The New Rules of Local Search: Reviews, Community Signals, and Brand Prominence | Darren Shaw

The New Rules of Local Search: Reviews, Community Signals, and Brand Prominence | Darren Shaw

How is AI changing the rules of local SEO? In this episode of *The Search Session*, host Gianluca Fiorelli talks with Darren Shaw, founder of Whitespark and one of the leading voices in local search marketing. Darren explores how AI Overviews, Ask Maps, reviews, community prominence, and third-party signals are reshaping local visibility, and what businesses need to do to stay competitive. From agentic search and Google Business Profile opportunities to multilingual optimization, local content strategy, schema, and reputation management, this conversation offers practical insights into the future of local search and the role AI will play in it. This is the 65th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]  Here's what you'll learn in this episode: * (00:07) Meet Our Guest: Darren Shaw * (01:25) The Scale of Local Search vs. Traditional SEO * (05:25) How AI Overviews and "Ask Maps" Are Reshaping Local Search * (09:16) How the Traditional Local SEO Pillars Are Changing * (13:21) Google Pulling Social Feeds Into Google Business Profiles * (15:53) Agentic Search and the "Extreme Data Dumping" Strategy * (19:15) Ditching "How-To" Blogs for High-Impact Portfolio Content * (23:29) Merchant Center: The Massive Local Inventory Opportunity * (29:47) How to Target a Multilingual Audience on Google Maps * (32:45) The Real Value of Local Schema and Entity Knowledge Graphs * (39:41) The AI Review Crackdown: Why Legit Reviews Are Vanishing * (44:10) Local Guides: The "Influencers" of the Google Maps Ecosystem * (46:51) Combating "Zombie Information" and Hallucinations in LLMs * (52:38) The Next Level of Local Link Building: Unstructured Citations * (54:30) Darren Shaw Outside of Local SEO 👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:   https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/local-search-reviews-community-brand-prominence [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/local-search-reviews-community-brand-prominence]  Where to find Darren Shaw * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenshawwhitespark/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenshawwhitespark/]  * X: https://x.com/DarrenShaw_?lang=en [https://x.com/DarrenShaw_?lang=en]  * Website: https://whitespark.ca/ [https://whitespark.ca/]    Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli  * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/]  * X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 [https://x.com/gfiorelli1]  * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social]  * Website: https://iloveseo.net/ [https://iloveseo.net/]  🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]   * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS [https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS]   * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201]  Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker. Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/] Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

SEO for Branding: Bridging Visibility and Business Strategy | Silvia Martin

What does it really take to connect SEO, branding, and business strategy in today’s search landscape? In this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli is joined by Silvia Martin, a Spanish SEO consultant based in England, to explore how brands can build meaningful visibility beyond rankings alone. From the ideas behind her book SEO for Branding to her Brand SEO Visibility Loop framework, Silvia shares practical insights on measuring brand impact, monitoring LLM reputation, simplifying technical SEO communication, and building stronger omnichannel strategies. The conversation also dives into the evolving role of community in SEO and why collaboration and inclusivity matter more than ever in shaping the future of the industry. This is the 65th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]  Here's what you'll learn in this episode: * (00:07) Meet Our Guest: Silvia Martin * (01:49) Navigating Constant SEO Change Without Panicking * (08:19) Writing SEO for Branding for Non-SEOs * (11:56) SEO and Branding in the AI Era * (14:18) The Brand SEO Loop Framework * (18:35) Measuring Brand Visibility Across Platforms * (21:33) Online Reputation Management in the LLM Era * (29:08) Entities, Schema, and AI Understanding    * (36:36) Omnichannel SEO & Search Everywhere * (41:59) Career Growth in SEO * (47:51) Soft Skills, Networking & Communication 👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:   https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/seo-for-branding-visibility-and-business-strategy [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/seo-for-branding-visibility-and-business-strategy]  Where to find Silvia Martin * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsilvia/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinsilvia/]  * X: https://x.com/silvia_smp [https://x.com/silvia_smp]  * Website: https://silviamartinpalacio.com/ [https://silviamartinpalacio.com/]    Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli  * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/]  * X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 [https://x.com/gfiorelli1]  * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social]  * Website: https://iloveseo.net/ [https://iloveseo.net/]  🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]   * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS [https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS]   * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201]  Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker. Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/] Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

The Mad Scientist’s Guide to Language Machines | Ramon Eijkemans

How is SEO changing as search becomes more AI-driven and what does that mean for the future of visibility and strategy? In this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli talks with Ramon Eijkemans, a big-site SEO specialist and SEO automation builder from the Netherlands, about how AI is reshaping search and forcing SEOs to rethink content, structure, and relevance.  The discussion goes beyond rankings, exploring how clearer, self-contained content, semantic HTML, and stronger information architecture help both users and AI systems understand pages more effectively. They also look at why SEO increasingly benefits from a more humanistic, context-driven approach, and how SERPs can be interpreted as a kind of market research surface rather than just a ranking list. The conversation further covers the challenges of scaling SERP analysis, the role of sentiment and user context in relevance, and how e-commerce pages can be improved with precise, situation-aware copy without sacrificing UX. This is the 64th episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]  Here's what you'll learn in this episode: * (00:07) Meet Our Guest: Ramon Eijkemans * (03:00) Why SEO Needs Humanities Again * (13:49) Finding Common Patterns Across AI Models * (17:13) SERPs as Market Research and Consumer Psychology * (26:34) What Makes Scalable SERP Analysis Difficult * (29:04) Sentiment Analysis and the Future of SEO Research * (38:07) Infusing Structured Data into Natural Language * (44:09) Rethinking E-commerce SEO for LLMs 👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:   https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/mad-scientist-guide-to-language-machines [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/mad-scientist-guide-to-language-machines]  Where to find Ramon Eijkemans * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramoneijkemans/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/ramoneijkemans/]  * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/eikhart.com [https://bsky.app/profile/eikhart.com]  * Website: https://eikhart.com/ [https://eikhart.com/]    Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli  * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/]  * X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 [https://x.com/gfiorelli1]  * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social]  * Website: https://iloveseo.net/ [https://iloveseo.net/]  🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]   * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS [https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS]   * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201]  Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker. Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/] Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

