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In this episode of the Near Memo podcast, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal host a panel discussion with Eric Levine (Leadwise HQ, former Google LSA team), Claudia Tomina (Reputation Arm), Matt Casady (Sterling Sky), and Crystal Horton (Google Business Profile Platinum Product Expert).

Together the panel explores how agencies are actually managing LSAs for clients today.

Topics include:

• The real ranking factors behind Local Service Ads

• Whether LSAs are still a DIY product or require agency expertise

• How agencies price and manage LSA services

• Fraud, verification challenges, and fake listings

• Lead quality and the removal of the lead dispute feature

• What separates successful LSA campaigns from failed ones

• How LSAs may evolve as AI search and brand discovery reshape local search

The conversation also dives into the agency economics of LSAs — from consulting models to flat fee management and performance expectations in competitive markets like personal injury law.

If you’re an agency, consultant, or in-house marketer managing LSAs for clients, this panel discussion offers practical insights into how the product really works.

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Google AI & Click Economics 

Google is replacing structured GBP data with AI-generated summaries, nudging users into AI Mode, and expanding monetization pathways. Aleyda Solis’ study and Near Media research show ads — especially LSAs — are siphoning clicks.

Data Moats & Scraping Crackdowns 

Google restricts scraping, disrupting SerpAPI. The move reinforces Google’s data advantage against ChatGPT and Perplexity while signaling an increasingly closed ecosystem.

Reviews, Inflation & Consumer Backlash (22:00–36:00)

Yelp’s Trust Report and BrightLocal’s 2026 study show persistent fraud, rising consumer anger, review inflation in legal, and AI becoming the third source of recommendations.

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In this episode of Near Memo, Rand Fishkin joins Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and David Mihm to unpack the future of AI search, brand visibility, and digital measurement.

Is AI rank tracking possible? Are zero-click journeys killing websites? And how should local businesses measure marketing performance in a world where attribution is breaking down?

Rand shares new research on AI brand visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI, discusses why performance marketing metrics are eroding, and explains where brands should actually invest their energy in 2026.

This is a deep dive into the changing economics of search.

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Google Local Service Ads have become one of the most powerful placements in local search — especially in competitive verticals like personal injury law.

But what actually drives ranking and performance?

In this episode, we examine the real mechanics behind LSAs: review cadence, responsiveness, bidding structure, and the psychology of visual presentation. We explore how headshots and photo sequencing influence trust, why logos don’t convert, and how review manipulation creates competitive distortion.

LSAs reward operational excellence more than aggressive spending — and understanding the role of visual trust may be the difference between visibility and invisibility.

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Local Services Ads have become the “top-of-the-page” battleground for high-value local categories—especially professional services. In this episode, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal talk with former LSA team member Eric Levine about how LSAs evolved, what really influences rank, and how Google’s lead marketplace mechanics shape outcomes.    

We break down “request multiple options,” lead billing, the big ranking signals (reviews, responsiveness, radius/service area), why LSAs often win user attention over the local pack, and how photos should be chosen and structured to match user decision-making.

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AI isn’t killing search — it’s reshaping how people discover, evaluate, and choose businesses.

In this in terview with Crystal Carter of Wix, we unpack how large language models, AI assistants, and emerging “agent” experiences are changing consumer behavior, local search, and brand visibility. From ChatGPT and Google’s AI-driven results to personalization, intent modeling, and task completion, we explore what actually changes — and what doesn’t.

We also dig into:
• Why AI acts more like a complement to search than a replacement
• How “choice” and “consideration” evolve in AI-first experiences
• What happens when interfaces collapse research, comparison, and action into one flow
• Why local, reviews, and brand signals still matter — just differently
• What businesses should prepare for as agents begin acting on behalf of users

If you care about search, local, UX, or how consumers actually make decisions, this is the conversation you want to hear.

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Claudia Tomina joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to unpack what the Google API leak reveals about local rankings, why reviews are being removed at scale, and how AI Overviews, Gemini, and agentic shopping are pushing transactions into Google’s AI interfaces. A must-listen for anyone managing a Google Business Profile in 2026.

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AI tools are changing how consumers discover local businesses, but Google remains the system of record for trust, reviews, directions, and contact. This conversation explores how AI reduces cognitive load, concentrates visibility, and amplifies brand demand—forcing local marketers to rethink SEO beyond rankings.

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Local SEO, reviews, and Google LSAs are no longer working the way law firms expect. In this episode of Near Memo, Gyi Tsakalakis (AttorneySync) joins Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling to explain why rankings and traffic are misleading, how LSAs reshape legal demand, why review cheating is rampant, and how brand trust has become the real competitive moat.

If you’re relying on Google visibility alone to grow a law firm, this conversation is a wake-up call.

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Google’s AI Mode and ChatGPT search are reshaping local discovery. This deep dive interview with Michel van Luijtelaar of GMBapi explains what’s changing, how users behave inside AI results, and what local businesses must do now to stay visible and trusted.

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