We just launched an absolutely incredible new feature in Whitespark Local Ranking Grids, and you need to see it.

How do you structure your page in such a way that Google’s AI cites it in its answers? I love @dejanseo.bsky.social. He recently did some amazing technical research into Google’s “grounding snippets”, i.e. the sentences it selects from your page to then build its answer to the user’s query.

Ugh! Is there a way to contact a real human at Google Support? Yes, there is. Here’s a little trick most people don’t know about.

Here are some more absolute gems of business names. Happy Friday!

If you work in local search, this is a conversation you don’t want to miss 👇 I’ll be joining the brilliant Ben Fisher and Will Scott in a free live webinar all about AI and local SEO. March 4th (Wednesday), 3:00 pm EST.

Every local SEO who works with restaurants can learn a thing or two from Marilyn Hagerty.

Most SEOs don’t realize they can see AI search prompts inside Search Console. I saw this tip from Chris Long on LinkedIn, and it’s too good not to share. Try it out and let me know if you see any crazy prompts in your data!

My new @searchengineland.bsky.social article, “The perfect local business contact page built for Google and conversions”, is here! Read it below and find a handy checklist in there that you can use when you decide to update/build your Contact Page. Enjoy!

What if you could sit down with your ideal customer and ask them anything before updating your website, and use those answers to 10x your content’s conversion power?

Nobody knows this: you could get sued for spam fighting. Did you know that a business can subpoena Google and request a record of who’s been making edits to their Google Business Profile?

Hey, have you guys seen the organic results anywhere? I can’t seem to find them lately…

Most businesses are missing a huge opportunity with their Google Posts. They add photos to their Posts instead of videos. Videos stand out way more in the Google Posts feed, communicate more information in less time, and feel more authentic to potential customers.

There’s a wild black-hat SEO case study where Holly Starks put 100 cell phones in her car, turned on driving directions to a business, and that business jumped to #1 in rankings.

Whitespark’s YouTube channel just hit 1 000 000 views 🎉 Thank you all for watching our videos! ICYMI: Episode 20 of the Whitespark Local Update is now up on the channel, so go check it out if you haven’t

Have you seen the new “Insights” section on your Profile? Dipa Gandhi recently shared a screenshot of it, and it’s pretty cool. It highlights optimization opportunities right inside your Profile.

Local SEO hack you NEED to know: Google says you can only upload 30-second videos to your Google Business Profile. That’s what the guidelines say. But that’s not actually true.

Let’s settle this once and for all. The business Description is NOT a local ranking factor, even if you stuff it with keywords. Google does not use it as part of the local search algorithm.

No matter how good you are at local SEO, if your business sucks IRL, you’re not going to rank well. Luckily, @miriamellis.bsky.social’s new guide explains how to turn your real-world reputation efforts into local SEO wins. Read it below and get the free checklist!

Here’s a mistake I see businesses make all the time: They try to make one Google Business Profile rank for multiple categories. Well, it usually can’t. That’s just not how Google works.

There’s an annoying Google Business Profile bug going on right now. When you try to edit a Profile, the entire editing dashboard (the so-called NMX) is just missing. The good news is, there’s a workaround (thanks to Syed Amir).

If you want to rank in a new location, there’s only one way to do it: you need a real office there. But opening a new office can be very expensive. Here is my go-to approach for getting cheap office space.

Did you know that your local rankings can change dramatically depending on whether your business is open or closed at the time of the search? Watch the example below.

This might be one of the most important local SEO articles of 2026. Did you know that Google doesn’t only look at a GBP’s primary category to determine if a business is eligible to rank for a given search? Find the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify!

Quick Google Business Profile Tip: Google Posts are NOT social posts. They’re free advertising space.

I reinstated Whitespark’s Google Business Profile in only 12 hours! Watch how I did it in my latest YouTube video. 👇

Here’s what happens when you actively manage a Google Business Profile properly. This dental client has been working with Whitespark for over a year now.

Have you ever wanted to clone yourself so you could get more done? Turns out… you kind of can now. In today's podcast episode, @clairecarlile.bsky.social shared Andy Crestodina's video showing how to create a custom ChatGPT that basically makes an AI clone of yourself. Watch this and more below!

