Google Updates are back + new AIO research

and more local SEO updates

May 22, 2025

Better late than never!

I went camping earlier this week, but now I’m back with local SEO stuff you might have missed 👇️

1. Google Posts/Updates are back

Google Posts are getting prominent visibility again!

Lisa Landsman announced that Google is testing a new "What’s Happening" section on restaurant Business Profiles. This section will highlight events, deals, and specials right on your Google Business Profile.

You can use it by:

  • posting a Google Post directly through your Google Profile

  • connecting your social media accounts for automatic updates (I’m not exactly sure how this will work)

Currently, it's only available to select restaurants in specific areas and is only displayed in mobile results, but I’d love to see it rolled out to other business types as well!

How do we feel about this? Let me know on LinkedIn.

2. Did you catch our AIO research?

Miriam Ellis and I recently conducted new research on the prevalence of AI Overviews in local searches, and we found some fascinating stuff.

Here are three interesting findings of many 👇️

  1. AI Overviews show up in about 68% of local business searches, so they’re becoming a big part of how people find local services.

  2. AI Overviews appear most often in searches with hybrid intent, where someone might be looking for both information and a local business.

  3. Some industries are more impacted by AI Overviews than others. For example, legal searches return them about 70% of the time.

See the full report to read about our findings and learn how to rank in Google’s AIOs as a local business 👇️

🤔 Thinking of selling your agency?

I was chatting with a friend of mine last week, and I found out that they're looking to acquire agencies in home services, cannabis dispensaries, legal, hospitality, healthcare, and dental. They're also interested in agencies that offer paid social, Amazon PPC, SEO, PPC, or design.

If you have an agency that fits any of the criteria and would like to talk to them about a potential acquisition, please reply to this email with your details, and I'll pass it along to them.

3. A podcast episode you NEED to listen to

Local SEO is more work than traditional SEO. I said what I said 😌

You still have to optimize your site and build links, but on top of that, you have to:

  • Optimize your Google Business Profile

  • Get reviews on your GBP + other sites too

  • Build citations

I talked about this and more with Crystal Waddell on her podcast The Simple and Smart SEO Show. This episode is packed with local SEO knowledge. Listen to it wherever you get your podcasts 🎧

4. Not to brag, but…

One year. 12,000 locations, and one clear takeaway:

People LOVE the Whitespark Local Platform.

Why? Because we took the stress out of managing Google Business Profiles.

Here’s what users love most:

  1. Instantly know when someone changes your GBP information.

  2. Get notified when a competitor tries to sabotage your rankings.

  3. Get alerts when Google messes with your Profiles.

  4. Push bulk edits across totally different businesses.

  5. Manage all your Profiles in a dashboard that doesn’t suck.

And it’s the best deal in SEO software at just $1/month per location. Check it out 👇️

Follow me on LinkedIn, Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok so you don’t miss my local SEO posts, memes, and random stories from my youth 😅

Darren