Google Expanding Local Results in the SERPS to the Exclusion of Organic

While many SEOs have been focused on AI answers and how they are disrupting search, the story in Local search is different. AI Answers have yet to have any impact in Local but Google, over the past several years has dramatically increased their control & domination of the Local SERPS with Local Entity data and in doing so seem to be in the process of banishing organic results…. this is particularly true in Near Me searches and the EU results, which should be treated as the canary in the coal mine.
Agencies and businesses need to double down on real world activities that get reflected on line to succeed in these increasingly entity driven search results.
The Near Memo is a weekly conversation about Search, Social, and Commerce: What happened, why it matters, and the implications for local businesses and national brands.
Ep 162 Near Memo 01