The Whitespark Local Update

Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are back to recap the most important local SEO developments from the past two weeks. In this episode, they cover:

📝 Google Reviews Bug on Chrome (Vinay Toshniwal)

📝 New “Insights” section in GBP (Dipa Gandhi)

📝 AI Isn’t Replacing Local Search (Crystal Carter on the NearMemo podcast)

📝 How to improve LSA visibility (Eric Levine on the NearMemo podcast)

📝 What if User Satisfaction is the most important factor in SEO? (Marie Haynes)

📝 Moving from a Google-shaped Web to an Agent-shaped Web (Mike King)

📝 Does Schema Help with AI Visibility? (Mark Williams-Cook)

😍 Whitespark Local Ranking Grids

Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are back with a fresh roundup of the most important local SEO updates from last week. In this episode, they cover:

📝 Ranking in Google's AI Results in 2026 with Mike King (SterlingSky)

📝 The local SEO gatekeeper: How Google defines your entity (Claudia Tomina)

📝 Franchise Website Migration & Improved Local SEO For BTDT (Kick Point)

📝 We've Analysed 236 SEO, Content, Social, and Digital PR case studies (Rise at Seven)

📝 Whitespark’s Ultimate Guide to Local Business Reputation Management (Miriam Ellis)

📝 The Future of Brand Visibility: Optimizing for AI Citations with Dan Petrovic & Jes Scholz (Patrick Hathaway, Sitebulb)

📝 How To Contact GBP Support (Stefan Somborac)

It was a busy week in local SEO, so Claire and Darren are breaking down the updates you actually need to know. 
In this episode, they talk about:

📝 Query Fan-Out in Practice: Turning One Search into an Omnimedia Content Plan (Francine Monahan)

📝 Tough Reinstatement Season Reminder (Vinay Toshniwal)

📝 Common Crawl is Interesting (Cyrus S.)

📝 Google’s announcement on the ‘Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP)’

📝 What UCP Means for Ecommerce SEO: Preparing for Agentic Commerce (Aleyda Solis)

📝 Meta Title Tags Length SEO Experiment (Dr James Davidson)

📝 How to Clone Yourself (or make an AI advisor for anything) (Orbitmedia)

Your favorite local SEO podcast is finally back after the holidays and packed with local SEO goodness 🔥 In this episode, Claire and Darren discuss:

📝 Social profiles showing up in Search Console (Steve Toth)

📝 Google is pulling in “Today” justifications into the Local Pack from Instagram posts (Valentina Vasileva)

📝 1-Minute-a-Day Strategy for Getting More Yelp Reviews (Phil Rozek)

📝 Top digital marketing trends and predictions for 2026 (Phil Wilson)

📝 Why many firms should stop competing on reviews (NearMemo, Gyi Tsakalakis)

📝 The Google Business Profile 2-Hour Rule is a Myth (SterlingSky)

We’re wrapping up the year with a special episode of the Whitespark Local Update! Darren is joined by the one and only Mike Blumenthal from Near Media. In this episode, they discuss:

📝 Google Removing Q&A Feature In Google Maps For AI-Powered Ask Button (Barry Schwartz)
📝 A Guide to Web Guide: Our Hybrid Search Future (Dr. Peter J. Meyers)
📝 AI-generated VS Human-written SEO Content (Andrew van Rossenberg)
📝 People Prefer AI-written Content (Kevin Indig)
📝 The Global Wave of Deleted Google Reviews: What Our Data Reveals About AI, Law, and Trust (Michel van Luijtelaar)
📝 Complaints About Review Takedowns Are Rising (Mike Blumenthal)
📝 AI Mode and Agentic Local Results (Mike Blumenthal)
📝 Future of the SERP Is Dynamic (Near Media)
⭐Near Media Podcast

We are back with another episode of the Whitespark Local Update, where our host Claire Carlile and special guest Elizabeth Rule discuss:

📝 New weekly and monthly views in Search Console (Google)

📝 New AI-powered configuration in Search Console (Google)

📝 Google introduces social channels in Search Console

📝 Stop asking ChatGPT how it works (Britney Muller)

📝 Google review blocks are on the rise (Claudia Tomina)

📝 Google revamped the verification issue options in GBP Support forms (Claudia Tomina)

✍️ Sign up for the December Local U webinar: 3 Major Local SEO Threats to Prepare for in 2026

A lot happened in SEO last week, and we’re breaking down the updates you actually need to know. In this episode, we talk about:

📝 How geotagging photos affects Google Business Profile rank: Study (Search Engine Land, Jake Hundley)
📝 Anonymous Google Reviews Are Here: What Your Business Should Do Now (Whitespark, Allie Margeson)
📝 8-Step Business Name Change Checklist (SterlingSky, Elizabeth Rule)
📝 Google’s prompting guide 101
📝 Actionable AI For Marketers (Britney Muller)
📝 Secret AI Community: Orange Labs (Britney Muller)

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)

📝 Google Business Profiles adds scheduling and multi-location publishing to Google Posts (Barry Schwartz)

⭐ Download your Google reviews with the Whitespark Local Platform

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 Sterling)
📝 SEO Imposter Syndrome In An AI Era: You’re [Not] On Your Own Kid (Elizabeth Linder)
📝 Mine your competitor’s reviews with Gemini (Anthony Kettaneh)

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 sources mentioned in this episode:

📝 Agentic capabilities in AI Mode (Rose Yao)

📝 The Ultimate Digital Marketing Training for 2026 (Exposure Ninja)

📝 Big Update to Google Posts (Claudia Tomina)