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Success Knocks published a comprehensive local SEO strategy framework on May 21, identifying Google Business Profile optimization as the single highest return-on-investment tactic for small businesses competing in proximity-based search results, according to the analysis posted this morning. The gui
Review velocity—the steady rate at which new Google reviews appear on a business profile—outperforms total review count as a local search ranking signal once a business passes roughly 50 reviews.
Roughly 86% of impressions on Google Business Profiles come from unbranded discovery searches — "plumber near me," "emergency dentist open Sunday" — according to Birdeye's 2026 analysis of local search behavior.
Straight North's analysis of Google's hidden ranking signals surfaced a conclusion that should make every white-label SEO provider uncomfortable: the reason most agencies ignore reviews in their audits is the same reason Google trusts them. Reviews are hard to game.
When a customer writes "fixed my burst pipe in under an hour" in a Google review, the platform's AI tags that business for queries like "emergency plumbing" and "fast service." That business owner never wrote a single line of copy targeting those terms.
"Home service contractors don't need a marketing agency that also works with e-commerce brands and SaaS companies. They need someone who understands seasonal demand, high-intent local search, and what it actually takes to generate booked jobs, not traffic.
The March 2026 Core Update, which Google began deploying on March 27 and finished rolling out in mid-April, has already suspended hundreds of Google Business Profiles across the locksmith, moving company, and home contractor verticals.
Across my client portfolio, I counted six Google Business Profile suspension notices between March 27 and April 8.
Every agency pitch deck I've seen this year includes a slide about reviews. Star rating, total count, maybe a screenshot of a glowing testimonial.
Google's local pack algorithm treats a profile with 20 reviews from the past three months as a stronger signal than a profile with 50 reviews and nothing posted in six months. That single fact invalidates the strategy most local businesses are running.
Reviews with 200 or more characters carry significantly more ranking weight in local search than shorter ones, according to practitioner data compiled across local SEO communities.
Nearly seven in ten brands are absent from AI-generated search recommendations in their own categories, prompting Search Engine Journal to publish a 90-day implementation framework for Generative Engine Optimization on April 30. The playbook addresses what the publication characterizes as a "fast-mo