B2B Brand Visibility and Reputation in the AI Search Era | Viola Eva

What does it really take for B2B brands to stay visible in the age of AI search?  In this episode of The Search Session, Gianluca Fiorelli sits down with Viola Eva to explore how AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot are reshaping brand visibility, content marketing, and SEO strategy. The conversation dives into becoming the source that LLMs trust, why support content and documentation are gaining visibility in AI-generated answers, and how outdated third-party information can distort brand perception. Viola also shares insights from AI search experiments, explains why generic skyscraper content is losing relevance, and breaks down what effective AI-assisted content marketing actually looks like when paired with human expertise. If you're navigating B2B SEO, AI search, and the future of content strategy, this episode delivers practical insights on how brands can adapt and stay discoverable as search continues to evolve. This is the 63rd episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]  Here's what you'll learn in this episode: * (00:07) Meet Our Guest: Viola Eva * (04:08) Experimenting With AI Search and LLM Visibility * (07:50) LLM Optimization as Online Reputation Management * (12:20) Differences Between ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot * (18: 45) Reputation, Reviews, and Accuracy Problems in LLMs * (26:12) The Rising Importance of Help Centers and Developer Docs * (28:07) Is the Skyscraper Technique Still Useful? * (31:16) Original Content, Information Gain, and Thought Leadership * (36:11) What Is the Value of an AI Search Impression? * (41:19) Human-in-the-Loop Content and Smarter AI Workflows * (50:10) Running a Fully Remote Global Agency * (54:08) Beyond Work: Books, Flow States, and Personal Passions 👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:   https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/b2b-brand-visibility-and-reputation-in-ai-serach [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/b2b-brand-visibility-and-reputation-in-ai-serach]  Where to find Viola Eva * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/violaeva/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/violaeva/]  * X: https://x.com/ViolaEva1 [https://x.com/ViolaEva1]  * Website: https://www.flow-agency.com/ [https://www.flow-agency.com/]    Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli  * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/]  * X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 [https://x.com/gfiorelli1]  * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social]  * Website: https://iloveseo.net/ [https://iloveseo.net/]  🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]   * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS [https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS]   * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201]  Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker. Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/] Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking

Engineering the SEO Ecosystem for the AI Era | Aimee Jurenka

What does it take to stay visible when AI becomes the new search engine?  In this episode of The Search Session, Aimee Jurenka joins Gianluca Fiorelli to break down how SEO is evolving into AI visibility strategy. They explore why brand alignment across every channel matters, how informational content still drives authority, and why topic entities, schema, and internal linking can shape how AI understands a business. Aimee also shares how smaller brands can compete, how AI visibility can be measured, and why human strategy is still essential in an AI-first search world. Watch now to learn how brands can adapt before the next wave of search leaves them behind. This is the 62nd episode of:  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]  Here's what you'll learn in this episode: * (00:06) Meet Our Guest: Aimee Jurenka * (02:31) What Does AI Search Look Like in 12 Months? * (06:57) The Death of "Skyscraper" Content and Generalized Informational SEO * (11:12) Case Study: Boosting Visibility Through Topic Entity Organization * (14:07) Overcoming the "Yeti Problem": Branding in a Crowded AI Space * (16:56) Combatting "AI Slop" and the Mad Cow Syndrome of the Web * (21:22) Measuring Success: The Mention Rate Tool and Prompt Tracking * (30:05) Building Entity Recognition Tools and Knowledge Graphs * (36:16) Beyond LLMs: Preparing for the Future of AI Agents * (39:05) Breaking the SEO Silo: Collaborating for Growth * (48:36) Personal Passions: From AI Ecosystems to 100-Year-Old Houses 👉 Read the full article and explore additional insights:   https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/engineering-seo-ecosystem-for-ai-search-era [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/blog/engineering-seo-ecosystem-for-ai-search-era]  Where to find Aimee Jurenka  * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-jurenka/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimee-jurenka/]  * Website: https://aimeejurenka.com/ [https://aimeejurenka.com/]    Where to find Gianluca Fiorelli  * Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianlucafiorelli/]  * X: https://x.com/gfiorelli1 [https://x.com/gfiorelli1]  * Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social [https://bsky.app/profile/gfiorelli1.bsky.social]  * Website: https://iloveseo.net/ [https://iloveseo.net/]  🎙 Listen to The Search Session on your favorite platform: * YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh [https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_sm3ydVBxdAJ84k2qsH1LkTDbtbdNrGh]   * Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS [https://open.spotify.com/show/1FzI5qwHtIndtiibZWiroS]   * Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201 [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-search-session/id1796043201]  Made with ❤️by Advanced Web Ranking, the people behind the world's most accurate and longest-standing rank tracker. Get your free 7-day trial and find your true visibility in organic search for any market: https://www.advancedwebranking.com/ [https://www.advancedwebranking.com/] Be sure to subscribe for more actionable marketing and SEO tutorials:    / @advancedwebranking