Known as Google I/O, the keynote is Google’s opportunity to announce the latest advancements in its technology and offer a glimpse at what’s to come. Past Google I/Os have seen the public introduction of such Google products as the Google Assistant, Google Lens, and more.

And, like always, 2024’s summit is the subject of the week in the search industry. Following its May 14th premiere, search professionals are scrambling to figure out what Google’s self-coined “Gemini era” means for the industry. 

As noted by Google’s Liz Reid,

“With each of these platform shifts, we haven’t just adapted, we’ve expanded what’s possible with Google Search. And now, with generative AI, search will do more for you than you ever imagined. So whatever’s on your mind, and whatever you need to get done, just ask, and Google will do the Googling for you.”

There is a lot of fancy talk surrounding what seems to be an even fancier product. But what does that really mean for local SEOs, who already spend their days deciphering Google’s ever-changing algorithm?

In the words of Near Media’s Greg Sterling: Gemini was the star. Search was there… but in more of a supporting role. Nonetheless, search still got its screentime, with four important updates for local SEOs to focus on—AI Overviews, multi-step reasoning, topic clusters, and itinerary planning with Gemini Advanced.

Let’s take a look at the big announcements most relevant to local SEOs…

AI Overviews

This looks more interesting beyond the standard SGE integration we know. Example of an "AI-organized search results page", bringing it together in a dynamic/full-page experience. Apparently this will be launching within the US in the coming weeks (in labs first). #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/QaIvFagETT

— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) May 14, 2024

What is it?

AI Overviews is the official name of what was previously called Google’s ‘Search Generative Experience‘. It uses the information collected via Gemini’s multi-step reasoning (more on this below) to present a clear, organized search result that answers all of the user’s questions… and then some.

AI Overviews are, essentially, a quick overview of the answer to the query with links to learn more. 

Gemini becomes the user’s “personal agent”, offering the user all of the pertinent information regarding their query. This allows for complex questions to be answered simply and clearly, all within a single search result page.

This new feature is due to be rolled out to US users this week, with more countries coming soon.

These search results pages consider information that a typical searcher may not have even considered. Take a query about “anniversary celebration dinner spots in dallas.” Gemini’s approach to search intuits the need to check the weather before offering locations.

Breezy summer evening? Gemini knows that a rooftop bar might do the trick. So, once again, it all comes down to detail—businesses must offer Gemini as much specific information about themselves as possible so that they’re first on Gemini’s list when a relative search is made.

What does it mean for local SEO?

In our article on SGE in June 2023, we explored what an AI-generated search response would mean for local search. Since then, some elements of this new search function have changed, but most remain the same.

The key thing that all content publishers should be wary of is whether Google will be showing links, citations, and sources in its AI Overviews. For now, it seems like there’s no consistent answer to that. Some searches return what you might call a ‘zero-click’ result (where the response provides the answer and nothing more), while more complex or debatable answers are prefixed with ‘According to’ and link to the source of the response, presumably so that Google can put the onus on its sources for contentious or controversial topics.

What about searches for local businesses? Well, examples of this were given quite an airing in the keynote, and it seems like, for now, any business information returned for local search terms comes from the usual places: Google Business Profile, directories, citation sites, review sites, and news articles and blog posts recommending businesses.

Keeping your business profiles across Google and other listings platforms remains as crucial as ever, and some form of the ‘local pack’ will likely remain, as Google has a vested interest in adding value to its Google Business Profile product.

The bigger question will be around whether local businesses will continue to see value in publishing localised or locally-relevant content to attract customers via what was the organic ‘ten blue links’.

In a world where Google can take the contents of your article on “the best events for visitors to [your town]” and hand it to searchers without ever linking to your business, you might be thinking again about investing in an organic search strategy.

Ultimately, AI Overviews is the biggest shift in Google search that we’ve seen in decades, and we’ll be closely monitoring how it works in order to provide our readers with the best advice on improving and understanding visibility in the Gemini era.

BrightLocal’s Take on AI Overviews

Kristian Bannister

Chief Product Officer at BrightLocal

We’re excited by the changes coming in Google’s AI Overview and the potential opportunities for local businesses and those working in local SEO.

We always want to ensure that our products equip our customers with the right data and the best insights to help them deal with the changing landscape of local search. Undoubtedly, the release of AI Overviews is one of the biggest changes we’ve ever seen to search results, and we owe it to our customers to fully understand:

• What this means for our existing ranking tools
• How it will impact local search results, search behavior, and businesses
• How we can help marketers adapt and thrive in this new dawn of search

What This Means for Our Existing Ranking Tools

We always ensure that our existing tools continue to work as expected. Google continually makes small changes to its SERPs, which could impact how we and our partners gather ranking data. We already have numerous alert systems in place to ensure these changes don’t interrupt our tools. But we’re being especially vigilant with the rollout of AI Overviews to ensure there will be no (or at least minimal) interruption to our tools and no impact on accuracy.

We’ll also be looking into ways to help businesses better understand their visibility, with keywords triggered by AI Overviews within our rank trackers if we believe these insights have potential value for our customers.

How This Will Impact Local Search Results, Search Behavior, and Businesses

Right now, we aren’t completely sure what this may mean for local search results and businesses. My personal speculation is that simple “how-to” content is likely to be an area where AI Overviews start to take away traffic, as Google will be able to serve it directly in SERPs. That does pose a significant threat to businesses that have built revenue models on the back of this content.

In local search, we could see AI Overviews becoming a tool for discovering and better evaluating local businesses. Local businesses rely on some sort of transaction, whether it’s visiting a restaurant, getting an oil change, or hiring a plumber. AI Overviews won’t replace the end goal, but they will likely change how consumers find and evaluate businesses, which itself is likely to impact local SEO strategies.

How We Can Help Marketers Adapt and Thrive in This New Era of Search

This is where things get exciting. We’ve been following the development of SGE and anticipating this launch for some time. Like you, we’re in a phase of discovery and exploration with this new technology, focusing on understanding what new problems and opportunities may arise that we can help our customers address. Our mission is to help marketers become brilliant at local SEO, and these changes make that mission even more important as we all enter uncharted territory together.

We’ll be looking outwardly at what our industry peers and experts are saying, but we also want to hear from our customers. If you want to reach out to me personally to share your thoughts and ideas, I’m available any time. Please feel free to reach out at contact@brightlocal.com. And if you see any significant changes in your or your client’s local rankings, we’re on hand to help at support@brightlocal.com, as always.

Multi-step Reasoning

What is it?

Throughout the summit, Google emphasized multi-step reasoning as a key feature of the Gemini era. So, what does that mean? 

According to Google, ‘multi-step reasoning’ refers to the tool’s ability to take a larger, multi-part question and break it down into sections before determining what needs to be answered and in what order. It then uses reason, alongside Google’s vast information index, to answer the questions logically. 

Coming soon, we’ll bring new multi-step reasoning capabilities to Google Search. It breaks your bigger question down into parts and figures out which problems to solve and in what order, so research that might've taken you minutes or even hours can be done in seconds. #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/Op8Iu7K21m

— Google (@Google) May 14, 2024

What does it mean for local SEO?

Considering that Gemini needs to get its information somewhere, it’s more important than ever that businesses provide Google with the most detailed and accurate information possible for Google to find.

Ratings, reviews, business hours, and more can all come into play when someone queries Google, and the last thing a business needs is for Google to spit out the wrong information or, even worse, overlook it entirely.

Topic Clusters

What are they?

Remember the query about anniversary spots? Just because outdoor seating could be a good option due to the sunshine doesn’t mean it’s the only option.

Instead, the personalized search results page will be broken down into what Google refers to as “topic clusters.” These clusters group results based on unique angles of the search, such as “outdoor seating,” “rustic charm,” or “restaurants with live music,” offering users different directions to take their query. 

What do they mean for local SEO?

Details. Details. Details. We can’t say it enough. For Google to determine that a restaurant belongs in that “rustic charm” cluster, it’ll need evidence to prove it. Having a fully filled-out Google Business Profile, a robust history of reviews, and a detailed website all help signify to Google that yes—this is one of the top “rustic charm” restaurants in town.

Gemini Advanced

What is it?

