Episode Details

E1128: Local SEO is changing as Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other AI systems influence how people find and evaluate local businesses.

I'm joined by Joy Hawkins and Caleb Ulku for a detailed discussion about what is working in local SEO now, which common tactics are becoming less effective, and how businesses should prepare for AI-powered local search.

Joy and Caleb compare what they are seeing across client accounts, ranking tests, Google Business Profiles, local packs, AI-generated recommendations, website content, reviews, links, and conversion rates.

Topics covered: - How large language models evaluate local businesses and decide which companies to cite - Why local businesses may need content that clearly explains pricing, processes, outcomes, and service details - How awards and industry-specific directories can influence AI recommendations - Why winning an award is not enough unless the business also promotes it clearly on its website - How AI-powered local packs may reduce the importance of Google review volume and frequency - Why Yelp, Facebook, Reddit, and other third-party platforms are becoming more important for local visibility - How AI systems read the actual language inside reviews instead of only looking at star ratings - Why businesses should encourage customers to describe their experience and outcome in their reviews - The risks of asking for, buying, or incentivizing reviews on different platforms - Why fake listings, fake reviews, rank-and-rent listings, and other forms of Google Business Profile spam continue to create problems for legitimate businesses - How business hours can affect local rankings and why Google's written guidelines do not always match what works in practice - Whether keyword-stuffed Google Business Profile names will continue working as AI local results become more common - Why improving a local business website's design can increase leads without rebuilding the entire website - How AI tools can help businesses improve landing pages, buttons, coupons, images, page layouts, and conversion rates - How Joy and Caleb use AI to produce content without publishing generic rewrites of competing pages - Why original interviews, customer stories, project details, pricing information, measurements, timelines, and outcomes make content more useful - Why publishing dozens or hundreds of similar AI-generated pages can become a liability - How to approach location pages, service-area pages, and multi-location business websites - When separate location pages compete against each other and when combining locations may produce better results - Why press releases appear to have lost much of their previous influence on rankings and AI citations - Why exact-match anchor text, scaled link building, and guest posting have become increasingly risky - Which local link-building methods still work, including sponsorships, charities, community organizations, events, youth sports, and relevant award sites - What to examine when a website's organic traffic has been declining for several years - How excessive informational content, weak search intent, and expansion beyond a site's authority can damage performance - Why some websites need content consolidation, pruning, restructuring, or partial rebuilding - How local rank maps and Google Search Console data can reveal missing topical and geographic relevance - How Google Business Profile categories and services can guide website structure and internal linking - Where Joy and Caleb disagree about URLs, internal links, location pages, and duplicate content - Why CTR manipulation and driving-direction manipulation may work temporarily but can create serious long-term risks - Why tactics that stop working as soon as you stop paying for them are difficult to build a reliable business around

This conversation is for local business owners, SEO consultants, agency owners, marketers, lawyers, home-service companies, and anyone trying to