Is your local marketing strategy still built around the map pack? AI recommendations are changing how people discover local businesses, and they're pulling signals from more than just Google Maps. In this episode of Get Digital Marketing Results, we cover why your Google Business Profile is still foundational but no longer enough on its own, and where AI is actually looking when it decides who to recommend.
The 2026 Local Visibility Index from Soci found that AI assistants recommend a much smaller set of businesses than traditional local search results, making it significantly harder to get surfaced. AI is trying to reduce risk, so it filters for consistency and credibility across multiple sources before recommending anyone.
Here's what we cover:
✅ Why AI recommends fewer businesses than traditional search results
✅ How AI builds a "confidence score" about your business across the internet
✅ Why your website is one of your strongest trust signals for AI
✅ How YouTube, Reddit, and other platforms factor into AI recommendations
✅ Why "random acts of marketing" won't build the footprint AI needs
✅ Three action steps you can take this week to strengthen your local visibility
Action steps from this episode:
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Do a quick Google Business Profile cleanup: categories, services, hours, photos, and make sure your contact info matches everywhere
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Pick one additional channel that fits your business (YouTube, Facebook, or an industry directory) and make your presence consistent and current
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Publish one trust-building asset that answers a real customer question, either an FAQ section on your site or a simple 60-90 second video
Are most of your leads still coming from Google Business Profile and the map pack, or are you noticing more people saying, "I found you from something else"? Let us know in the comments.
Find links and resources at www.DelosInc.com/episode439
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