Local SEO

Your analytics dashboard tracks clicks, but it doesn’t convey the complete picture. When a buyer reads an AI answer that mentions your competitor, or scrolls through a Reddit thread where your brand doesn’t appear, that’s lost visibility. And it won’t show up anywhere in your traffic data. Share of voice (SoV) captures what traffic metrics can’t. It measures your brand’s visibility against competitors across channels where buyers actually research and make decisions. While SoV spans social, PR, and paid media, search is where most brands should start. It’s the channel where buyers with the strongest purchase intent show up, and it’s the easiest to measure competitivel…

SEO services have evolved significantly in recent years, driven by changes in search behavior, AI-powered results, and rising competition across industries. To give you the most accurate picture of the industry today, we’ve combined data from multiple sources, including our survey of 1,200 business owners. In this report, you’ll learn: How much businesses spend on SEO services today Where companies actually find and hire SEO providers What factors influence the decision to choose one agency over another Why clients leave (or stay with) their SEO provider Key trends shaping the future of SEO services Let’s dive into the data. Highlights and Key Statistics: 1. Compani…

Most location pages fail for one of two reasons: They’re too thin (just an address and phone number) or too generic (the same template with city names swapped out). Google sees through both. So does ChatGPT. But here’s what a good location page can do: Rank in organic search Link from your Google Business Profile (GBP) Get cited in AI answers Serve as a landing page for ads Convert visitors into leads One page, five jobs. Most location pages do none of this. They just sit there. Technically live, technically indexed, technically doing nothing. I’ve built location pages for HVAC companies, electricians, painters, funeral homes, and more across dozens of markets. …

With all of the platform changes and tech advancements, it’s easy to feel like you’re always a step behind. Buyers can discover brands in countless ways without ever visiting their website. Tracking and attribution are becoming murkier, which makes it harder to know what to prioritize. Everyone is telling you to use AI, or you’re out of business tomorrow. You constantly need to adapt. And many times, without the data to show whether you’re making the right calls. The good news is, you don’t need more tactics or fancier tools. You need structure. Below, you’ll find a step-by-step framework you can use to build your marketing strategy for 2026. It doesn’t matter wh…

AI search exists on a spectrum. At one end: a human asks an AI a question and gets a fast, generated response. At the other: an AI receives a goal and browses the web on a human’s behalf. It evaluates your brand, makes a decision, and leaves no trace in your analytics. That’s agentic search. And it’s already emerging. ChatGPT’s deep research, Gemini’s agentic mode, and Perplexity’s research features are early expressions of it. Shopping within ChatGPT and booking tables without ever visiting a website are where it’s heading. AI systems are already running multi-step evaluations with less human direction at each step. The brands that show up in those evaluations are…

A user asks Gemini: “Find me a task chair under $400 with lumbar support and free shipping. Order the best one.” The AI doesn’t open a new tab. It doesn’t ask the user to click anything. Instead, it queries product databases, cross-references reviews, checks real-time inventory, compares shipping policies, and initiates a checkout — all without a human touching a single page. These are all things the user would have done themselves, but now in a fraction of the time, with as much effort as it took to write the initial prompt. Okay, we might not be quite at the stage where everyone is letting AI agents make all their purchases for them. But it’s no longer an unrealistic…

The marketing tech stack is always evolving. Marketing automation software enables improved efficiency with various features, from customer segmentation to campaign management. What’s the marketing automation industry market size? What are the adoption rates of marketing automation, and what benefits does it bring to businesses? Continue reading as we’ll cover answers to these questions with these recent marketing automation statistics. Here’s what you’ll find on this page: Marketing Automation Industry Revenue Leading Players in the Marketing Automation Software Industry Marketing Automation Budget Changes Top Channels Where Marketing Automation is Used Top Benefits …

Fintech in AI search plays by much stricter rules. Because it’s a Your Money or Your Life category, products must clear higher verification thresholds before AI mentions you: Is your product legitimate? Are your fees and protections explicit? Do other trusted sources back up your claims? To find these answers, AI draws from your website and the wider web — including sources you don’t control. That risks misrepresentation of your brand. What matters, then, is whether those sources tell an accurate story. In this article, I’ll explain how to influence that narrative. Because the real goal is for your fintech brand to show up in AI search AND be represented accuratel…

