For all this talk about AI and natural language processing updates in the algorithm, I would argue that local search hasn't been as bad as this in a very long time, particularly in GMB.
Based on the past four months of data, I've found that the following, in this order, are the strongest factors affecting local pack/maps/Google My Business ranking:
1) A keyword rich business name (by FAR the most important factor at the moment)
2) Proximity to the city center
Factors that decidedly do not matter/have no discernible impact in GMB rankings:
1) Review count or average (though this may improve engagement, CTR). This, of course, if you're lucky enough to have Google show your review average AT ALL.
2) Age of the GMB profile
3) Google Posts
4) Literally anything else we've tried.
The 4-10 aren't much better. They are dominated by directories, large national players, and SPAM.
What are you guys doing right now in local to combat this? Should I join the dark side? It's been nearly a full quarter of this nonsense. The cynical side of me wants to think this garbage is about pushing people into Google Guarantee or Paid, but maybe I'm giving Google too much credit.
I'm literally at a point where I'm considering telling an established brand to rename their GMB profile to "Money Keyword in Geo" because that's what Google rewards right now. Any thoughts? What can we do that is plausibly white hat here?
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from Search Engine Optimization: The Latest SEO News https://www.reddit.com/r/SEO/comments/faebv4/local_search_is_the_worst_it_has_been_in_years/>
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