Gemini Advanced takes all the above functionalities and offers a full-fledged itinerary-planning capability. Whether you’re trying to figure out a family-friendly meal plan or planning a romantic trip to New York City, Gemini Advanced uses its multi-step reasoning capacities and topic clustering features to provide a fully personalized AI overview of the ideal plan. 

What does it mean for local SEO?

With Gemini Advanced, Google will look at more than just your business—it’ll look at the context surrounding it.

With the advanced contextualization and reasoning around search results, Gemini Advanced will know not to show the local ice cream parlor in the dead of winter following a Christmas Market. However, it may know to show it if it serves the best hot cocoa in town and is only a block away from the market’s entrance.

But, to make those connections, it needs the correct data to draw upon… such as an updated menu, mentions in local publications, and a host of positive reviews.

Google on Responsibility

Acknowledging the uncertainty that always comes alongside new technologies, Google assures that they’re approaching Gemini with the same AI principles they say they’ve always abided by. 

Google’s AI Principles

• Be socially beneficial
• Avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias
• Be built and tested for safety
• Be accountable to people
• Incorporate privacy design principles
• Uphold high standards of scientific excellence
• Be made available for uses that accord with these principles

Also, according to Google, they are introducing Gemini with the intention of maximizing the benefits for people and society. And, while local SEO may change according to these new tools, we trust Google’s intention to use its AI for a better user experience. 

In Summary

Overall, the significance of these updates to local all comes down to the same thing: data accuracy and detail are more important than ever. With an expert tool crawling the web to find the best possible fit for a user’s query, businesses need to ensure that the tool can find them—and everything it needs to know about them. Things like having comprehensive and descriptive FAQs will become even more important players in visibility.

That being said, this is all based on what we know right now. The most important thing is that businesses continue to stay agile and up-to-date on industry trends; with Google’s constantly changing methods, it’s important never to get too stuck in your ways. This year’s Google I/O is simply further proof of that.

When your head is buried in the day-to-day, whether you’re responsible for a small business or managing several business locations, let’s face it—sometimes you just miss stuff.

With some users already actively engaging with Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), but many others around the world unable to get a feel for this new search experience, it got us thinking about how ‘ready’ local marketers really are. So, we decided to find out.

We polled the BrightLocal user base, including freelance marketers and representatives from agencies, single-location businesses, and multi-location businesses, to get a snapshot of how people are feeling about SGE right now.

Recap: What is SGE?

Announced in May 2023, Search Generative Experience (SGE) is Google’s new way of integrating generative AI into search results. Collating key information from a variety of sources, and presented as a ‘snapshot’ at the top of search results, it’s essentially designed to enable more detailed searches from the beginning and encourage more conversational follow-up queries.

Currently, SGE is available to a limited amount of US-based users via Google Labs, and the wider roll-out date is unknown—yet expected to be in early 2024.

1. Do local marketers feel confident in their understanding of SGE?

Before we can understand how marketers think local search will be affected, we wanted to measure how confident they are in really knowing what SGE is—apart from yet another digital marketing acronym.

• 33% of local marketers have not heard of SGE.
• Just 17% of marketers feel they have a confident understanding of what SGE is.

We expected to see low levels of confidence in terms of understanding what SGE actually is, but we were surprised to find that one-third of local marketers have not heard of SGE at all. It reinforces the point that not everyone in the business of local marketing is fully engaged with SEO news.

Meanwhile, less than a fifth of local marketers (17%) said that yes, they do have a confident understanding of what SGE is. That leaves 50% of users that don’t have a confident understanding of SGE—assuming the 9% of ‘I don’t know’ responses essentially mean ‘no’.

2. Do local marketers think SGE will make appearing in local search results easier or harder?

While we can’t know for certain what the full roll-out of SGE will look like for businesses, we wanted to measure users’ optimism towards potential changes to local search results. Do they think it will be easier to appear in local search results with SGE, harder, or about the same?

• 4% of local marketers think that SGE will make it easier for local businesses to appear in search results.
• 15% of marketers think it will be harder for local businesses to appear in search results.

Overwhelmingly, we can see that local marketers really just don’t know what will happen. Given the general lack of understanding and awareness around SGE, this is not exactly surprising. But it does tell us that, simply, marketers are not ready for the roll-out and its effect on their businesses or clients.

The Smarter Way to Manage Listings

Discover a cutting-edge solution for effective listings management

Get Started with Listings Management _{Start Your Free Account}

What should marketers do with this data?

Well, if you’ve also been feeling unsure about what SGE will bring, then the key takeaway is: know you are not alone!

It’s going to be an interesting time as we all get to grips with the Search Generative Experience but, in the meantime, here are some key considerations and sources to help you keep on top of the changes.

Agency and freelance local marketers

If you work for an agency or freelance for local SEO clients, the number one thing you should be doing is managing their expectations for changes to come. There will likely be an adjustment period, but, as more users search with SGE, it will also learn and change over time.

Prepare your clients ahead of time so that, on day one of roll-out, you aren’t bombarded with panicked questions!

Senior SEO Specialist, Andy Simpson, summed this up nicely for us and commented on how much SGE is changing already:

Andy Simpson

Senior SEO Specialist at Digital Law Marketing

 

“SGE (and Google’s Bard) is seeing constant updates and changes, so what we see this week can be different the following week. It’s an exhilarating time to be in the local search space, how will it change the landscape of local search and/or search in general?

At this moment in time, depending on the search query, it dominates the top of the desktop/mobile search experience, users are going to either ignore it and think “what the hell is this” until they get familiar with it OR they won’t scroll down to the 10 blue links below, and the organic SERPs will be lost to many users forever… let’s just see where this ride takes us!”

In-house marketers and local business owners

On the flip-side, if you are in-house or managing local SEO for your own business, don’t panic. As mentioned above, SGE will change as it learns, so we wouldn’t advise making any drastic changes based off of a hunch!

SEO Strategist, Dayna Lucio, highlights how SGE should reinforce the key fundamentals of local SEO, such as Google Business Profile (GBP) information, and customer reviews:

Dayna Lucio

Strategist, SEO at Amsive Digital

“I think it more or less is continuing to showcase the things we already stress in local SEO—provide the information that users are looking for on GBP profiles and within on-page content and continue to pay attention to reviews, because this is another way that Google is highlighting those. Like anything with Google, I expect there to be multiple tests and changes as time goes on, so its hard to say what the impact will be.”

So, the key advice here is to continue to ensure you are grounded by local SEO principles and focus on your customers.

Community, industry news, and expert sources

• If you’re not already, we’d recommend subscribing to our newsletter—we regularly round up the latest and most important news in local marketing and wider SEO practices, as well as release our research findings and expert takes on the most talked-about topics in local SEO.
• Join our community of local SEOs in The Local Pack, a group of over 2,000 strong! This is your place to ask (and answer) questions, exchange insights, and discuss new changes and challenges in local search.
• Similarly, Sterling Sky’s Local Search Forum is a goldmine of all things local search, with many prominent local SEOs answering queries and providing advice.
• Our Expert Focus series sees local and digital marketing take on a variety of topics, from AI in local search, to agency culture and client engagement.
• Follow Google Search Liaison on Twitter (sorry, X…) for updates on SGE.

Do you have any strong feelings around the future of local search and SGE? We’d love to hear your thoughts or help answer any questions. Please feel free to comment in The Local Pack, tweet us @BrightLocal, or email research@brightlocal.com. 

Methodology

This poll was conducted within the BrightLocal tool platform and received 378 responses from our user base, including local SEO consultants, and representatives from agencies, single-location businesses, and multi-location businesses.

• Do you feel you have a confident understanding of what SGE is?
• How do you think SGE will affect local search results?

We asked the experts how they’re using AI at the moment, and how they think SGE will change the landscape of local search. 

(One small caveat—in the past few weeks we’ve seen new features and functions added to SGE. By the time this piece goes live, we’re sure there will have already been some major changes!) 

Ben Fisher

Founder and VP of Marketing at Steady Demand

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

AI is a great assistant for our SEO team. They use it for research, some technical tasks, and coming up with ideas for our writers. We don’t use AI for anything that is forward facing like blog post content, and our clients prefer it this way. We play with prompts every day and create a vault of useful prompts. AI assistants can save us a lot of time, especially with the right prompt. Our SEO team can focus more on strategy and critical thinking/analysis because AI can execute many tasks to save time.