AI has changed the way people shop. 58% of consumers now use GenAI tools instead of traditional search to find products. Imagine your customer runs a simple query in Google’s AI Mode: “Winter jackets for women.” Instead of a long list of links, they get direct product recommendations — alongside: Descriptions of features and best use cases Ratings and reviews Editorial sites that mention the product Direct comparisons with top competitors All in one response. Which raises an obvious question: Why do some products show up, while others are ignored entirely? Many factors influence AI recommendations. But one of the most important — and most controllable — is your…

Search has changed, and so should your audience personas. Your audience searches across Google, ChatGPT, Reddit, YouTube, and many other channels. Knowing who they are isn’t enough anymore. You need to know how they search. Search-focused audience personas fill gaps that traditional personas miss. Think insights like: Where this person actually goes for answers What triggers them to look for solutions right now Which proof points win their trust And you don’t need months of research or expensive tools to build them. An audience persona is a profile of who you’re creating for…

At just under 200 employees, Descript is not the biggest name in video editing software. It’s not the most robust or the most popular, either. But it’s punching way above its weight, competing with much bigger companies (like Adobe, and CapCut) in LLM search. Using Semrush’s AI Visibility score, you can see that Descript is competing closely with giant brands like Adobe. Descript found the way in. And so can you. In this SaaS LLM visibility case study, we’ll break down exactly how Descript is getting seen. And more importantly, what you can copy to improve visibility for your own product. Choosing Clear Niche Messaging For years, Descript has been known as a podc…

Everybody wants smoother workflows and fewer manual tasks. And thanks to AI models, automation is at the center of conversations in marketing departments across all industries. But most rarely get the results they’re looking for. According to Ascend2’s State of Marketing Automation Report, only 28% of marketers say their automation “very successfully” supports their objectives. While 69% felt it was only somewhat successful. While this specific stat is from 2024, I imagine the broad idea is still true. Especially since there are so many more automation options and tools. It can get overwhelming to decide a go-forward plan and implement effectively. So if you feel st…

Founded in 2022, Perplexity offers an AI-powered search engine. AI tools offer a new way to search for factual information, where Perplexity stands out as an AI-native search engine that combines large language models with real-time web search. With a valuation of $20 billion and a growing user base of 30 million monthly active users, Perplexity is one of the fastest-growing tech startups challenging Google’s dominance with its AI-native search engine. From the number of Perplexity active users to company revenue, we’ll cover the latest stats about the popular AI search engine on this page. Key Perplexity Stats Perplexity has 30 million monthly active users. Perplexi…

You’ve likely invested in AI tools for your marketing team, or at least encouraged people to experiment. Some use the tools daily. Others avoid them. A few test them quietly on the side. This inconsistency creates a problem. An MIT study found that 95% of AI pilots fail to show measurable ROI. Scattered marketing AI adoption doesn’t translate to proven time savings, higher output, or revenue growth. AI usage ≠ AI adoption ≠ effective AI adoption. To get real results, your whole team needs to use AI systematically with clear guidelines and documented outcomes. But getting there requires removing common roadblocks. In this guide, I’ll explain seven marketing AI adop…

With AI tools at everyone’s fingertips, what does “great” content writing mean in 2026? Content writing is about using words and psychology to deliver value, earn trust, and move readers toward action. It includes blog posts, social media content, newsletters, and white papers. Or it can be scripts for video, podcasts, and presentations. Content Type Purpose Key Characteristics Blog posts Educate; build brand awareness and authority In-depth, structured, research-backed Social media posts Engage, entertain, build community Conversational, visual, platform-specific Email newsletters Nurture relationships; drive action Personal tone, value-driven, scannable …

AI chat is changing how people shop for fashion — fast. Before AI, buying something as simple as casual leggings meant typing keywords into Google. Then, sifting through pages of results. Comparing prices. Reading reviews. Getting overwhelmed. In fact, 74% of shoppers give up because there’s too much choice, according to research by Business of Fashion and McKinsey. Now? A shopper submits a query. AI gives one clear answer — often with direct links to products, reviews, and retailers. They can even click straight to purchase. So, how do you make sure AI recommends your fashion brand? We analyzed how fashion brands appear in AI search. And why some brands dominate …

Creating an official brand subreddit is one of the hardest marketing spaces to get right. Why? Because it’s hostile ground for traditional brand messaging, with some of the internet’s snarkiest users watching every move. But if you strike the right balance, the payoff is huge. Just look at r/fidelityinvestments. This brand subreddit has grown into a self-sustaining community. Members trade tips, ask questions, and help resolve issues before the company’s reps even show up. Fidelity’s still there, keeping things on track. But because the users trust the brand and the space, conversations flow without much hand-holding. So how do you get there? This guide breaks …

