by Darren Shaw & Claire Carlile
The Whitespark Local Update is the go-to podcast for Local SEOs and Marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve in local search and the local visibility space. Join industry experts Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw for a lively, insightful roundup of their carefully curated selection of top “must-read” and “must-watch” links, including news, trends, and can't-miss resources.
Language
🇺🇲
Publishing Since
9/2/2025
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May 26, 2026
<p>Big local search news dropped last week, and Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are here to break down what changed and why it matters. This week, they cover:</p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.nearmedia.co/googles-ai-box-siri-spark-gemini-trust-zero-traffic/">Google Launches AI-Powered Search Box (Near Media Newsletter)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7462379199584980992/">2026 Google I/O Keynote Bingo (Britney Muller)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/google-intelligence-what-means-local-seo-claudia-tomina-1yu5e/">Google intelligence and what it means for local SEO (Claudia Tomina)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://youtu.be/aGT_Ehkpxhg?si=rlQeVV4x6zaWc09r">The ROI of Reputation Connecting Reviews to Revenue, Rankings, and Retention (Brad Wetherall, GatherUp)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/husainsheikh_googlebusinessprofile-localseo-gbp-activity-7462201605673857024-UB3T/">Photo View Counts on Google Business Profiles are Back (Muhammad Hussain)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.womenintechseo.com/knowledge/how-local-sponsorships-improve-ai-visibility/">Improving AI Visibility for Local Businesses Through Sponsorships (Ellen Sartin)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://ipullrank.com/google-ai-search-guidance">Google’s Guidance on AI Search is Naive and Self-Serving (Mike King)</a></p>
May 19, 2026
<p>Local search keeps changing, and Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are here to make sense of it. This week, they cover:</p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA-pg2UbG5A">How Google’s Personal Intelligence is Quietly Revolutionizing Your Search Results with Garrett Sussman (Near Media)</a></p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/cyrusshepard_new-ai-citation-ranking-factor-analysis-share-7458203851335254016-OZvQ/">AI Citation Ranking Factor Analysis (Cyrus Shepard)</a></p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/dditomaso_i-have-sad-news-it-looks-like-google-has-activity-7460022186225999872-mjdJ/">RIP AI Overview Tracking (Dana DiTomaso)</a></p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/darrenshawwhitespark_breaking-news-google-is-now-pulling-reddit-activity-7458539598885867520-Sfua/">Google is now pulling Reddit threads directly into Google Business Profiles (Darren Shaw)</a></p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7460344757555335169/">Google is now pulling social media posts directly into Google Business Profiles (Darren Shaw)</a></p><p>📝 <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jz2O0NIuD0">Google Suspended This Profile: Their Calls Stopped Overnight (Sterling Sk)</a></p><p>📝 <a href="https://lilyraynyc.substack.com/p/it-works-until-it-doesnt-ai-content-risks">It Works Until It Doesn't: AI Content Strategies That Backfire (Lily Ray)</a></p>
May 12, 2026
<p>Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw are back with a new episode of the Whitespark Local Update. Here’s what they cover in this one:</p><p>📝 <a href="https://signal.zyppy.com/p/content-google-zero">17 Content Types to Survive Google’s Zero-Click Future (Cyrus Shepard)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://signal.zyppy.com/p/winning-google">5 Data-Backed Features of Websites Winning Google in 2026 (Cyrus Shepard)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/myriamjessier_your-content-is-probably-too-heavy-most-activity-7455149132408721408-nlgU/">Most pages are too long for AI agents to read (Myriam Jessier)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://support.google.com/business/thread/431038036/google-small-business-bulletin-%E2%9C%A8-happy-small-business-week?hl=en&sjid=11129011200125413028-EU#:~:text=Your%20GBP%20Photo%20Gallery%20Just%20Got%20Smarter">Your GBP Photo Gallery just got Smarter (Google Small Business Bulletin)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.nearmedia.co/ep-254-google-ask-maps-deep-dive-ask-maps-is-the-future-of-local-seo-panel-discussion/">Google Ask Maps Deep Dive: Ask Maps Is The Future of Local SEO Panel Discussion (NearMedia)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/michael-b-snow-a7b7bb3_googlemaps-googleposts-activity-7454555440933392384-gYYa/">Google Offer & Event Post highlights appear in search results for the Leisure Industry (Michael B. Snow)</a><br>📝 <a href="https://whitespark.ca/guides/whitesparks-guide-to-googles-ai-mode-for-local-businesses/">Whitespark’s Guide to Google’s AI Mode for Local Businesses (Miriam Ellis)</a></p>
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The Whitespark Local Update is the go-to podcast for Local SEOs and Marketers who want to stay ahead of the curve in local search and the local visibility space.
Join industry experts Claire Carlile and Darren Shaw for a lively, insightful roundup of their carefully curated selection of top “must-read” and “must-watch” links, including news, trends, and can't-miss resources.
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