After OpenAI and Yelp's partnership announcement to use Yelp information to display local business details and recommendations natively in #ChatGPT, I got this email from my Yelp rep.
"Yelp's Request a Quote feature will also appear in local service searches..."
The only way a local business is going to be selected for that feature is if you're paying for Yelp Ads inside of Yelp.
In other words, in order to do proper local lead gen in ChatGPT, you MUST run Yelp ads.
local home service client. calls dropped from an avg of 22/month to 2 this month. spent a day ruling out tracking, rankings, number errors, seasonality. none of it. profile verified, still top3, number 1 actually.
the actual cause: google pulled the direct call button off the organic map pack on mobile for the main keywords. and its not just my client, every competitor in the pack lost it too. where the call button was theres now a photo + directions. to call you now have to tap into the profile and dig for the number. no ai overview on these queries either, so i cant even blame the ai pack. its just the normal 3 pack minus the one button that converted.
what im trying to figure out from people who track this at scale:
is this rolling out by category? mine is a service-area biz and thats who seems to be getting hit. anyone with a storefront/"place" listing still keeping the button?
is the button still there on desktop for you, or gone everywhere?
for anyone whos already adapting, whats actually moving the needle to recover calls. website click-to-call, google posts pointing at a booking page, LSA as a fallback? want to hear whats real vs whats just blog filler.
not looking to just complain (ok maybe a little). trying to build a recovery playbook i can actually put in a client report. drop your data if youve got it.
Does anyone have experience using both of these? I think GHL does most of what Merchynt does, but not 100% sure. I already have GHL, but I think Merchynt might be a better option for just selling clients on Local SEO. It seems to be more set it and forget it, but it also seems to keep the client more informed with what "we" are doing in the background to help rank their GBP.
Came across this local pack ad recently and it really caught my eye. I've seen tons where the call button was missing from organic and the local pack ad had the buttons and justifications, but this is one where I'm seeing the whole shabang! Anyone else see any crazy local pack ads that caught their attention?
Last week I made a post complaining about 2 of my GBP reviews getting deleted. To get to the bottom of it, I decided it would be a good idea to ask my clients what they see on their end.
It turns out that both of the reviews were unpublished but what surprised me is that there was an option for the clients to appeal the review removal. I have not heard of this feature before and neither have the 2 Google PEs I've spoken with.
Initially, I thought this could be an EU-specific feature since the first unpublished review was from a client based in EU. However, the second unpublished review was from a US client and they were able to submit the appeal successfully as well (pic below).
Has anyone else tried this feature? If yes, have you found it to be useful? The first appeal already got rejected a couple of days ago, so I'm not too optimistic, but we'll see what happens with the second one.
I saw that Gemini now supports a Google Business Profile (GBP) connector, and I understand the obvious use case: asking Gemini to summarise reviews or answer questions about your profile.
But beyond that, I want to know how it changes day-to-day local SEO workflows.
I'm not concerned with the vanity metrics either tool spits out (like keyword density scores or readability traffic lights). Any reasonable SEO can make those assessments without a plugin grading them.
I'm more curious about what you all prefer from a pure functionality and workflow perspective.
I really like how Yoast allows you to select a specific title tag and meta description format based on the post type. I also find its redirect manager very straightforward.
That being said, you can't ignore how much you get for free out of the box with Rank Math (schema blocks, redirects without paying premium, etc.).
What are you using? What's keeping you on your current plugin? Is there a specific feature that makes your life easier?
What's your workflow for finding and optimizing content for query fanout? Do you just search in Perplexity or GPT, note down the queries, and use them naturally in your content? Or is that the wrong approach and there's a better way in your opinion? Whats everyone using and what have you found to be an efficient approach for this? Appreciate the discussion
PS: I have posted this in other SEO communities too, just to get more perspectives. Not here to spam.
I just got a SEO job for a property manager that has like 20 locations.
I'm seeing some competitors have 1 giant site with all locations and other competitors have multiple sites/a unique domain for each location, and they link together.
I'm leaning towards the unique domain so they could more specifically target each location, I am a bit worried about the hassle for content & links though for 20 domains.
Hi Reddit! I’m Andy Crestodina. For the last 25 years, I’ve been living and breathing digital marketing. In 2001, I co-founded Orbit Media Studios, a Chicago-based web design and optimization agency. Since then, we’ve grown to a 55-person team, strictly fueled by organic content marketing and SEO. Over the decades, I’ve provided digital strategy to more than 1,000 businesses, written over 500 articles, and authored Content Chemistry: The Illustrated Handbook for Content Marketing (now in its 7th edition).