@miriamellis.bsky.social's newest blog post is here! Learn everything you need to know about Google's new AI-driven Ask A Question feature and how to prepare your business for it. Miriam also provided an excellent checklist in the blog. Check it out! 👇

Does the 360° view on Google impact local rankings? Short answer: not directly. But I still think you should do it. When you have 360° views on your Google Business Profile, you tend to get more engagement. People click. They explore. They spend more time checking out your Profile.

@miriamellis.bsky.social’s new guide on local business reputation management is here! Read the guide to learn how to increase your reviews and their quality. Plus, find customizable review templates all in one guide! Go learn how to improve your reputation management on whitespark . ca / guides 👇

One of my favourite features in Whitespark’s Local Ranking Grids is how you can customize the layout to cover only the areas you actually care about.

Did you see that there is a new type of local Justification?! In today’s episode of The Whitespark Local Update, @clairecarlile.bsky.social and I talk about this and reminisce about the good ol’ days when we had all kinds of local Justifications.

If you still haven’t connected your socials to your Google Business Profile, this is your sign. Google is pulling information from your social profiles directly into search results. Valentina Vasileva shared this on LinkedIn, and it’s pretty wild.

Useful Google tip: If you don’t want the planet burn down, and you’re tired of seeing AI Overviews every time you run a simple search, just add “-ai” to your query, and they won’t show up. Did you know you could do this?

The whole point of rank tracking is to measure the impact of your local SEO work. So, if your rank tracker stops tracking at position 20, what are you really measuring?

Make sure you didn’t miss any major local SEO updates from the last quarter. @miriamellis.bsky.social’s Q4 2025 Roundup is here 👇

In 2026, your local SEO agency MUST diversify. @joyhawkins.bsky.social showed this chart in a recent livestream we did together in December. It reflects a steady decline in clicks-to-call from Google Business Profiles over the last 2 years.

Missing Google reviews are becoming a real problem for many businesses. So I asked one of the smartest people I know what’s really going on. Watch the new episode now with THE @mikeblumenthal.bsky.social. A gift to you before we log off for the holidays. We’ll be back in January. Happy holidays 🎄

@miriamellis.bsky.social just dropped her last guide of 2025 — Whitespark’s Guide to the Perfect Service Area Landing Page. Read it here and capture more leads in the new year 👇

If you look very closely at today’s podcast episode, you will notice that Claire is not talking to her usual co-host, me, but to a secret, third person: The amazing Elizabeth Rule! Watch the episode below, or find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

I finally got to talk about one of my favorite topics on today’s podcast episode: geotagging photos! Watch the new episode below, or listen to it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. P.S. Reviews and comments are always appreciated 🙏

Here’s a rare group photo of the Canadian team at Whitespark last week. We’re a remote company, but we try to get together in person once in a while. Activate was so fun!

2025 Local SEO Wrapped just dropped… in the form of an article that highlights the top 7 new local search ranking factors that can change how you do your marketing in 2026. Read Miriam Ellis’s full post on the Whitespark blog and get ready for the new year!

Did you know that the Google API leak says that service areas are NOT used in the ranking algorithm? If you want to expand your ranking radius for real, today’s podcast episode contains some actionable tips. The full episode is now available below and on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. 👇

Google announced their new anonymous reviews feature last week. Here’s everything you need to know about it 👇

Major lightbulb moment for me: I remember being on a call with Joel Headley, former head of Google Business Profile support, and he told me that Google specifically seeks out and crawls the contact page on small business websites.

I have a fun video for you today: I react to viral business shorts, break down why they blew up, and show you exactly how you can replicate the same success. Plus, I share a super simple strategy you can use today to start creating your own short videos. Watch it below!

This feature hits different (literally) 📦 My kid had too much fun throwing boxes at my head for this short. There’s a whole behind-the-scenes bit in tomorrow’s YouTube video. Can you guess what it’s about?

SEO tip you NEED to know: llms.txt is absolutely useless.

Just published my first article on @searchengineland.bsky.social! Do keywords in reviews matter? Hell yes. My piece describes 7 benefits of getting keywords in reviews - including 3 templates that will help you get those keywords. Go check it out.