The Near Memo
Exploring the big stories for the week at the intersection of local business & marketing across the spectrum of search, social and commerce. With Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal & David Mihm.
How Google’s Personal Intelligence is Quietly Revolutionizing Your Search Results
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Is Google getting too personal? In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal are joined by Garrett Sussman (iPullRank) to discuss his provocative 12-month study on AI personalization. We dive deep into how Google’s "AI Mode" uses your Gmail, Photos, and Calendar to tailor results—and why "unopened emails" might be influencing what you see next.
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Google Ask Maps Deep Dive: The Future of Local SEO & AI Search
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Join our celebrity local SEO panel—Claudia Tomina, Adam Dorfman, and Darren "The Canadian" Shaw—as they explore "Ask Maps," Google’s AI-powered conversational interface for local search. We demo the new desktop UI, discuss how hyper-personalization is changing user behavior, and reveal why "content freshness" is now the most critical strategy for local businesses to stay relevant in an AI-driven world.
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Google Ask Maps Deep Dive: The Future of Local SEO & AI Search
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Join our celebrity local SEO panel—Claudia Tomina, Adam Dorfman, and Darren "The Canadian" Shaw—as they explore "Ask Maps," Google’s AI-powered conversational interface for local search. We demo the new desktop UI, discuss how hyper-personalization is changing user behavior, and reveal why "content freshness" is now the most critical strategy for local businesses to stay relevant in an AI-driven world.
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Review Fraud, FTC Fines, and Yelp’s Legal Strike
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Greg and Mike discuss the shifting landscape of local search. From the FTC’s latest crackdown on incentivized reviews to Yelp’s attempt to fast-forward their antitrust case against Google using recent federal rulings. We also explore the expansion of LSAs and the transition from the "Local Pack" to AI-driven "Ask Maps."
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Google Reviews Crackdown, Meta vs Google, and the AI Search Shift (What Marketers Are Missing)
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Google just changed the rules on reviews—and businesses may already be getting penalized. Meanwhile, Meta is projected to overtake Google in ad revenue, despite ongoing legal battles and ethical concerns.
In this episode, Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling break down:
• Google’s new review enforcement signals
• Why marketers are frustrated with rising ad costs and unclear ROI
• The surprising shift toward AI-driven search (ChatGPT, Ask Maps)
• Who actually wins the AI race—and why it may not be who you think
<...Google Lied About Click Data — Here’s What Actually Drives Rankings in 2026
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This episode explores how Google actually uses click data (despite years of denial) and how that reality intersects with the rise of AI Overviews. Cyrus Shepherd connects the dots between antitrust trial revelations, API leaks, and patents, showing that click behavior—especially “last longest click”—is a core ranking signal.
The discussion then shifts to how AI Overviews are reshaping search:
Reducing traditional clicksForcing Google to predict user behavior with less dataIncreasing the importance of brand, task completion, and enga...AI, Reviews & Intent Pages: What Actually Drives Multi-Location SEO Now (Part 2)
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In Part 2, Steve Wiideman joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to cut through the AI hype and explain what’s actually working in multi-location SEO today.
Despite growing attention on AI tools and “agentic commerce,” the real drivers of visibility are still foundational: intent-driven content, strong review signals, and brand awareness.
They also explore how zero-click search is changing attribution, why websites are becoming data sources for AI, and what local search will look like in the next 3–5 years.
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Multi-Location SEO: What Actually Works (And What Doesn’t) Part 1
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What does it really take to scale SEO across hundreds (or thousands) of locations?
In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal are joined by Steve Wiideman to unpack the operational, strategic, and technical realities of multi-location SEO.
They explore testing frameworks, content strategies, franchise challenges, reviews, imagery, and the evolving nature of search behavior.
If you manage local SEO at scale, this is a must-listen.
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State of Google Business Profile 2026: Impressions Are Down 54%—But Actions Aren’t
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Google Business Profile impressions are dropping fast—but conversions aren’t.
In this Near Memo episode, Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and Adam Dorfman unpack BirdEye’s latest data and explore what’s really changing in local search.
From AI Overviews and LLM-driven discovery to Google’s new Ask Maps interface, they examine how search behavior is shifting—and why Google still controls the final decision point.
They also dig into:
Category vs brand search behaviorIndustry-level engagement differencesThe evolving role of reviews in AI-driven resultsApple Maps as a quiet chal...From the Archives: Local Search Ranking Factors — Darren Shaw on Reviews, AI Search & What Drives Local Rank
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In this archive episode of the Near Memo podcast, Darren Shaw of Whitespark joins Mike Blumenthal, Greg Sterling, and David Mihm to discuss the influential Local Search Ranking Factors study.
The panel breaks down how the survey works, what has changed in local search, and how the rise of AI interfaces like ChatGPT and Gemini could reshape how businesses are discovered online.
They explore:
Why review volume and recency drive rankingsHow behavioral signals may outweigh traditional SEO factors<...How should agencies build a business around Google Local Service Ads (LSAs)?
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In this episode of the Near Memo podcast, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal host a panel discussion with Eric Levine (Leadwise HQ, former Google LSA team), Claudia Tomina (Reputation Arm), Matt Casady (Sterling Sky), and Crystal Horton (Google Business Profile Platinum Product Expert).
Together the panel explores how agencies are actually managing LSAs for clients today.
Topics include:
• The real ranking factors behind Local Service Ads
• Whether LSAs are still a DIY product or require agen...