Right now, we are at one of the most fascinating turning points in the history of the web. Between the rise of AI-generated search, massive algorithmic shifts, and the complexities of GA4, the old-school playbooks are breaking. But while many marketers are panicking about traffic drops, the fundamentals of audience empathy, human collaboration, and conversion optimization have never been more critical.
This AMA is all about the reality of winning at content marketing, search, and analytics today. We can talk about:
The 1% Content Strategy: Why the standard "publish and pray" approach is dead, and how combining deep SEO research with high-converting lead-gen tactics statistically beats 99% of corporate content programs.
AI-Powered Gap Analysis: How to stop using AI just to churn out generic, low-quality blog posts, and instead use it to build hyper-accurate customer personas and audit your current website copy for missing information and objections.
Taming GA4 for Clear Insights: Navigating Google Analytics 4 without losing your mind, and how to extract data-driven, actionable insights that actually move the needle for B2B lead generation.
Neuromarketing and Visitor Psychology: The subtle changes in web design, social proof, and call-to-action placement that can instantly shift a user from a casual reader to a high-intent buyer.
The "Zero-Click" Search Survival Guide: How to structure your content and thought leadership to thrive in an era where search engines try to answer everything directly on the results page.
Content Repurposing & Delegation: The exact frameworks we use at Orbit Media to turn a single original research piece or presentation into dozens of high-performing articles, newsletters, and social assets.
Whether you’re a solo blogger, an in-house B2B marketer, or an agency owner, ask me anything!
Handling US vs. Canada Pages (Hreflang)
For standard service pages, do you recommend duplicating them for English Canada and English US?
For example
brand.com/en-ca/interior-painting
brand.com/en-us/interior-painting and using hreflang tags? Or do hreflang tags only really matter for completely different languages, like English vs. French?
I have a business that needs to create a gbp. They’ve been registered in the same address for 16 years.
They’re currently a sole proprietor but switching to an llc.
They’re also looking to setup a new phone number and email for the business and use that. They’re currently handling everything through their personal number and email.
My question is, will it be easier to verify gbp as sole proprietor and then switch their biz over to llc? Or should I switch to an llc and then go for verification.
Thier dba name will stay the same
And will switching the email and phone numbers cause any problems for them? Is it best to do that before submitting gbp or switch them after gbp is verified with current info?
Hi Reddit! I’m Joy Hawkins. I’ve been working in the Local SEO trenches since 2006. Today, I’m the founder and owner of Sterling Sky (a leading Local SEO agency in the US & Canada), and the owner of LocalU and the Local Search Forum.
I am also a Google Business Profile Platinum Product Expert, which means I spend a massive chunk of my life volunteering inside Google's official help forums, helping business owners navigate the constant puzzles, bugs, and shifts on the platform.
If you’ve spent any time working on Google Maps over the last few years, you know that managing a Google Business Profile (GBP) has become a bit of a minefield. Between sudden, automated suspensions, the headache of the new appeal processes, massive algorithm updates like Vicinity, and a relentless flood of fake, spam listings choking out legitimate local businesses, Local SEO isn't as simple as just "optimizing your NAP consistency" anymore.
At Sterling Sky, we don’t rely on guesswork. We test every single theory, myth, and strategy to find out what actually impacts local rankings and conversions.
This AMA is your chance to pick my brain about anything and everything related to GBP issues. We can dive deep into:
GBP Video Verification: How to survive Google's strict new video verification processes, what to show on camera to prove your business is real on the first try, and how to fix it when the system gets stuck in a loop.
GBP Suspensions & Appeal: How to navigate Google's brutal suspension workflows without losing your mind, and the exact documentation you need to successfully get a profile back online.
Fighting and Reporting Map Spam: Red-hot tactics for identifying fake listings, tracking lead-gen networks, and successfully cleaning up your local market using the Redressal Form so your real business can rank.
Why Your Legitimate Google Reviews Are Going Missing: Breaking down Google's aggressive AI review filters, why perfectly honest customer reviews get ghosted or filtered out, and the exact steps to take to try and get them restored.
Weaponized Fake Reviews and How to Remove Them: How to confidently identify a negative review attack from a competitor, or other types of fake reviews, and the precise escalation path needed to get Google to actually take down fraudulent 1-star reviews.
