The Whitespark Local Update

Gemini Can Now Manage Your GBP, Why Review Replies Go Missing | E35 The Whitespark Local Update

Local SEO keeps changing with the speed of light, but Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are here to help you keep up. This week, they cover: 📝 AI Search, Speak Your Customer's Language or Be Left Out of the Conversation (Michelle Ali) [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ai-search-speak-your-customers-language-left-out-conversation-ali-yiave/] 📝 Connect Google Business Profile to Google Analytics (Google) [https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/16930347] 📝 How to Rank in Surrounding Cities or Towns (Miriam Ellis) [https://whitespark.ca/guides/how-to-rank-in-surrounding-cities-or-towns-every-local-seo-strategy-you-need-to-know/] 📝 Google’s Review Reply Rejection Filter (Michel van Luijtelaar) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michelvanluijtelaar_we-analysed-12752-rejected-google-review-ugcPost-7468608688832876544-tYDv/] 📝 Chunking Your Content for AI? 1956 Called. They Want Their Method Back (Dorron Shapow) [https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/chunking-your-content-ai-dorron-shapow-mvffc/] 📝 Connect your Google Business Profile to Gemini (Mike G. and Google) [https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-features-for-businesses/]

AI Search Data in GSC, Schema for LLMs & GBP Video Verification | E34 The Whitespark Local Update

Local search was busy last week. Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw break down what happened, why it matters, and what you should do about it. This week, they cover: 📝 Why B2B Is MORE Emotional Than B2C (Amanda Natividad and Talia Wolf) [https://youtu.be/gK-f80dTjxM?si=1oAF-fhRVgbhbshI] 📝 Why Do We Need Zero Click Marketing? (Rand Fishkin) [https://sparktoro.com/blog/why-do-we-need-zero-click-marketing/] 📝 AI Mode + AI Overviews directly in Search Console (Chris Long) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/chris-long-marketing_they-actually-did-it-seos-google-is-officially-activity-7467902495089004544-VG70] 📝 Google Business Profile Video Verification Tutorial (Brad Wetherall) [https://youtu.be/aWxy8dsArwo] 📝 How Schema Markup Influences Search and AI (Jake Hundley) [https://evergrowmarketing.com/how-schema-affects-google-and-ai/] 📝 The First Edition of The Signal: The AI stuff marketers can't ignore (Wil Reynolds and Alisa Scharf) [https://www.seerinteractive.com/events/event-recap-the-signal-may-2026] 📝 Schema, LLMs and the Low Bar for “Evidence” in GEO (Mark Williams-Cook) [https://markwilliamscook.substack.com/p/schema-llms-and-the-low-bar-for-evidence]

Social Media is 90% Fake, AI Local SEO Playbook, More AI In Maps | E33 The Whitespark Local Update

We are back with another episode of the Whitespark Local Update, where our host Darren Shaw and special guest Celeste Gonzalez discuss: 📝 Google Already Knows Everything About You — And Their New AI Features Make It Worse (Near Media) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ppSjHpGJkfg] 📝 Your Feed Is the Product of a Stealth Marketing Campaign (Lane Brown) [https://www.vulture.com/article/social-media-feeds-chaotic-good-projects-clipping.html] 📝 Google Maps just got an AI facelift (Claudia Tomina) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/claudia-tomina_google-maps-just-got-a-ai-facelift-1-activity-7463565588829720576-lQFz] 📝 The new playbook for localized AI search optimization (Darren Shaw) [https://searchengineland.com/localized-ai-search-optimization-playbook-478499] 📝 Google Ask Maps: How to optimize for visibility (Rich Sanger) [https://searchengineland.com/google-ask-maps-optimize-visibility-478060] 📝 Google Offer Posts are getting more prominence (Michael B. Snow) [https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-b-snow-a7b7bb3_gbp-googleposts-activity-7459764100617768960-_hji]

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]