The Whitespark Local Update

New Google AI Search Box, Local Sponsorships & Review ROI | E32 The Whitespark Local Update

Big local search news dropped last week, and Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are here to break down what changed and why it matters. This week, they cover: 📝 Google Launches AI-Powered Search Box (Near Media Newsletter) [https://www.nearmedia.co/googles-ai-box-siri-spark-gemini-trust-zero-traffic/] 📝 2026 Google I/O Keynote Bingo (Britney Muller) [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7462379199584980992/] 📝 Google intelligence and what it means for local SEO (Claudia Tomina) [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/google-intelligence-what-means-local-seo-claudia-tomina-1yu5e/] 📝 The ROI of Reputation Connecting Reviews to Revenue, Rankings, and Retention (Brad Wetherall, GatherUp) [https://youtu.be/aGT_Ehkpxhg?si=rlQeVV4x6zaWc09r] 📝 Photo View Counts on Google Business Profiles are Back (Muhammad Hussain) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/husainsheikh_googlebusinessprofile-localseo-gbp-activity-7462201605673857024-UB3T/] 📝 Improving AI Visibility for Local Businesses Through Sponsorships (Ellen Sartin) [https://www.womenintechseo.com/knowledge/how-local-sponsorships-improve-ai-visibility/] 📝 Google’s Guidance on AI Search is Naive and Self-Serving (Mike King) [https://ipullrank.com/google-ai-search-guidance]

Reddit & Socials in GBP, Google Personal Intelligence & AI Search | E31 The Whitespark Local Update

Local search keeps changing, and Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are here to make sense of it. This week, they cover: 📝 How Google’s Personal Intelligence is Quietly Revolutionizing Your Search Results with Garrett Sussman (Near Media) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA-pg2UbG5A] 📝 AI Citation Ranking Factor Analysis (Cyrus Shepard) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cyrusshepard_new-ai-citation-ranking-factor-analysis-share-7458203851335254016-OZvQ/] 📝 RIP AI Overview Tracking (Dana DiTomaso) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dditomaso_i-have-sad-news-it-looks-like-google-has-activity-7460022186225999872-mjdJ/] 📝 Google is now pulling Reddit threads directly into Google Business Profiles (Darren Shaw) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/darrenshawwhitespark_breaking-news-google-is-now-pulling-reddit-activity-7458539598885867520-Sfua/] 📝 Google is now pulling social media posts directly into Google Business Profiles (Darren Shaw) [https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7460344757555335169/] 📝 Google Suspended This Profile: Their Calls Stopped Overnight (Sterling Sk) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jz2O0NIuD0] 📝 It Works Until It Doesn't: AI Content Strategies That Backfire (Lily Ray) [https://lilyraynyc.substack.com/p/it-works-until-it-doesnt-ai-content-risks]

Google Ask Maps Deep Dive, AI Mode for Local SEO & New GBP Features | E30 The Whitespark Local Update

Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are back with a new episode of the Whitespark Local Update. Here’s what they cover in this one: 📝 17 Content Types to Survive Google’s Zero-Click Future (Cyrus Shepard) [https://signal.zyppy.com/p/content-google-zero] 📝 5 Data-Backed Features of Websites Winning Google in 2026 (Cyrus Shepard) [https://signal.zyppy.com/p/winning-google] 📝 Most pages are too long for AI agents to read (Myriam Jessier) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/myriamjessier_your-content-is-probably-too-heavy-most-activity-7455149132408721408-nlgU/] 📝 Your GBP Photo Gallery just got Smarter (Google Small Business Bulletin) [https://support.google.com/business/thread/431038036/google-small-business-bulletin-%E2%9C%A8-happy-small-business-week?hl=en&sjid=11129011200125413028-EU#:~:text=Your%20GBP%20Photo%20Gallery%20Just%20Got%20Smarter] 📝 Google Ask Maps Deep Dive: Ask Maps Is The Future of Local SEO Panel Discussion (NearMedia) [https://www.nearmedia.co/ep-254-google-ask-maps-deep-dive-ask-maps-is-the-future-of-local-seo-panel-discussion/] 📝 Google Offer & Event Post highlights appear in search results for the Leisure Industry (Michael B. Snow) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-b-snow-a7b7bb3_googlemaps-googleposts-activity-7454555440933392384-gYYa/] 📝 Whitespark’s Guide to Google’s AI Mode for Local Businesses (Miriam Ellis) [https://whitespark.ca/guides/whitesparks-guide-to-googles-ai-mode-for-local-businesses/]

How To Optimize Google's Local AI, LSAs For Restaurants, Schema! | E29 The Whitespark Local Update

On this episode of the Whitespark Local Update, Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw bring you a fresh roundup of last week’s most important local SEO updates. They cover: 📝 Google Ask Maps is moving from listings to recommendations (Rich Sanger) [https://searchengineland.com/google-ask-maps-recommendations-474192] 📝 ‘Restaurants’ and ‘coffee and dessert’ now have local service ads (Eric Levine) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/eric-levine-0b35659b_restaurants-now-on-local-services-ads-share-7452430121111818240-zqwl/] 📝 Schema Markup for Internal Knowledge Graphs to Support Topic Entity Strategy in AI Search (Aimee Jurenka) [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/schema-markup-internal-knowledge-graphs-support-topic-aimee-jurenka-kbk1c/] 📝 Google Maps Blocked 292 Million Reviews & Removed 13 Million Fake Profiles (Search Engine Roundtable, Barry Schwartz) [https://www.seroundtable.com/google-maps-spam-fighting-2025-41176.html] 📝 The ghost citation problem (Kevin Indig via his newsletter Growth Memo) [https://www.growth-memo.com/p/the-ghost-citation-problem?r=2d16b5&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action] 📝Commodity and Non-Commodity Content (Mark Williams-Cook) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/markseo_seo-share-7452832927278600192-c-Hq/] 📝 Most SEOs Are Preparing for Yesterday's Internet (Ross Simmonds) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofe-byzwvpo]

Disappearing Reviews, New Business Name Policy, AI Visibility How-to | E28 The Whitespark Local Update

We are back with another episode of the Whitespark Local Update, where our host Darren Shaw and special guest Claudia Tomina discuss: 📝 Google Business Profile Updates Identity Change Policy Language [https://support.google.com/business/answer/13762416#zippy=%2Cidentity-change%2Cpo-box-address] 📝 Why Are My Google Reviews Disappearing? What Businesses Need to Know About Google's New Review Policies and Algorithm Updates (Claudia Tomina) [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-my-google-reviews-disappearing-what-businesses-need-tomina-24zge/] 📝 How a Topic Entity Update Increased AI Visibility 10.8% (Aimee Jurenka) [https://ricketyroo.com/blog/case-studies/topic-entity-update/] 📝 Top Takeaways from the New Google Business Profile Playbooks (Miriam Ellis) [https://whitespark.ca/blog/top-takeaways-from-the-new-google-business-profile-playbooks/] 🔥 Reputation Arm [https://reputationarm.com/]