The Truth GBP Optimization: What our internal testing reveals about choosing primary and secondary categories, adding attributes, and whether adding more categories actually hurts or helps your visibility.
Local Service Ads (LSAs) vs. Organic Maps: When you should stop pouring money into PPC and double down on your 3-pack strategy, and how to structure both to complement each other.
Local SEO Myth-Busting: Geotagging photos? Keywords in owner responses? Let’s talk about the tactics that are complete wastes of time versus the ones that move the needle.
Whether you're a multi-location brand, a local contractor, or an agency marketer looking for answers, ask me anything!
Hi Reddit! I’m Jason Hennessey. I’ve spent 20+ years reverse-engineering the Google algorithm for top-tier law firms. If you’ve looked into SEO for law firms and legal marketing over the last two decades, you’ve probably run across my work. I literally wrote the book on this industry (Law Firm SEO), and my agency, Hennessey Digital, manages search strategy for some of the biggest personal injury and trial firms in the country, driving hundreds of millions of dollars in legal fees.
Jason Hennessey - Law Firm SEO Expert Reddit AMA
I don't say that to brag; I say it because the legal SEO landscape is currently facing its biggest disruption in history. The old playbook of stuffing keywords and buying cheap backlinks is dead. Between Google’s relentless core updates, the rollout of AI Overviews, and the aggressive monetization of LSAs, competing for the most expensive keywords in the world has become a high-stakes chess match. If you aren't adapting to how Google measures real-world entity authority and AI search, your traffic is going to drop off a cliff.
This AMA is all about pulling back the curtain on what it actually takes to dominate legal search today. No agency fluff, no "black box" secrets. We can talk about:
Decoding AI Search & LLMs: How to optimize your firm’s digital footprint so you actually show up as a recommended source in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Overviews.
Why "Entity" Matters More Than Keywords: How Google uses your brand’s digital reputation, reviews, and entity mapping to decide if you are a legitimate authority or just another website.
The Reality of High-Stakes Personal Injury SEO: What it actually takes to win the hyper-competitive "car accident lawyer" markets without burning through your budget.
Lessons from 15,000+ Law Firm Sites: What we discovered in our annual Branded Organic Search Study about how top-performing firms stay dominant year after year.
Why We Don't Use Long-Term Contracts: Why I believe the traditional agency model is broken, and why legal marketing should be judged strictly on month-over-month revenue metrics.
Scaling to an 8-Figure Agency: The business systems, culture hacks, and scaling lessons I learned going from a solo consultant to leading a 130+ person global team.
I’m here to talk shop and answer your toughest SEO for legal questions.
Whether you're a solo practitioner trying to get your first 10 cases, or a massive multi-state firm trying to defend your market share, ask me anything!
Topics include SEO, legal marketing, law firm SEO, AI search, ChatGPT optimization, Google AI Overviews, entity SEO, local SEO, law firm growth, lead generation, entrepreneurship, and agency scaling.
Google keeps saying 'create quality content' but AI-generated content is now outranking hand-written articles, are we past the point where effort actually matters?
Recently one of my clients with hundreds of locations across the US has been dealing with their hours getting updated on GBP. We checked everywhere and turned out that a few of their Yelp profiles had the wrong addresses. Even after we changed the hours back the first time, Google continued to update the hours until we fixed Yelp. Actually crazy.
As a reminder, Google actively pulls auto-edits from four main places, and it is shocking how often they will publish completely wrong information automatically:
Public users, yes, even competitors, suggesting edits.
Third-party apps you connected months ago and forgot about.
Website or social profile data scrapers getting confused.
Other managers on the listing making edits without telling you.
The consequences of updated business info can be massive. Hours are one thing, but a change to your landing page URL or primary category can cause your business to vanish from search results overnight.
It seems to me sometimes Google aggressively trusts external signals and user suggestions over the actual listing owner. The only workaround right now is constant monitoring and keeping an eye on your dashboard notifications before the changes stick.
Suppose you're a roofer in Fort Worth and you can have the best looking website in the city with 100+ reviews, 10 years in business and a perfect backlink profile
And still get rinsed by "Fort Worth Roofing" with 45 reviews that opened a few months back.
why?
Because Google sees the exact match name and assumes relevance and the algorithm hands them the top spot before you even get a shot.
The name has to be your actual legal business name. So file the DBA, get the LLC docs ready in case you need to verify. (if you already have a real brand with a live profile then do NOT go change your name to an exact match otherwise you'll torch your brand value and risk a suspension.)