Overall, AI assistants can be a valuable asset to any SEO team. They can help SEO professionals save time, improve the quality of their work, focus on more strategic and creative tasks, and stay ahead of the curve.

Despite AI’s impressive capabilities, the human touch remains integral to our processes, ensuring that our strategies are not only data-driven but also empathetic and user-centric.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

There is a glimmer of hope for the local SEO profession, as the 3-pack results appear to be the same as what you would see in a regular search. However, I think that as Google learns, there will be new winners and losers. Unfortunately, I think that SMBs will suffer, as the real estate they were used to will be replaced by new features.

Dayna Lucio

Strategist, SEO at Amsive Digital

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

Mainly it’s been a lot of testing of different platforms to understand the capabilities and differences of each. Right now, I’ve been using AI to help streamline processes such as summarizing data, mapping cities to zip codes for local tracking, or building regex filters for GSC. It’s also been helpful in brainstorming ideas for content such as sourcing questions for FAQs or coming up with metadata tests. I think in general things are moving really fast—something new seems to come up every day! Brands should definitely be thinking about how platforms like BingChat, Bard, ChatGPT, and SGE are providing information about their company, products, or services, and what types of content gaps need to be filled or opportunities they can explore.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

I think what we’ve been able to see so far has been interesting, the local examples that Google shared with the comparison layout between restaurants definitely shows how this can be used on a local level. However, I think it more or less is continuing to showcase the things we already stress in local SEO—provide the information that users are looking for on GBP profiles and within on-page content and continue to pay attention to reviews, because this is another way that Google is highlighting those. Like anything with Google, I expect there to be multiple tests and changes as time goes on, so its hard to say what the impact will be. Once more people have access to SGE I think it will be important to test different types of queries and questions about local businesses to see how the answers and layouts changed based on what’s being asked. 

Amanda Jordan

Director of Digital Strategy at RicketyRoo

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

I currently use AI to help generate ideas and consider new ways to think about data. Right now I think the best use case for many AI tools is for SEOs to understand how generative AI actually works. Knowing the capabilities and limitations of this technology can help us understand what to expect from Search in the future.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search? 

I hope SGE is the end of sites being filled with generic content. My hope is that SGE will encourage websites to focus on unique, personalized, and usable content for users. I believe truly understanding your customers and being obsessed with the customer experience will be extremely important in the future.

Jess Peck

Machine Learning Engineer at Local SEO Guide

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

We’re currently using machine learning for a series of tasks: analysis, clustering data, forecasting, text analysis, and to an extent content generation. We use several different ML techniques including lda, keyword extraction, text summarization, and technologies like using Google’s APIs and TensorFlow. Like many people, we are also using LLMs like GPT, though not entirely relying on them. For example, we tend to chunk our outputs, and then use other ML techniques to check the input matches the output, and check for plagiarism: we use knowledge graphs and entity extraction to try and streamline parts of these processes.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search? 

Despite being a machine learning engineer in practice I’m deeply ambivalent about SGEs. I don’t actually think these kinds of experiences usually improve sites, and it still feels like Google is scrambling to catch up while ChatGPT eats it’s lunch. 

While I do think SGEs are a logical next step for Google and other search engines I also see it as a way for Google to wash its hands of the consequences of serving certain data to the public. LLMs are trained on all of us, so surely it’s all our fault when they go astray? I think an ideal scenario would have Google back away from OpenAI style chatbots and towards using a combination of LLMs and extractive data to continue down the conversational path they have been going down, but how can that be done without robbing sites of their advertising? 

Fundamentally if your site relies on visitor metrics you must focus on unique aspects that cannot be replaced by a machine. I think UGC might end up being extremely useful: sites like Wirecutter that specialize in human, comprehensive reviews: small hobbyist sites with a human touch. The race is as it has always been: do it better than Google, and invite people into your site.

Andy Simpson

Senior SEO Specialist at Digital Law Marketing

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

Our team is currently learning how we can use things like ChatGPT as a tool for SEO. We’re definitely not using it for creating site content, we have our own brilliant content team for that. They have been using ChatGPT for some content outlines and ideas but we’re a firm believer in creating good, unique content, unlike the content spewed out by ChatGPT. Bing Chat and Google’s Bard are way off the mark when it comes to anything related to content creation. Very recently we used ChatGPT to expand and suggest additions to our local business schema, it’s fantastic for writing the code for FAQ and HowTo schema, we verify what’s produced but it’s been very good to date. Will Reynolds very recently posted how you can use ChatGPT to help with internal link-building suggestions, it’s a great video to watch and make you start thinking about how you can use ChatGPT as a tool for SEO.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

Not an easy one to answer in just a few lines, I recently voted “Meh” to Lily Ray’s question on Google’s SGE, BUT I do like it! It’s “meh” because it’s good but not great and that’s not surprising as this is Version 1.0 of whatever SGE will be eventually before it’s launched to the masses. There’s no doubt it will be launched but in what iteration we don’t know yet. SGE is only open to those that want to take a look at it, it’s not open to the general public yet, so I’m not too worried about what we are currently seeing i.e. I am not panicking if my client does/does not display in results displayed by SGE—it’s nice when they do and interesting to see what does display when they don’t. As someone who’s been doing SEO for more than two decades, it’s great to have a new toy to play with. SGE (and Google’s Bard) is seeing constant updates and changes, so what we see this week can be different the following week. It’s an exhilarating time to be in the local search space, how will it change the landscape of local search and/or search in general? At this moment in time, depending on the search query, it dominates the top of the desktop/mobile search experience, users are going to either ignore it and think “what the hell is this” until they get familiar with it OR they won’t scroll down to the 10 blue links below, and the organic SERPs will be lost to many users forever… let’s just see where this ride takes us!

Conclusion: 

Overall, it looks like AI is a great tool to help SEOs manage processes, generate top-level ideas, and help structure content. But, we’re all clear that generative AI should not be a replacement for content creation. 

Additionally, SGE proves an exciting time for local search specifically, with a general sense of optimism around it. Let’s see what happens in the coming months! 

It’s the longest episode we’ve ever released and for good reason! It’s a meaty topic with plenty to chew on, so step inside Marie’s mind and get the most up-to-date insights on Google and AI today.

PLUS we’re going live with this episode on the same day as Marie’s brand-new book (and accompanying workbooks) ‘SEO in the Gemini Era – The Story of How AI Changed Google Search’. Check it out for yourself now.

Listen to Learn:

• Why Marie thinks Google gave us the API leak data on purpose, and what we should and shouldn’t take away from it
• Why and how Gemini goes beyond other large language models
• Why SEOs shouldn’t be scared of the future of AI and SEO
• What skills will still be important in the new age of AI and search
• How the nature of search is changing, and how marketers can react to it
• How to become resilient to changes, and actually benefit from them
• A whole lot more, including how advancements in wearables and brain-computer interfaces will change the future

Watch the Video

Resources

• SEO in the Gemini Era – The Story of How AI Changed Google Search, by Marie Haynes: https://mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/
• The Creating Helpful Content Workbook, by Marie Haynes: https://marie-haynes-consulting-inc.ck.page/products/creating-helpful-content
• Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book, by Marie Haynes: https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
• How to Use Bard, by Marie Haynes: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-use-Bard-Prompts-skills-ebook/dp/B0CQBCYM2H/
• Google Devising Radical Search Changes to Beat Back A.I. Rivals: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/technology/google-search-engine-ai.html
• Ted 2014: Larry Page on Google’s robotic future: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26658892
• Marie’s Newsletter: https://www.mariehaynes.com/marie-haynes-newsletter/
• Marie’s Podcast, Search News You Can Use: https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12946477/feed
• Marie’s Training Services: https://www.mariehaynes.com/training
• Marie’s online community, The Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/feed
• Follow Marie on X: https://x.com/marie_haynes

In this wide-ranging and tactical nugget-filled conversation, Steve covers the challenges and opportunities available to multi-location SEOs today, and shares his proven processes for working with brands.

