Episode Details

E1135: Matt Hammerton joins me to break down the local SEO system he uses across personal injury law and home services. Matt has been doing SEO since 2009, manages more than 100 Google Business Profiles, owns stakes in multiple home service companies, and currently works with OneLaw, a law group that did $100 million in the first six months of this year.

We get into the work behind those numbers: Google Business Profiles, reviews, locations, links, press releases, keyword research, AI search, and the systems Matt has built to manage it all at scale.

We cover: - Why Matt believes reviews are the biggest factor in Google Business Profile rankings and Local SEO - How removing just four negative reviews caused one law firm location to jump in local rankings - Why average star rating can matter even when a business already has thousands of reviews - How often Matt runs local ranking scans and why he checks them every few days instead of once a month - How he sets up new Google Business Profiles - How he uses DBAs to put target keywords into legitimate business names - His approach to categories, service areas, descriptions, city pages, and additional locations - Why he has seen GBPs rank without even having a website attached - How he approaches review generation for home service companies and law firms - Why reviews on Yelp, Facebook, Thumbtack, Avvo, and other third-party sites matter for AI search - Why 1,000 Google reviews alone may not be enough to win recommendations from LLMs - How he builds links directly to directory profiles so those profiles rank for branded searches - How controlling page one for "[brand] reviews" affects both searchers and AI systems - How Matt uses Google Ads conversion data to decide which SEO keywords are actually worth targeting - How he combines Search Console data, existing page content, and AI to update pages - How personal injury SEO can be worth so much more per ranking than home services - The client journey after someone finds a personal injury lawyer through search - Why Matt publishes three to five press releases per week for law firms - How he republishes old wins, settlements, awards, and company news to keep them visible - How he uses EIN Newswire and why some press releases stay indexed for a year or longer - Why he puts NAP information in press releases for local SEO - How he uses Manus to research links, write content, prepare submissions, and check published placements - Why he still manually reviews AI-generated content before anything goes live - How he queries multiple LLMs across dozens of keywords to find the directories and sources influencing their recommendations - Why his biggest advice to SEOs is simple: build the system yourself, implement it, test it, and only then hand it off

This is a detailed look at how an aggressive local SEO operator manages Google Maps, organic search, reputation, links, PR, and AI search across businesses where a single lead can be worth thousands of dollars.

⭐️ Matt Hammerton's Agency - https://www.brainspikemarketing.com/ ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthammertonaktaktion ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/MattHammerton/ ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/aktaktion/ ⭐️ Matt Hammerton on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/OnlyDreamers ⭐️ Matt Hammerton's Label - https://www.onlydreamersmusic.com/

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