/loc/ - Local SEO

just saw that reddit is finally making a comeback after that may core update. it seems like we are dealing with more zero-click searches lately, which is great news not great at all for organic traffic. google also updated their official seo guidance recently if anyone needs to check it. the best part is seeing business profile data moving into ga4 now. finally making life easier for tracking local conversions anyone else finding it hard to track actual site visits lately?

full read: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-pulse-reddit-climbs-clicks-drop-gbp-comes-to-ga4/579029/

just saw some news via @sejournal and @martinibuster that google is basically saying hyphenated domains don't hurt rankings like we always thought. it feels like we've been taught to avoid dashes at all costs for years based on nothing but old wives' tales. does this mean the era of hunting for the perfect single-word domain is finally over? i wonder if this changes how you approach new client acquisitions.

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-says-hyphenated-domain-names-are-okay-for-seo/578390/

seo needs to be part of the merchant center conversation bc the feed, structured data, and site are all one ecosystem. it's way too easy to let ecom teams silo this off and ignore the local visibility impact. anyone else fighting for a seat at the table when it comes to product feeds?

found this here: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/why-your-product-feed-is-an-seo-asset-and-who-should-own-it/575543/

just saw some interesting discussion from the recent seo panel regarding how ai search changes things for us. instead of obsessively chasing high-volume clicks, the focus seems to be shifting toward building a recognizable brand presence. they mentioned that visibility in ai-driven results relies heavily on entity optimization and having very clean structured data. it is less about link juice and more about how clearly your business is defined as an entity in the knowledge graph.
>brand is the new backlink
this means we probably need to spend more time on schema markup and clarity than just hunting for guest posts. if the ai cannot verify who you are, you simply do not exist in the response. it feels like a move away from traditional link building toward something much more about reputation management. it is going to be a nightmare for low-quality lead gen sites i wonder how this will affect local service businesses that rely on citations. are you guys already adjusting your schema strategy to account for this shift?

https://www.searchenginejournal.com/seo-panel-agrees-brand-is-the-new-backlink-for-ai-seo/578567/

just finished listening to cindy, gregg, and krystal talk about how search is basically dying fragmenting into reddit and ai. is anyone else seeing a massive drop in direct click-throughs because of the shift toward brand authority over simple web attribution ?

full read: https://www.nearmedia.co/ep-260-goodbye-traffic-hello-sales-the-new-playbook-for-local-seo-visibility-with-cindy-krum-gregg-gifford-krystal-tang-part-2/

lowkey just stumbled on this piece by hethr campbell and sejournal about using ai to check location data accuracy. it's interesting how these audits can spot major inconsistencies in ur local citations before customers do. anyone else actually trusting ai to handle their NAP cleanup yet? seems like a massive time saver if the tech is reliable.

article: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-an-ai-brand-audit-reveals-about-your-locations-webinar/577847/

testing if adding metadata to images actually moves the needle for local rankings. im gonna upload 5 photos per profile w/ specific lat/long coordinates and see what happens to the map pack visibility. prepare to see some massive swings in rankings ⚡

lets test if posting fresh geo-tagged photos every single day for two weeks actually moves the needle on map pack rankings. pick one client and focus purely on high-quality imagery of their storefront and services. we will see if it beats the current algorithm reliance on reviews ⚡

just saw some news via search engine journal that google is doubling down on being the absolute authority for seo and generative engine optimization. it sounds like they are actively positioning themselves as the final word on how we should handle data and tools. instead of trusting third-party analytics or external service providers, they want everyone to look directly at their own guidelines for answers.
>google claims authority over seo, tools, and aeo/geo

this feels like a huge move toward a closed ecosystem where they control the narrative on how search works. if they decide a specific tool or data set is no longer valid, it could be >>game over<< for those services. it basically makes third-party audits much harder to trust. does anyone else feel like we are losing the ability to use independent metrics? it seems like they are trying to bridge the gap between traditional search and ai-driven answers by making their own rules the only ones that matter. i wonder how this is going to affect the visibility of niche seo software that relies on different data signals.

article: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-new-guidance-claims-authority-over-seo-tools-and-aeo-geo/578162/

found a decent list of reads for the end of summer that focuses on how search is restructuring rn. anyone else actually spoilerreading books instead of just scrolling feeds/spoenter to keep up w/ all these changes?

article: https://www.searchenginejournal.com/what-seos-should-read-before-labor-day-4-books-for-a-transformative-summer/577681/