The Whitespark Local Update

Another busy week in SEO! Here’s the roundup of the biggest updates, weirdest bugs, and most interesting findings this week: 📝 The proximity paradox: Beating local SEO’s distance bias (Miriam Ellis) 📝 Ben Franklin Effect applied to asking for reviews (Sam Knight) 📝 RIP Service Area Ranking Factor (Claudia Tomina) 📝 Google Local Pack Links To Places Tab With Pagination Bug (Barry Schwartz) 📝 G...

Your favourite local SEO podcast is back, and we’ve got two weeks’ worth of SEO and marketing goodness to catch up on. In this episode, we discuss: 📝 Google Business Profile Support Tips Video (Lisa Landsman) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAzpb1ZKwZM 📝 Google announces anonymous Google reviews 📝 Raise the Bar: Optimizing your Google Business Profile 📝 New "Let Google Call" Button (Greg Sterl...

This week’s episode is shorter and packed with value. Darren highlights some key insights from Whitespark’s 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors report, and Claire tells you about some fantastic SEO and digital marketing content you don’t want to miss. ⭐ Whitespark's Official 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors ⭐ Whitespark's Official 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors Video Here are the rest of the s...

In this episode of The Whitespark Local Update, Claire Carlile chats with the brilliant Dana DiTomaso about how AI and LLMs are transforming search and what that means for local businesses. They share practical insights on staying visible, adapting to new platforms, and connecting with today’s consumers. Follow Dana DiTomaso ❤️ LinkedIn | YouTube Resources mentioned in this episode: 📝 How to Trac...

Оur first-ever in-person Local Update, recorded live at BrightonSEO 🎉 We asked four speakers to share one key takeaway from their talks, and here's what happened. Here are the talks our guests shared their takeaways from: 🎤 Local SEO in the Age of AI Search: Don’t Get Left Behind (Michel van Luijtelaar) 🎤 How to Turn Your Locations' Presence into Performance (Sara Vordermeier) 🎤 Mindset for SE...

Another week, another Local Update. But before we dive into today’s show notes, a quick announcement: next week’s episode will be recorded in person at BrightonSEO! Claire and Darren have a busy few weeks ahead. Here are the upcoming events they’ll be speaking at and answering your local search questions: ⭐ Claire Carlile Women in Tech SEO – All Things Local SEO AMA 📅 October 29th | ⏰ 11 AM EST...

On this week’s episode of The Whitespark Local Update, Darren and Claire dive into what’s new, what’s weird, and what actually matters in local SEO. Here’s what we cover: 📝 Why Local SEO is thriving in the AI-first search era (Rob Tindula on SEL) 📝 Ranking in Local SEO: The One Signal Google Trusts Most (Claudia Tomina) 📝 Citation consistency for LLMs (Matthew Forzan, and thanks to David Iwanow...

This week on The Whitespark Local Update, Darren and Claire break down the latest in local search: 📝 The Future of AI Search (Britney Muller) 📝 Business Loses 800 Reviews for “Asking for Reviews at the Register” (Claudia Tomina) 📝 Report Business Conduct Form 📝 Places Insights in BigQuery is now Generally Available (Google) 📝 Suspensions Are on the Rise (Barry Schwartz) 📝 How Hospitality &am...

Another week, another local SEO drop from Claire and Darren. This week we’re talking: 📝 AI mode and Gemini are being integrated into Chrome (Chris Long) 📝 Citation Mining Tool for AI SEO (Dan Petrovic) 📝 The Writing is on the Wall for Q&A (Local Search Forum) 📝 AI Comes to GBP: 'Ask Maps About This Place' (NearMedia) 📝 From SEO to AIO: Why Your Content Needs to Exist in AI Training Data (...

Claire and Darren bring you a hand-picked wrap-up of the biggest local SEO stories and fresh insights from last week. On this episode, we dig into: 📝 Local packs in AI Overviews (Anthony Higman) 📝 No more map results in ChatGPT (Matt McGee) 📝 9 Google Business Profile Verification Tips That Will Save Your Sanity (Sterling Sky) 📝 ChatGPT Doesn't Stand a Chance in Local (Claudia Tomina) 📝 Will...

Claire and Darren bring you a hand-picked wrap-up of the biggest local SEO stories and fresh insights from last week. On this episode, we dig into: 📝 The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Bing Places Listing (Miriam Ellis) 📝 Blasting a business in the Updates from Customers section 📝 Businessplaining your Google Business Profile Appeal Documents Won’t Work (Tim Capper) 📝 7 Surprising Truths I...

Claire and Darren dive right in with a curated roundup of last week’s top local SEO news and insights you won’t want to miss. In this episode, we cover: 📝 Want to Rank in ChatGPT? Focus on These Review Sites (New Research) 📝 How to Boost Visibility in AI-Search Through Social –  Uberall's Local Marketing Beat with Celeste Gonzalez 📝  Google Business Profiles Links Policies & Guidelines Upda...

Welcome to the very first episode of The Whitespark Local Update Podcast 🎉 Claire and Darren kick things off with this week’s hottest handpicked roundup of must-read and must-watch local SEO news. In this episode, we cover: 📝 iPullRank’s AI Search Manual 📝 Aimee Jurenka's TL;DR 📝 Dan Petrovic’s deep dive into Chrome’s Semantic Engine 📝 Dan’s schema test with ChatGPT 📝 Chat Clicks in GBP Perf...