Listen to Learn

• Steve’s expert take on the findings of the Brand Beacon Report 2024
• Why social media isn’t the quick fix for multi-location brands that some think it is
• How agencies can develop a one-pager that sets out everything the HQ of a brand needs to know about local SEO
• Why some brands struggle to get on board with local SEO
• Preventing roadblocks and getting buy-in when working with enterprise brands
• The multitude of ways brands can use AI, and what to avoid when generating content with AI
• The data-backed secrets of success for a brand location page
• Advice for SEOs uncertain about the future of search in a world with AI

As you can see from the list above, it’s a long one, but absolutely worth getting stuck into if you’re working with big brands or looking to do so.

Watch the Video

Resources

• BrightLocal’s Brand Beacon Report 2024: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/brand-beacon-report/
• Wiideman Consulting Group: https://www.wiideman.com/
• A Data-Driven Strategy for Optimizing Location Pages to Rank in Google: https://www.wiideman.com/location-pages-for-seo
• Wiideman Search Engine Marketing Tutorials and Checklists: https://www.wiideman.com/learn
• Steve on X: https://twitter.com/seosteve
• Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seoexpert/
• Steve on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seosteve
• Steve on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seosteve/

In the latest episode of Adventures in Local Marketing, host Claire Carlile speaks to Near Media’s David Mihm about the state of GBP for multi-location businesses, SGE, schema, and much more.

Listen to Learn

• Why bulk verification can be such a struggle for enterprise businesses
• The best approach to managing local SEO between HQ and branch levels
• A two-level training framework for local SEO and enterprise businesses
• The value of third-party vendors in highlighting the importance of local SEO
• What’s next for schema and GBP Posts
• When we should be expecting Google to launch SGE, and what it might look like

Watch the Video

Resources

• BrightLocal’s Brand Beacon Report: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/brand-beacon-report/
• Near Media: https://www.nearmedia.co/
• Near Media’s Research and Analysis: https://www.nearmedia.co/tag/analysis/
• The Near Memo Podcast: https://www.nearmedia.co/memo/
• Is Google’s DMA Compliance DOA for Local Searches in Europe?: https://www.nearmedia.co/google-serp-restaurants-eu-dma-analysis/
• Don’t Put All Your Eggs In Google’s Basket – Beyond the Google Monopoly: https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/beyond-google-monopoly/
• Follow Near Media on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nearmediaco/
• Follow Near Media on X: https://twitter.com/nearmediaco
• Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmihm/

What if I told you the boat is an illusion? 

What if I told you, it doesn’t matter whether you learn how to turn AI prompts into crypto NFT gold? Or gold into crypto? Or crypto into Google Search Console (GSC) metrics? What if I told you that the best thing you could do in the AI space right now is to stop reading and start doing?

From Childcraft to AI: A Journey of Doing 

I’m fortunate enough to have grown up with Childcraft: The How and Why Library. It was an encyclopedia set for kids with volumes like “World and Space”, “How Things Change” and “Life Around Us”. If you treated the volumes well and actually read them, your parents might buy the more grown-up World Book when you were old enough. “Make and Do” was my favorite and I still have it. It’s completely covered in grime and glue.

I attempted every project in that book. My favorite thing to make was shoes. Actual shoes. Our garage was littered with various iterations of them. It was a revelation to 5-year-old me that if I followed the instructions, I would end up with shoes I could possibly wear. Spoiler: I was not allowed to wear the shoes.

How does this relate to ChatGPT? My friends, it’s the same thing! AI isn’t smart. ChatGPT isn’t smart. It’s just predicting the next word in a series. Sure, it’s the Babe Ruth of that kind of thing, but it is absolutely, positively not smarter than you.

I’m not a scientist and I don’t know how large language models work. That is also part of my point. Back in 1975, when I was an aspiring cobbler, did I know what a printing press was? OK, I did, but did I know how to operate one? Did I understand bookbinding or how the words that came to live in my Make and Do book got there? Nope. It never even crossed my mind. I just started making and doing. This is the same. 

The AI Rollercoaster: Keeping Up with the Pace

I may not be able to understand how large language models work, but I’ve been interested in AI, have been using it, and following the research for years. Conversion, which became Jarvis, which became Jasper. MidJourney. Duplex (lol). And who can forget Libratus, the system that Carnegie Mellon built to play Texas Hold ‘Em?

What Google's Search Generative Experience Means for Local Search

Learn More

But when ChatGPT became the new hotness this year, it took me exactly one week to feel like I was late to the party, and nothing would ever be good again. I was overwhelmed with information and advice being provided by “experts” and none of it seemed relevant to me, but all of it seemed like something I needed to know right now. 

A Helping Hand from ChatGPT: The Birth of the AI Assistant 

If speed dial had existed for 5-year-old me, the Greenville County Library would have lived at spot number one. I was told you could call them up and ask them anything, so I took that at face value and pretty much called them daily.

It dawned on me that I might be able to get ChatGPT to act in a similar way. If I told it I was overwhelmed with new information about large language models and that there were many things I wanted to know and do, but I didn’t know how to get started, what would it say? Imagine my delight when it replied with a question.

“What do you want to do with a large language model?”. Dang it Cheshire Cat, you’re right!

Because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, it didn’t really matter how I got started. It turned out, just like most things, I needed an end goal. 

My AI Assistant’s Debut: A Technical SEO Trivia Game 

After a little back and forth with my new digital assistant, I determined that I wanted to create something fun to show off to my coworkers. A trivia game about everyone’s favorite subject: technical SEO! I thought the easiest and quickest way to accomplish this was to create a very simple website that had a trivia game embedded in it. I had been developing websites for years but decided to forget everything I ever knew and let ChatGPT tell me how.

I ended up with an extremely simple site with questions and answers completely written by ChatGPT. We played the game in our team meeting, and it was fun. The game took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish and that was only because I tweaked the CSS for vanity’s sake. So, what came next? What did I “need”? 

The next project kind of fell into my lap. Because I wouldn’t shut up about ChatGPT and MidJourney, I was voluntold to do an Office Hours session about it. So now I was going to be one of those people who tells other people how to leverage AI for fun and profit. How could I do this but make it lighthearted and not boring or scary and make it absolutely clear that I wasn’t an expert?

I decided to let ChatGPT do all the heavy lifting. It wrote the entire presentation and MidJourney provided all the images. I used carrd.co to park the site and at the time it almost seemed like magic. 

The Personal Concierge of Awesome: ChatGPT in Daily Life 

I’m not going to pretend that at this point my main goal was using AI professionally. I used it to write scenarios for my partner’s D&D sessions, to create music based on famous chess games, to find out where the best places to retire will be based on climate change data. The possibilities are endless when you treat these tools as your own personal concierge of awesome.

Bored while waiting in the doctor’s office? Tell it you’re bored and ask it to entertain you.

Having a panic attack and need a distraction? Ask it to tell you something good.

Hear an interesting line in a song, movie or show and wonder what that would look like as an image? MidJourney it! [The best lyric from one of the greatest songs ever written, Wichita Lineman.]

Dinner party hits a snag and you need to lighten the mood? Get MidJourney to show you “are birds fish”.

Or “lizard man, but he’s here to help”. 

But wait. I thought we were supposed to be thinking about how AI tools can make us money and leverage the widgets and circle back on the strategery. Sometimes the progress is the profit and if progress means you use these tools to get through the day with some levity, you are leveling up.

The Freedom to Use AI, Your Way 

Are there a million tutorials out there offering you secret sauces to optimize your prompts for these tools? Sure, there are. I won’t say that I never dip my toes into those waters. They’re a part of the expansive and exciting landscape of AI, and they can lead to some amazing results.

But here’s the truth that I’ve come to embrace and want to share with you: you don’t have to go down the rabbit hole of optimizations to get value out of these tools. There is an inherent power and potential in AI, and it’s accessible to all of us, even at the most basic level. You may barely know how to use them, and they can still transform your personal life and your work life in ways you couldn’t have imagined a few months ago. 

Don’t let the noise of “experts”, the litany of articles, or the pressure of “getting it right” intimidate you or keep you from exploring the AI realm. These tools are your allies, ready to assist, inspire, and amplify your efforts. They can turn a mundane task into an exciting project or convert a daunting challenge into an achievable goal. Or, they can simply make friends and family laugh around the dinner table.