Modern SEO teams aren’t just optimizing for rankings in traditional search anymore. They’re also optimizing for visibility in AI-powered search and answer engines. And that shift is showing up in job listings. I recently came across this position: This isn’t an outlier. Dozens of companies are now posting similar roles, and the shift runs deeper than new job titles. I reviewed 100+ general SEO job postings. 96% mentioned AI somewhere in the description. AI is creating entirely new positions, but it’s also changing what existing roles require. Why? Because AI search works differently from traditional Google ranking. It extracts passages, synthesizes informatio…

AI chat is the number one source B2B buyers use to shortlist software. Not review sites. Not vendor websites. Not salespeople. AI chat. G2’s 2025 survey of 1,000+ decision makers found that 87% say AI tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are changing how they research software. Half of SaaS buyers now start in AI chat instead of Google Search. They’re “one-shotting” their research with prompts like “Give me CRM solutions for a large gym that work on iPads.” What used to take hours of “Google —> right-click —> open new tab” is condensed to minutes. If your product doesn’t show up when buyers ask AI to recommend solutions in your category, you’re losing de…

AI search is reshaping how ecommerce brands get discovered. One week, your products show up in ChatGPT. The next week, they’re replaced by competitors. For many brands, this uncertainty can feel overwhelming. Organic visibility now depends less on rankings and keywords, and more on how LLMs gather information, which platforms they rely on, and what signals help them highlight your brand. In this guide, I’ll explain this crucial shift in detail. I’ll unpack: What actually shapes visibility inside AI answers The business impact of compressed buyer journeys and broken attribution How you can build lasting relevance in this new search ecosystem The 3 Types of AI Visib…

You found a digital marketing agency that feels like the one. The pitch was perfect. They “get” your goals. Their case studies are impressive. But a few weeks later, reality starts to set in: slow responses, recycled strategies, and reports that don’t show any tangible results. This scenario is painfully common, but it’s not inevitable. Choosing an agency that performs as well as they sell is possible — if you know what to look for. In this guide, I’ll cover: Red flags that signal an agency might overpromise and underdeliver Green flags that separate the great partners from the mediocre ones Must-ask questions to help you spot these flags before you sign the contra…

Marketers are making bold statements about AI SEO every day. The problem? Most of them are half-right at best. “SEO is dead.” “Long-form content is pointless.” “AI SEO is just good SEO.” Here’s the truth: When it comes to AI, the answer is rarely that simple. Are you trying to show up in ChatGPT or Google’s AI Overviews? Do you want the AI to recommend your brand or cite your content? Is the model pulling from training data or live web results? Each of those questions has a different approach. Trying to generalize only causes confusion. So, let’s skip the hype and get specific. This guide tests today’s biggest AI myths in SEO to uncover what’s true, what’s …

In the good ol’ days of blogging, traffic was the main goal, and it was relatively easy to get. Now, especially for ecommerce blogs, it’s getting harder to stay visible. The number of Google searches that end with a click is slowly decreasing, while the number of searches that end with no clicks has increased. While the number changes are small, they’re continuing to move in the direction of no-click searches. AI Overviews give people the answers they need at a glance, and website traffic is taking a toll as a result. Aside from these trends in Google search, ecommerce blogs also face an uphill battle against big players like Amazon or Walmart. With all of this in m…

Ask the same question in 11 AI search engines, and you’ll get 11 different answers. Sometimes wildly different. Some engines focus on visuals and shoppable results. Others go deep into research. A few just try to get you an answer, fast. Each platform prioritizes and presents it differently. And those differences matter. Not just for users, but for brands trying to get discovered in AI search. So, I tested popular and lesser-known AI engines on accuracy, depth, user experience, and other factors. Only four made the cut. In this guide, you’ll learn which AI search engines came out on top, including pros, cons, and pricing. I’ll also share which engines didn’t make …

Ad intelligence software promises to show you everything your competitors are doing: their keywords, budgets, creatives, and landing pages. But many surface insights you could get for free. Meta’s Ad Library shows what advertisers are currently running. Google’s Transparency Center does the same for search and YouTube. TikTok’s Creative Center reveals top performers by industry. So, when does paid software earn its cost? You’re tracking multiple competitors across platforms and losing hours to manual checks You need historical data on which ads they tested and killed You rely on spend benchmarks and real-time alerts to catch shifts before your clients do That’s the …