. How to turn it on, who answers, and which safety attributes to set.
Budgeting local search for a reopening year
A core update is rolling out and vaccines are close. What we are telling owners and agency partners to budget for local search in the year ahead.
Year-end dental benefits and the calls you miss
Patients with expiring benefits are searching now. The listing work and phone habits that decide which practice gets the call before January.
Review myths that cost local businesses money
Buying reviews, gating the ask, paying for stars and chasing the average. Four review habits we keep undoing, and what we do with clients instead.
Core Web Vitals: what to fix and what can wait
Google just named three metrics for how a page feels to use. Here is what we are fixing on local business sites now, and what we are leaving alone.
Google My Business added COVID attributes. Update yours.
Google My Business now has attributes for curbside pickup, delivery and online appointments. What to set, in what order, and what to skip.
Temporarily closed or reduced hours on Google
Google paused reviews and Q&A and added a temporary closure status. How to choose the right listing status this week and what to publish instead.
What we are changing in local search this year
Core updates, a results page that answers for you, and tracking that keeps getting harder. The four shifts in our local search work this year.
Turn the reading into a plan for your business.
Tell us about your business and your area. We will show you where you stand and which of this applies to you first.