Give yourself the freedom to use AI, your way. Step in with curiosity, engage with openness and don’t get swept away by the tidal wave of AI complexities. Instead, enjoy the ride. Embrace the technology that’s here to help you make, do, and achieve more. Remember, the journey with AI is not about reaching a destination; it’s about the possibilities you discover along the way. So, start where you are, use what you have, and dive into the incredible world of AI–one prompt at a time.

Now that SGE has been made available to those on its waitlist (currently in the US, and hopefully worldwide soon) it is set to shake up the search world in multiple ways when it finally rolls out. 

In fact, Greg Sterling of Near Media has suggested that ”local and products may be two of the most affected segments”. 

We’ve gone ahead and compiled what we know so far about SGE for local search, what the experts say about it, and how it might impact both users and businesses in the future. 

So, what is Google’s Search Generative Experience?

Put simply? Say goodbye to ‘hairdressers near me’, say hello to ‘mens hairdressers offering traditional wet shave and trim package in Boston’.

The snapshot returned to the searcher is designed to offer a comprehensive, detailed response to the user’s query—no matter how complex the question (within reason, of course… but, hey, who are we to doubt Google?). The response is generated using a variety of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as MUM and PaLM2, allowing users to, in the words of Google:

• Ask entirely new types of questions that you never thought Search could answer
• Quickly get the lay of the land on a topic, with links to relevant results to explore further
• Ask follow-up questions naturally in a new conversational mode
• And get more done easily, like generating creative ideas and drafts right in Search

But don’t fret—this isn’t the end of shortt-tail searches. Google SGE seems to respond just as thoroughly to classic searches like “brew pub near me”.

These results can then be expanded upon, through what Google has dubbed ‘conversational mode’, where users will be prompted with further questions that follow the natural line of questioning (or, at least, what Google’s AI predicts it to be):

What does SGE look like for local search results?

While SGE won’t be available to the public for a while yet (there’s no consensus on when), it has been made available for use by those who joined the waiting list in the USA.

We’ve had a quick play around with some local searches in the US and have noticed a few key things:

• SGE results appear in a colored box, with the caveat “Generative AI is experimental. Info quality may vary.”
• Results show a 5-pack that looks similar to the existing local pack.
• The 5-pack has a short description next to each pack result; this sometimes includes reviews.
• It also shows a carousel of cited results, above a view of a map with pinned locations. 
• At the bottom of the SGE results, we see the prompt to ‘Ask a followup’ with additional prompts to continue the conversation.
• In some cases, Google will offer the traditional local pack accompanied by a prompt offering the user an AI-powered response.

What are the experts saying about SGE and local search? 

SEOs have jumped at the chance to delve into SGE to find out what it looks like, how it works for the end user, and what it could suggest for people working in the SEO space. 

RicketyRoo’s Amanda Jordan has noted that results vary between Google SGE results and the local pack:

I’m seeing multiple opportunities for local here. You get very different local business recommendations if you ask your query outright vs converse with AI.

— Amanda Jordan (@amandatjordan) May 26, 2023

Others pointed out the significant overlap that exists between SGE results compared to traditional local pack results.

In her piece for Local U, Sterling Sky’s Joy Hawkins noted that SGE results give visibility to businesses that show in the local pack already. However, she has found that “the two lists don’t match up identically. Sometimes the map in the AI box has a wider map view which shows different businesses than the local pack.”

Aleyda Solis commented with a similar point in her own piece, saying, “The SGE provides the least useful result I’ve seen: pretty much a duplication of the map pack that Google is already featuring below the first two organic search results anyway. Not useful.”

How will BrightLocal respond to SGE?

Myles Anderson on SGE

Myles is the CEO and Co-founder of BrightLocal

 

As a local business, understanding your ranking in search has always been complex. Your business can appear in multiple result types including traditional organic results, the local pack, knowledge panel, maps results, video results, and even in local service ads if you monitor those. 

For local businesses, it’s not as simple as saying “I rank #4 in Google”. With the introduction of SGE, we have a whole new set of results to monitor and report on. The monitoring aspect is pretty straightforward and we’ll be updating our ranking tools shortly to include these new result types. We are seeing different businesses, and different ordering of results, in the SGE pack vs local pack; even the quantity of local results showing in the SGE varies for different queries. 

All of this increases the complexity faced by marketers in determining how their clients are performing in search, and our team is focusing hard to reduce this complexity and provide clarity. 

Overall, I think that your ranking will remain a valuable data point to monitor, but the ultimate proof of success is in lead and revenue generation and the clarity of these metrics is less distorted by changes in Google’s interface.
  

What does this mean for local businesses?

With the heart of SGE being comprehensive results, Google has placed an emphasis on vertical experiences, including local search. According to Google, “SGE will provide context about local places, using AI-powered insights that make it easy to compare and explore options.” 

Preliminary research by Near Media revealed that most local searches seemed to return a snapshot featuring five or more listings as well as a carousel. Clicking on individual listings prompts a knowledge panel; clicking on one of the carousel items brings the user to the business’s website. 

SGE also allows for more specific comparisons of businesses: 

Andy Simpson, Digital Law Marketing, has even found that SGE uses content from Google reviews in its answer, meaning that processes like review management may be more important than ever: 

SGE using text from GBP reviews to help answer follow up questions.#LocalSEO #SGE pic.twitter.com/7lcXm3WUgU

— Andy Simpson (@ndyjsimpson) May 26, 2023

The takeaway? Local businesses shouldn’t be scared about SGE. In fact, it’s still distinctly possible that SGE will give small businesses more opportunities to get in front of customers due, at least in part, to the duplicated local pack.

While that also potentially leaves more opportunities for your competitors, we’d suggest continuing to keep your listings optimized and keep your business as visible in organic listings as possible. 

We know that SGE shows business descriptions, images, and reviews in results, so make sure these are up-to-date and relevant. 

So, in essence, while SGE may be something to keep your eye on, for now, the best thing to do is continue on with best practices for local SEO while Google continues to experiment.

Unsurprisingly, these announcements centered around AI. Yup, it’s the bots again.

It’s worth noting, though, that there were a couple of other things announced that weren’t specifically AI, but could be important to local marketers across the planet (starting in the USA, as is often the case).

In this piece, we’ll cover everything you need to have on your radar.

There’s a New Google Generative Search Experience

Undoubtedly the biggest change for businesses and marketers is the integration of generative AI into the search experience. It’s powered by PaLM2, the Large Language Model underpinning Google’s AI efforts. While they’d been toying with Google Bard’s generative qualities, they were also developing this search experience.

Crucially, it’s a generative AI that’s been specifically designed for search. It’s not just “Google Bard but in the SERPs”. Bard was designed as a showcase of logic learning machine (LLM) technology. What was announced yesterday is an entirely new approach to search.

This new integration has been called Search Generative Experience, or SGE (yup, that’s another acronym you’ll need to learn; I’m sorry). It’s their direct rival to BingGPT, and it’s going to shake up how people can use search. Or at least, that’s what Google is saying.

The goal appears to be to allow people to make granular searches, right off the bat, which could change the traditional search journey. A couple of key examples of what this means were highlighted in the talk.

Google AI Search for E-Commerce and Beyond

The first was a more traditional e-commerce search, for dresses. It showed that, rather than doing a series of broad searches to answer a complex question, you could just do all of it at once. It then showed a slightly more local example, which we’ll come to shortly.

Basically, rather than searching for each of these individually… e.g.

• Family activities Bryce Canyon
• Family activities Arches National Park
• Is [activity] dog friendly

…they’re saying you’ll be able to do all of that in one giant, long-tail search and receive granular answers.

i.e. “what’s better for a family with kids under 3 and a dog, bryce canyon or arches national park”

Then you can then make it more granular with the click of a button. Whether that’s a ‘ask a follow-up question’ or selecting one of the suggested questions they offer up.

As you can see, this is displayed front-and-center at the top of the SERPs. Although for anyone worrying that Google won’t want to take your money anymore, Google has confirmed that ads will still be displayed up there, too.

Currently, there’s a waitlist in the US for the SGE that will eventually be rolled out to everyone.

