Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to all who celebrate! |
Here’s a little local SEO to go with your turkey 🦃 |
1. How to record a Google Business Profile verification video for a service area business |
SAB verification is confusing, but I got you. Follow these steps 👇️ |
 | Watch now on TikTok | @darrenshawseo | It’s confusing to record a Google Business Profile verification video for a service area business. But I got you, these steps will help: S... See more |
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No TikTok? Watch on Instagram. |
2. Google recently TANKED a bunch of websites’ rankings because they had AI-written content |
But that doesn’t mean you can’t use AI content. It just means you have to do it like this 👇️ |
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3. 22 major local SEO updates you missed from the last 3 months |
Here are my favorites: |
1. Tell Maps is Google’s newest AI feature that allows users to tell Google about a local business (e.g., “this bakery is known for its canelés”). |
If enough people use this feature to tell Google something about your business, Google may pick up on it and use it as a relevance signal in search and AI results. |
2. Google launched Analytics for Google Posts. |
If you go to your Google Business Profile and click Posts, you’ll now see a view count on each Post. So now, instead of guessing which Google Posts are getting attention, you can see exactly what’s working and do more of it. |
3. Google’s Local Services Ads will now charge you for leads even if you don’t answer your phone. |
Google’s money grab continues to escalate on a scale previously unseen. |
4. Businesses worldwide can now track how their Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X content performs across Google Search, Discover, and Google News. |
To connect your account: |
Open Search Console Click the property selector Select “Add property” Choose your social platform Follow the verification steps
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Read about 18 more important local search developments in Miriam Ellis’s Q3 2026 Roundup here 👇️ |
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4. Catch up on the pod |
Want to see what Google and AI can actually see on your website? Here’s how: |
Open the page in Chrome. Right-click, hit Inspect, go to Network, and click “doc”. Refresh the page, click the page name on the left, and go to Response.
This is basically the HTML your website sends BEFORE JavaScript starts changing things. Press CTRL+F and look up something important on the page: your main heading, a service description, FAQ content, whatever.
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If you can’t find key information in your content, but you know it’s there, this means that JavaScript added it after the page loaded.
This is a huge problem for SEO, but it matters even more for AI crawlers, because they completely ignore JavaScript-rendered content.
Your most important content needs to be available in the HTML, not hidden behind JavaScript or a button click.
Claire and her wonderful guest co-host Elizabeth Linder discussed this idea from Daniel Foley Carter on last week’s podcast episode, plus: |
Google Business Profiles Policies Adds Misuse Of Support Channels (Barry Schwartz) SEO & AI Tip: Grade Every Page the Way Google's Quality Raters Would (Dan Hinckley) Why Customers Leave Good and Bad Google Reviews (Miriam Ellis) Learnings from the GEO Know-How Conference (Malte Landwehr) GEO Is CRO: Chasing Influence, Not Citations, in AI Search (Ross Hudgens, NearMedia)
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Watch the episode here 👇️ |
 | The #1 Cause of Bad Reviews, New GBP Policy & How AI Sees Your Site |E50 The Whitespark Local Update |
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🎧 Or if you prefer listening, find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. |
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 | Treat your clients to the best white-label rank tracking experience Give your clients the easiest to use, and most beautiful way to monitor their local rankings. Let them know they’re in good hands with our high polish ranking visualizations that provide deep insights and the best vibes. |
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Darren |
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P.S. Whitespark can help you ⬇️
😍 Visualize your local search performance on the most beautiful ranking grids
🚨 Get notified when Google updates your GBP and reject unwanted changes
🚀 Increase your local rankings and conversions
📈 Track rankings across different zip/post-codes
⭐️ Get more reviews
🧹 Clean up and build citations
🔍 Find citation opportunities |
✍️ Learn local SEO for free |
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Follow me on these platforms for all my local SEO tips: |
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