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How Local SEO, AI, and Universal Search Are Shaping the Future for Digital Marketers

How Local SEO, AI, and Universal Search Are Shaping the Future for Digital Marketers

May 13, 2025
Local SEO guru Andrew Beckman

Andrew Beckman Drops Truth Bombs on Local SEO and AI

If you aren’t playing in local, you’re playing yourself.

You need three things:

  • Proximity: Be where your customer is, not where you “wish” they were.
  • Relevance: Say what matters, on your site, on your Google Business Profile (GBP), on your social.
  • Prominence: Authority isn’t optional. Build backlinks. Get real reviews. Show up or shut up.

Google Business Profile:

  • Complete every section. No half-measures.
  • Treat it like your homepage. Post like your business depends on it (because it does).
  • Control the narrative. Reply to reviews. Answer every Q&A.

Local Social:

  • Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, stop treating them like toys.
  • Social proof isn’t “nice to have.” It’s survival now.

See how local marketing made waves at our events.

AI is Changing the Game

Searches by day 2024 (Traditional and Gen AI)

Google isn’t “dying.” It’s mutating.

  • 15 billion searches a day.
  • AI Overviews are stealing your clicks whether you like it or not.

Smart play:

  • Focus on conversions (calls, forms, driving directions).
  • Traffic without action is a vanity metric, and vanity doesn’t pay rent.

Tactics That Actually Move the Needle

Core Ranking Pillars

  • Mobile-first, blazing fast sites or don’t even bother.
  • Structured data that screams, “Trust me, I’m the real deal.”
  • Crank out hyper-local content like it’s oxygen.
  • Steal backlinks from competitors like a corporate raider.
  • Build street-level partnerships. Reciprocate real value.

Rich Media:

  • Walls of text are dead.
  • Video owns attention spans.
  • Voice search is your silent assassin.

See why local digital strategies must evolve.

Universal Search Is Here

  • Reddit, TikTok, Instagram: Google’s pulling from them like candy from a piñata.
  • Visual search (Google Lens): 12 billion searches a month and growing.

If your brand isn’t ready to be “found” in images and short videos, you’re already losing.

🔢 Data: The Weapon No One’s Using Properly

Utilizing Data

  • Customer data = WHO buys
  • Audience data = WHO leaves
  • Location data = WHERE they are
  • Performance data = WHAT works

Biggest miss:

Most businesses hoard data but never weaponize it.

  • Retarget smart.
  • Build content where you’re weak.
  • Outrank competitors by being where they’re blind.

Learn more about how SEOs are winning with GA4.

🌊 Bonus Moves for Local Domination

Amplification of Content

  • Sponsor local events: If you’re writing checks, demand backlinks.
  • Pitch local press: Good stories get free links, boring ones get ignored.
  • Guest blog: Not “someday.” Now.
  • Reclaim brand mentions: Easiest SEO win you’ll ever bank.

Neighborhood Content:

  • Service pages + blogs for every town, city, or street you want to own.
  • Chase long-tail phrases your competitors ignore.
  • Use AI, but use it smart. No spam. No junk.

🛠️ Where AI Heads Next

  • Smart glasses. Wearables. Real-world data feeding AI.
  • Private Large Language Models (LLMs) that are custom-trained, brand-owned.
  • Hyperlocal content at machine-gun scale.

If you’re waiting for a “safe moment” to adapt, you’re going to lose.

What You Should Do If You Want To Win

  • Build trust like your life depends on it.
  • Use every scrap of data like it’s gold.
  • Pump out neighborhood content like a madman.
  • Dominate search, social, and local with real presence.

Ready to stop playing small?

🔗 Get tickets to our next SFIMA event and meet the marketers who’ll still be standing when the dust clears.