Google AI Search and Local Business Discovery

As ever with a lot of these announcements, Google used a couple of local search examples to highlight how it can look in those instances.

Hospitality is always an example they jump to, as it has such broad appeal, and this time it really highlights how it could affect more local searches when consumers have a strong idea of what they are after.

Here’s an example of them asking SGE to ‘compare two lunch spots near me that are good for big groups’

As you can see from what we’ve highlighted on that SERP, it surfaces key information from a business’s Google Business Profile, like reviews and particular dishes, as well as overall cost.

Not only that, it’s letting people directly compare a couple of institutions. This is something that the traditional Local Pack did ambiguously. It showed you all that information but it wasn’t saying “Here’s how they compare, side by side”.

With the generative aspect of the search, it also lets you dig even deeper. So if you wanted to add a specific business to this comparison, you can do that, as shown in the follow-up question above.

And, if you wanted to search by a specific dish, somewhere that was good for groups or, by the looks of it, somewhere that just matches your vibe, you’ll probably be able to do that. Basically, the context is carried over each time you ask a question within this conversation.

Google Has Learned, and Added Citations and Links to Publishers

One of the big annoyances (and concerns) that many people had about Google Bard was the lack of citations for their informational source. (For once, we aren’t talking about local citations, either.)

For those that weren’t aware, Google Bard didn’t provide sources or links for any of the information it surfaced. The good news is that SGE absolutely does.

Not only does it provide sources in the immediate SERP, as highlighted above, but there’s an option to ‘Toggle Deeper’ in the top right of the screen.

This should help reassure people that a zero-click apocalypse is slightly further off than people feared. And it highlights that creating content will still be useful, as Google will be highlighting where they got the information, even if it then merges it in the SERP.

It does still mean that zero-click searches will likely increase though, and even if you rank first you could still be a long way down the organic page due to all the non-traditional content.

I’m not freaking out about this – Google will continue answering questions and trying to meet users’ needs right there in the SERP. As search marketers we’ll need to assess how this will affect the search experience for our potential customers and we can do this when we get to test SGE and actually see how our potential customers will be experiencing search results based on the queries that we know are important to us as businesses. Then – as always – we’ll need to get our heads around the new opportunities to gain visibility in the SERP. And – of course, we need to make sure we don’t have all of our eggs in Google’s basket!

Claire Carlile, Local SEO Expert, BrightLocal

Google Is Being Careful

Unsurprisingly, as the international mood around generative AI is yet to settle, Google is perhaps wary of a backlash, or of people making potentially risky decisions based on an answer generated by its own AI. This means there are certain types of questions that you can’t ask in SGE.

Google has discussed responsibility at length in their documentation on SGE (which you can find here). But a quick snapshot of the kinds of things they aren’t allowing currently includes anything they deem as “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) content such as financial and health advice, which they touch on in the previously linked document.

At the very least, if they are unsure about the safety or accuracy of something, they will include a disclaimer.

Things you currently can’t ask SGE include explicit or dangerous topics, i.e. self-harm (where they’ll surface helplines instead) and medical advice queries, where a disclaimer will be displayed.

The SGE Includes Vertical Search

While not specific to all local businesses, the inclusion of vertical search is an interesting one for anyone that offers e-commerce capabilities. Essentially, SGE will be able to include Vertical searches like Google Shopping and pull large lists of information that could help users find the right products for them that are available in real-time.

When you click on one of the bikes in Google's AI-generated answers (including products), it brings up a sidebar with multiple options for where to buy.

Good for merchants, not so great for product review sites.

*But* at least Google does show 3 links to publisher/review sites pic.twitter.com/TskcC6NNet

— Lily Ray (@lilyraynyc) May 10, 2023

Reminder: SGE and Bard Are Two Different Tools

Essentially, SGE is Google’s attempt at catching up with Microsoft and OpenAI’s BingGPT, in order to offer generative AI within search.

Bard, on the other hand, will be a completely separate thing, and be used more for content creation than search, in the same way that ChatGPT, which can do anything from writing scripts (and causing Hollywood writers to, quite rightly, strike) to website code.

To summarise, then:

• Bard, ChatGPT: Generative AI tools designed to create content
• Google SGE, BingGPT: Generative AI tools designed to answer questions in search

The above isn’t exclusive, but it should help us define their uses a little better, especially as we’re still in the relatively early days of generative AI being a popular thing and things are likely to get a lot more complicated still.

If there’s a lot of goodwill behind Google on this, there’s a chance that SGE could nip that sudden increased market share Bing saw for a couple of months in the bud.

I think Google is definitely re-establishing it's street-cred on all thing related to AI and the future today. Pretty cool stuff!! I love it. It does make it exciting to be an SEO – at least for me!! #GoogleIO2023

— Cindy Krum (@Suzzicks) May 10, 2023

Google Maps Got in on the Action

“What about Google Maps??” I hear you cry. Well, that got a little love, too. Not quite at the same level, with a lot of these updates being a bit smaller, but there are a few things to be aware of.

There’s Now an Integration for Maps in Google Bard

While SGE and Google Bard are different things, people will still undoubtedly use Bard to perform some searches. The good news for local SEOs and businesses is that they’ve announced an integration to display Google Maps within the conversation on Bard.

Here’s a screenshot of this captured by the good folks at Search Engine Land (excuse the low res image):

As you can see, though, we’re not having quite so much luck over in BrightLocal HQ yet…

Ah, well. As the (other) bard once wrote, “To climb steep hills requires slow pace at first.“

Aerial View Offers an Immersive Experience

While this won’t change the game right away, they’re something that some businesses may want to keep an eye on when it comes to their presence on Google Maps. They include:

• An ‘Aerial View’ API for developers. This will let devs include a birds-eye view video of a specific area on their website or apps. This could be a great way for businesses to showcase what they have to offer. An example, from an early partnership with Rent.com, shows how they can help renters see the surroundings of a property.

• Immersive Brand Experience. Google now offers the chance for businesses to provide 3D video and a whole new experience for businesses directly in Google Maps.

These updates offer businesses new opportunities to try and stand out from the crowd in Google Maps.

Everything Else Announced, From ‘About This Image’ to ‘Perspectives’

Okay, deep breath, you’ve already taken in a lot of information, but there’s more to come. These ones may not require you to put so much thought into them at this stage, but are things you should keep an eye on.

About This Image

In its quest for accuracy and fight against misinformation, Google has introduced a new tool to add context to images. It will give you information on the following:

• When it first got indexed by Google and when they indexed any similar images
• The site it originally appeared on
• Any other platforms it may have appeared on. i.e. news, fact-checking sites, or social media

It’s also worth noting that they added a markup for AI-generated images that will appear in the original file when they are created through their platform.

Perspectives

This is something Google actually started testing a little while ago and was live in some places from March. However, it’s only now that they’ve officially announced it. It will highlight long-form written posts, videos, images, and even social media posts to help give people a diverse range of perspectives.

It’s been added as part of Google’s desire to offer users better ways to understand a specific topic.

The Helpful Content System is Getting an(other) Update

Since the initial rollout of the Helpful Content Update last year, Google has made some updates. This next one is apparently to help surface content that Google sees as ‘hidden gems’ by focusing on individual contributors’ experience and expertise.

This sounds like a boosting of the much-discussed E-E-A-T ranking signals, but it will be nonetheless interesting to see what that actually means.

What do you need to do now?

Right now, there’s not a lot you can do. For starters, this is all rolling out in the US first. Some of it, like the aerial views and Perspectives, is live and available to play around with. However, for the SGE you’ll need to wait a little longer to truly see it live and in action, regardless of where you are.

If you’re in the US you can request to join the waiting list for Google Search Labs, which will give you access to play around with the new SGE before it goes live.

Google finally joined the party with Bard, Microsoft unveiled AI-powered Bing Chat, and we’re already a few iterations deep into Chat-GPT. And then, in May, the explosive announcement of Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE).

So, with increasing prevalence, integration within everyday search tools, and varying levels of public accessibility, we wanted to test how these different models respond to local search queries. Are they accurate? Useful?