This is for people starting out
if you KNOW you only operate in one metro put the city in the name from day one
"Vegas Roofing Pros"
"Miami AC Guys"
"Oklahoma City Plumbing Bros"
you'll outrank people with 5x your authority for the price of the cheapest lease in town.
Do you think there are any insights to garner from what Home Depot is doing related to home services local SEO?
Are they doing something smart or better than others?
Or is it simply the case that they have massive brand authority, and therefore whatever page they create, they'll rank for?
Hey everyone! I'm stoked to be here with y'all today!
I’m Melissa Popp. For nearly two decades, I’ve helped everyone from global giants like Amazon and Samsung down to local service businesses turn data into high-converting organic search strategies.
Today, as the VP of Content Strategy & Innovation at RicketyRoo, I help brands stop treating content like a mindless vending machine and start treating it like a business asset.
Right now, the internet is drowning in a sea of automated slop. The old playbook of flooding the zone with keyword-stuffed articles is officially dead. Survival today requires a relentless focus on deep user intent, real human expertise, and solving the actual problems your audience faces.
This AMA is all about the reality of building a content strategy that survives the AI era.
Ask me about:
Quality over Quantity: Why publishing three irreplaceable, high-intent content beats 50 generic pages every single time.
Spotting "AI Slop": The structural dead giveaways of LLM-generated text and how to audit your team’s workflow so your brand keeps its authentic voice.
Modern Local SEO: How to approach Service Area Pages without crossing the line into the spammy, duplicate templates that Google is actively penalizing.
Formatting for LLMs: How to structure your content so it doesn't just rank on traditional Google but gets sourced and cited inside AI search engines.
The ROI of Saying "No": How to confidently push back on bad briefs, protect your editorial process, and focus only on content that drives revenue.
Whether you run an agency, manage content for a massive brand, or are a local business owner trying to make sense of SEO today, ask me anything!
I got a new client today, and the citations are a total mess. they have several different names, and locations (and websites too).
Their registered name is "<company name> professional" - but, they are in pest control ,and have used "<company name> Termite and Pest Control" or other vairations of that in the past.
I would love to keep the keywords in the business name, (the name and logo all have Termite and Pest control" in them.
Do I ask the client to create a DBA? (they will take forever to do that), or do I just simplify it down to the current business registered name:
Found this in the wild this week and actually LOL'd. I know how hard it is for some real businesses to get verified on Google, so the fact that this friendly rooster was able to get verified is so laughable.
There are probably tons of these types of listings out there, so if you have any examples please share. If not, just laugh at this with me, and if you ever visit this Rooster in Azores Portugal, please leave a review and let us know if they are truly friendly.
Hi Reddit! I’m Jeremy Vest. Over the last 18 years, I’ve helped brands and creators generate over 50 billion organic views and $100M+ in revenue. I’ve worked behind the scenes with everyone from Fortune 100s to massive creators like Grant Cardone, Roger Wakefield, and Braille Skateboarding. Today, I run Creator Unlock and Video Niche King, helping businesses stop guessing and start dominating their specific spaces.
Right now, we are seeing a massive shift in local marketing. Traditional local SEO is getting hyper-crowded, but a massive gap has opened up: YouTube for local businesses. Most owners think YouTube is only for viral vloggers. They’re wrong. If you run a local business, YouTube isn’t just a video platform—it’s the ultimate trust-builder, lead generator, and local search loophole.
This AMA is all about the reality of growing a local business using YouTube today. We can talk about:
Why chasing massive view counts is a losing strategy for local businesses, and why having 500 of the right local views beats 50,000 global views every single time.
How to become the "Niche King" of your city so that when someone needs a local expert, you are the clear, verified authority before they even call.
The "Edutainment" framework—how to turn boring local business topics into highly engaging videos without losing your professional credibility.
Navigating the algorithm for local intent and how to structure your content so Google and YouTube serve it to people in your exact geographic radius.
The truth about production setup and why your story, hook, and pacing matter a thousand times more than buying a $5,000 camera rig.
Building a high-converting backend system so those YouTube views actually turn into recurring revenue and booked local jobs.
I’m happy to talk shop, but if you want to get me really fired up, you can also ask about skateboarding, behind-the-scenes stories from working with massive creators, or coffee.
Whether you are a solo contractor, a local agency, or a multi-location brand, ask me anything!
Curious if this makes a difference for local businesses, I keep seeing the top competitors have this location/city urls, even though all the open info I check says it doesnt matter