You might already know that BrightLocal HQ is based in Brighton, UK. We also just so happen to have a food-obsessed content team—including two ex/sort-of food bloggers (yes, one of them is me, hi). So, what better way to be able to manually verify the accuracy of AI-generated search results than by analyzing those of search queries around our own local pizza restaurants?!

Contents

• Methodology
• Key Findings
• Results
  • “Where are the best pizza restaurants in Brighton?”
  • “What are the top-rated pizza restaurants in Brighton?”
  • “Most authentic pizza restaurants in Brighton”
  • “Best takeaway pizza in Brighton”
  • “Pizza delivery near me”
• Analysis
  • ChatGPT vs Bard
  • Bing Chat vs SGE
  • A Note on Traditional Search
• Summary

Methodology

This case study centers around searching for local hospitality businesses in Brighton, specifically pizza restaurants, from the perspective of a typical consumer.

We determined five search queries, each with slightly differing intent, based on what a consumer might be looking for, but all with the common theme of local business discovery:

• Where are the best pizza restaurants in Brighton?
• What are the top-rated pizza restaurants in Brighton?
• Most authentic pizza restaurants in Brighton
• Best takeaway pizza in Brighton
• Pizza delivery near me

These exact queries were entered into four publicly accessible (sometimes via a waitlist) generative AI tools and two traditional search engines as a control group:

Generative AI Tools

• Google Bard 
• Search Generative Experience 
• Bing Chat
• OpenAI’s ChatGPT (May 24 version)

Traditional Search Engines

• Bing
• Google

We’ve taken screenshots of every result provided to analyze the type of content and media displayed, whether sources are quoted, and how accurate the information is.

We did not refine our prompts, attempt to improve the results or gain any further information from the AI bots about where their information is sourced.

Key Findings

• Traditional search engines remain the most accurate for results containing business information. 
• SGE provides local business information (listings, reviews, and maps) 100% of the time, compared to 80% via traditional Google searches.
• Bing provides local search results with directory links, maps, images, review ratings, and business listings 100% of the time.
• Bing appears to be making leaps and bounds in matching intent behind local search queries—watch out, Google!
• Bard provides some incorrect results, such as incorrect business names or businesses in other parts of the UK, 80% of the time.
• Bard and ChatGPT do not generally provide citations to support their responses.
• Bing Chat cites its sources for local search results 100% of the time.

Table: How often media formats and business information is presented in search results for local search queries

Results

“Where are the best pizza restaurants in Brighton?”

Bard

Bard’s results to this query show quite a hodgepodge. There is a mix of independent pizza restaurants, known chains, shopping center food court brands, and… a London pizza restaurant, which definitely isn’t based in Brighton.

What’s more, it’s not clear how Bard is determining what makes this list of restaurants the ‘best’, although each result is attributed to a clickable source. There are no review ratings attached to them either, which is unusual considering Bard is a Google product.

SGE

SGE’s results display much in the way you would expect a typical Google search to for this kind of local query. A selection of local business listings are displayed in a local pack-style format, complete with a map and review ratings. 

The main difference here is that, rather than pulling a quote from a business review, SGE assigns each business a rather ‘samey’ description. Laid-back, inexpensive, and vegan options are descriptors you’d probably expect for any casual dining situation, so it doesn’t feel particularly helpful.

Bing Chat

Bing Chat also goes for a straightforward list approach, with short descriptions and clickable sources. It’s not clear where these descriptions have come from, as some of them are pretty questionable, such as stating that Wild Flour Pizza is “known for its ‘yummy’ pizzas”.

The sources are a mix of review sites, search engines, and restaurant websites. However, one of the sources is wrongly attributed, which highlights an issue with result accuracy.

As the results continue generating, we also get a map pack with Bing business listings and reviews pulled from Facebook. This looks much more like the kind of search results a user would be used to seeing, helping to reinforce trust in the model.

ChatGPT

It’s interesting that it feels like ChatGPT is being ‘careful’ right from the start, with a mini disclaimer to say it can’t provide any up-to-date information, which is alo reinforced in the final paragraph.

All of the results are independent and generally well-loved Brighton restaurants. But there are some accuracy issues. The most bizarre is that result five, The Coal Shed, has never served anything close to a pizza on its steakhouse menu. Meanwhile, VIP is described here as “known for its New York-style pizza”, when it is most definitely Neapolitan. And, yes, it matters!

The ChatGPT results don’t provide any images, review ratings, sources, or any business information that might back up the list. It’s not really giving the typical user a reason to trust the results—something you’ll see recurring throughout this case study.

Traditional Search

As mentioned, SGE unsurprisingly produces the closest thing to typical search results, especially when compared directly to Google. So, I suppose the question here is: what is SGE really adding to the searcher’s experience?

“What are the top-rated pizza restaurants in Brighton?”

Bard

For this search query, Bard presents the same restaurants as before (including the London-based one, doh!). However, it does appear to recognize that in asking for the ‘top-rated’ pizza restaurants, the user expects to see some kind of review rating information, and highlights the Google ratings.

Still, it’s strange considering these aren’t actually the top-rated according to Google—and a quick search for the ratings of several other local pizza restaurants easily confirms this. 

It also links each restaurant image to a source, including TripAdvisor, one of the brand’s websites, and a local business listing website, none of which reflect the Google review rating. Possibly just the source for the image, but odd logic either way.

SGE

The Search Generative Experience results for this query are displayed similarly to the last query, with five local pizza restaurants displayed in a map pack-style format.

Just like Bard, though, these aren’t all actually the top Google-rated pizza restaurants in Brighton.

On first glance, the labels highlighting each restaurant’s pizza style seemed a cool and useful addition… until I realized they were incorrect. Fatto a Mano, for example, doesn’t make sourdough pizza, and I think any Italian would faint if you tried to describe national chain, Pizza Express, as Neapolitan! 

Bing Chat

Bing Chat also understands the intent behind this query and displays pizza restaurants based on their TripAdvisor reviews. However, it does not include any useful review information, such as the number of stars, number of reviews, or its popularity within the area. 

Plus, comparing directly against TripAdvisor’s ‘Ten Best Pizza Restaurants in Brighton and Hove’, Bing Chat doesn’t display its results in the same order.

Strangely, while attributing each result to TripAdvisor originally, the list goes on to cite different sources for the individual restaurants’ descriptions.

Further down, a map pack is generated with more results—some are in the first list, some not. These show opening hours, Facebook review information, and link through to each business’s respective website.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT’s result for this query was incredibly surprising! When I’d first played around with the tool several months ago, it was more ‘willing’ (slightly nervous to humanize a bot) to provide suggestions. Now, it seems, and perhaps based on previous user feedback for inaccurate or confusing results, it won’t pull through any information from its current knowledge base.

It doesn’t even provide local restaurant websites, such as Restaurants Brighton, merely pointing to TripAdvisor, Yelp and Google Maps. Disappointing… but, maybe for the best?

“Most authentic pizza restaurants in Brighton”

Bard

For this query, I wanted to see how the various tools perceived the intent behind ‘authentic’ pizza, so I suppose the accuracy of the results here will be subjective, based on your own definition.

However, Bard displays five independent Brighton pizza restaurants here, which I think is a pretty good attempt of providing useful results. The descriptions for each are largely accurate, although it’s interesting to note that Bard specifically calls out VIP as perhaps not being the most authentic (I have a lot of Italian friends that would disagree!).

It doesn’t justify how it chose these options, and the source links (mostly to TripAdvisor) appear to be there mainly as image credits.

SGE

As with Bard, it’s not clear what prompts the SGE to display these particular pizza restaurants, or how it perceives them to be the most ‘authentic’ in town. And—without wanting to appear like I’m bashing a local business—it’s very interesting that it lists a known tourist buffet restaurant within these results.

However, with reviews in their hundreds and average ratings sitting above 4-stars, perhaps this is SGE’s rationale.

Bing Chat

Now, this is a great response and much more in line with what I’d expect to see when searching around food authenticity. The Graphic Foodie is a prominent local food blogger, who also happens to be Italian, and therefore has incredibly strong knowledge and beliefs on what makes pizza, well, pizza. 

To start by quoting Fran’s renowned list of the best pizza in Brighton shows solid understanding of the user’s intent behind this query and creates an element of trust in serving up the most relevant results.

Next, it goes on to quote listings from another locally well-known restaurant site, although it should be noted that this is not from a list of the ‘best’ or ‘most authentic’—but, it’s useful to provide the user with alternative sources and more options.

Chat GPT

Given its last response, it was surprising when ChatGPT decided to play for this query. Especially considering its top result is incorrect. 

Yes, Cin Cin is very well-known in Brighton for its Italian small plates, but—while its focaccia is absolutely delicious—the restaurant does not offer pizza, let alone a ‘selection’ of them.

The remaining three restaurants, whether you agree with their authenticity or not, are long-standing Brighton independents, so a pretty fair reason to make the list. Although the incorrect description of ‘New York-style pizza’ is used once again for VIP.

But I do like the little disclaimer here that recognizes the subjectivity around this query:

“Remember, tastes and opinions on authenticity can vary, and it’s always a good idea to read reviews or get recommendations from locals who have specific knowledge of authentic Italian cuisine and its representation in Brighton.”

Traditional Search

While there is nothing wildly different to highlight in the UX of traditional search results for this query, it should be noted that Bing also uses Fran’s pizza guide as a featured search snippet. Another tick that Bing is interpreting the intent behind this search better than its competitors. Well done, Bing!

“Best takeaway pizza in Brighton”

It might not always be the case, but the intent behind searching for a takeaway pizza vs a pizza restaurant is quite different. For one thing, you’re likely going to be eating takeaway pizza at home, but the type and style of pizza are often quite different (your Domino’s, Pizza Hut, and Papa John’s, for example).

Bard

Bard pretty much displays the same restaurants it associates with pizza time and time again, and continues to include unimaginative descriptions. It doesn’t offer any additional information specific to takeaway, such as whether the restaurant provides its own delivery service or is available on food courier apps.

Plus, not only has it included one pizza restaurant from London, this time it has listed two!

SGE

These results are a mixed bag. The labels ‘pizza delivery services’ are useful in this case, although not entirely accurate. Two out of three offer online ordering for pizza delivery, while the third seems to be available through third-party apps or collections only.

The other two restaurants, while you can get takeaway from, feel like unusual choices. If you were caught in the mood for takeaway pizza, a buffet restaurant doesn’t seem a likely first choice. It’s also interesting that the list of additional restaurants doesn’t contain any of your ‘typical’ takeaway pizza chains.

Bing Chat

It feels like Bing Chat got a bit confused here and wasn’t able to correct itself. The initial list of five restaurants, sourced from Deliveroo, contains two duplicates, including one that doesn’t actually exist—’Pizza Mezza’ feels like a tangle of local brands Pizza Me and Purezza. This means there are only two genuine results in the first list, and you’ll note that the description for each is almost identical. Not at all helpful.

ChatGPT

As with the last query, ChatGPT decides to give this one a go and provides some pretty strong independent recommendations. Apart from the incorrect description for VIP, these are genuine and (mostly) accurate options.

Traditional Search

Bing and Google provide what you might call the most ‘commercial’ of results for takeaway pizza. Still considering your location, but big brands like Domino’s or third-party apps such as Just Eat make it to the top of results—whether displayed in local map results like Domino’s or by featuring sponsored ads.

“Pizza delivery near me”

Bard

Two London pizza restaurants are included yet again, which means Bard definitely isn’t considering location for this search query. Bizarre, considering ‘near me’ is the most obvious use of a local query, and my location settings are on.

The results are very basic, consisting of the business title, generic descriptions, and image links.

SGE

Surprisingly (and considering we’ve accessed SGE via a VPN ), these appear to be SGE’s most useful results yet! Each pizza outlet is very much geared towards pizza delivery, and prominent on pretty much all of the food ordering apps.

Although let’s just ignore the contrast of those descriptions against some of the average review ratings, shall we..?

Bing Chat

Another limited result here suggests the AI model doesn’t quite understand why I want to use it to find pizza delivery near me… and, I mean, fair.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT goes back to its original tactic of not offering me much information, instead pointing to delivery platforms, giving me a short intro on how to use them, as well as how to use a search engine. ADORABLE.

Analysis

Look, are you going to use generative AI tools to order pizza in your area? Of course you’re not. But with the experimental technology quickly making its way into much more public realms, such as SGE and Bing Chat, it is important to consider how the ‘typical’ user might perceive these kinds of results. And, as we’ve seen, they’re not always right, let alone useful.

ChatGPT vs Bard

As far as these tools go, we rate their usefulness for local search queries as very low. And both ChatGPT and Bard contain the highest amount of inaccurate information, such as listing restaurants that aren’t based in Brighton. In 80% of the results Bard showed, incorrect or inaccurate information was presented.

Although, the likelihood of your typical consumer using either of these right now for that purpose is pretty slim. Both tools describe themselves as collaborators, providing examples such as generating or debugging code or planning menus as example use cases. 

A survey by dentsu found that, of 1000 adults in the US, 73% have not used generative AI tools. Those who have cited use cases like experimenting or curiosity, and content generation for everyday automation as their reasons for using them.

In a recent analysis, Miriam Ellis investigated how and where Bard sources its information regarding local businesses, even going as far as asking it how to get cited by the tool itself. 

So, while it doesn’t seem that ChatGPT or Bard will dominate local search, there are things you can be doing to improve your chances of being cited by generative AI bots for those that are searching—and the good news is that these tactics are only going to be aiding your local marketing efforts.

Source: Miriam Ellis, Moz

Similarly, upon asking ChatGPT how it provides recommendations for the best pizza restaurants, it cites a “​​combination of online reviews, articles, and recommendations from various sources, such as food bloggers, restaurant guides, and customer reviews”. Bing Chat provides a very similar response, although it specifies review sites “such as” TripAdvisor and Yelp.

Bing Chat vs SGE

With their close relationship to traditional Bing and Google search engines, this is where the comparisons get juicier. The ‘typical’ user might not be using generative AI tools for local search queries right now, but if this technology is rapidly integrated into our everyday search platforms, then there might not be much choice in the near future. So, how do the results stack up?

Barring the instance where Bing Chat couldn’t correctly list takeaway pizza outlets, both SGE and Bing Chat appear to provide accurate results that you would find via traditional search methods. There are a couple of kinks to iron out, such as the accuracy or relevance of the different labels SGE assigns to businesses, while Bing Chat’s cited sources don’t always seem to correlate with the information it presents.

A Note On Traditional Bing and Google Search

While the answer to which search engine is ‘better’ generally comes down to personal preference, comparing Google and Bing side-by-side does show that Bing has been working hard on its business search results and intent matching. Referring to the table in our key findings, we can also see that Bing shows results in the form of maps, images, review ratings, and business listings 100% of the time, compared to Google showing these formats 80% of the time.

From a local marketing perspective, it’s important to remember that different search engines can allow businesses to reach new audiences and target different demographics. 

Learnings and Recommendations

• Considering Bing may pull your business reviews from multiple sources, it’s good practice to ensure your review campaigns are covering multiple, relevant review sites.
• The prevalence of listings websites highlights that the importance of business listings is not going away any time soon! Take the time to ensure the correct business information (your NAP) is listed across the relevant sites. Check out some of the top citation sites by industry.
  
• Maintaining crucial local marketing elements such as your GBP and review profile, and building a reputation through customer service and community engagement, will also strengthen your likelihood of being cited by generative AI tools.
  
• Varying results displayed by search engines reinforce the importance of ranking beyond Google. Check out our guide to alternative search engines for more. 

Summary

The main message? ChatGPT and Bard show they can’t beat traditional search for local business discovery. But for Bing Chat and SGE, the AI-powered results that are integrated with traditional search engines, the lines are a little blurry.

It’s hard to say where AI-powered chatbots, or their adoption by mainstream users, will be in another few months. And, while SGE is not currently available to those outside of the US, the full integration between AI model and search engine is inevitable.

Overall, the integration of Bing Chat and SGE provides a better sense of familiarity to the typical user, in line with traditional search engines, compared to Bard and ChatGPT. Only time will tell whether users default to these results when they roll out as mainstream.

We hope that you found this case study both useful and enjoyable to read! What are your thoughts on the place of generative AI in local search? Let us know over on Twitter, or on our Facebook community, The Local Pack.