AI, Strong-Arm Tactics & a Shifting Review Landscape Are Reshaping Local Search
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Google AI & Click EconomicsÂ
Google is replacing structured GBP data with AI-generated summaries, nudging users into AI Mode, and expanding monetization pathways. Aleyda Solis’ study and Near Media research show ads — especially LSAs — are siphoning clicks.
Data Moats & Scraping CrackdownsÂ
Google restricts scraping, disrupting SerpAPI. The move reinforces Google’s data advantage against ChatGPT and Perplexity while signaling an increasingly closed ecosystem.
Reviews, Inflation & Consumer Backlash (22:00–36:00)
Yelp’s Trust Report and BrightLocal’s 2026 study show persistent fraud, rising consumer...
AI Visibility vs Google Ranking: Rand Fishkin & the Future of Search, Zero Click & Brand Measurement
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In this episode of Near Memo, Rand Fishkin joins Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and David Mihm to unpack the future of AI search, brand visibility, and digital measurement.
Is AI rank tracking possible? Are zero-click journeys killing websites? And how should local businesses measure marketing performance in a world where attribution is breaking down?
Rand shares new research on AI brand visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI, discusses why performance marketing metrics are eroding, and explains where brands should actually invest their energy in 2026.
This is...
The Truth About Google Local Service Ads: Rankings, Reviews & Photo Strategy
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Google Local Service Ads have become one of the most powerful placements in local search — especially in competitive verticals like personal injury law.
But what actually drives ranking and performance?
In this episode, we examine the real mechanics behind LSAs: review cadence, responsiveness, bidding structure, and the psychology of visual presentation. We explore how headshots and photo sequencing influence trust, why logos don’t convert, and how review manipulation creates competitive distortion.
LSAs reward operational excellence more than aggressive spending — and understanding the role of visual trust may be...
Inside Google Local Services Ads: Ranking Signals, Lead Costs, and Why LSAs Beat the Local Pack (w/ Eric Levine)
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Local Services Ads have become the “top-of-the-page” battleground for high-value local categories—especially professional services. In this episode, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal talk with former LSA team member Eric Levine about how LSAs evolved, what really influences rank, and how Google’s lead marketplace mechanics shape outcomes.  Â
We break down “request multiple options,” lead billing, the big ranking signals (reviews, responsiveness, radius/service area), why LSAs often win user attention over the local pack, and how photos should be chosen and structured to match user decision-making.
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AI Isn’t Replacing Local Search — But It’s Rewiring How People Choose with Crystal Carter
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AI isn’t killing search — it’s reshaping how people discover, evaluate, and choose businesses.
In this in terview with Crystal Carter of Wix, we unpack how large language models, AI assistants, and emerging “agent” experiences are changing consumer behavior, local search, and brand visibility. From ChatGPT and Google’s AI-driven results to personalization, intent modeling, and task completion, we explore what actually changes — and what doesn’t.
We also dig into:
• Why AI acts more like a complement to search than a replacement
• How “choice” and “consideration” evolve in A...
Inside Google Local Rankings and the Review Purge
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Claudia Tomina joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to unpack what the Google API leak reveals about local rankings, why reviews are being removed at scale, and how AI Overviews, Gemini, and agentic shopping are pushing transactions into Google’s AI interfaces. A must-listen for anyone managing a Google Business Profile in 2026.
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AI Is Breaking Local Search—But Google Still Decides Who Gets Chosen - Interview with Gyi Tsakalakis Part 2
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AI tools are changing how consumers discover local businesses, but Google remains the system of record for trust, reviews, directions, and contact. This conversation explores how AI reduces cognitive load, concentrates visibility, and amplifies brand demand—forcing local marketers to rethink SEO beyond rankings.
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Why Local SEO Is Breaking for Law Firms (And What Actually Works Now)
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Local SEO, reviews, and Google LSAs are no longer working the way law firms expect. In this episode of Near Memo, Gyi Tsakalakis (AttorneySync) joins Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling to explain why rankings and traffic are misleading, how LSAs reshape legal demand, why review cheating is rampant, and how brand trust has become the real competitive moat.
If you’re relying on Google visibility alone to grow a law firm, this conversation is a wake-up call.
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Google’s AI Mode Is Rewriting Local Search — What Businesses Must Do for 2026 P#2
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Google’s AI Mode and ChatGPT search are reshaping local discovery. This deep dive interview with Michel van Luijtelaar of GMBapi explains what’s changing, how users behave inside AI results, and what local businesses must do now to stay visible and trusted.
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Google’s Review Algorithms Are Tightening — Here’s What the Data Shows
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In this episode of The Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal talk with Michel of GMB API about what new data reveals regarding review removals, fraud detection, incentivized reviews, and regional legal differences across Europe and the U.S.
The conversation explores why reviews are increasingly central to AI-driven search experiences, how enforcement tools can unintentionally harm small businesses, and what this all means for trust, visibility, and competition in local search.
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AI Agents Are Coming: Jes Scholz Reveals How to Prepare Your Business NOW
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In this episode, Jes Scholz joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal for a deep dive into the forces reshaping search: AI agents, the rise of conversational interfaces, the 60/40 brand-activation model, content freshness, multimodal distribution, and why your database — not your website — may determine your competitive future.
Jes explains what marketers must do now: update your content strategy, test your site with agents, fix your UX friction, and prepare your database for natural-language inputs. Essential listening for SEOs, CMOs, and local businesses navigating the next wave of digital change.
Su...
AI Mode, Gemini 3 & the Future of Search: Jes Scholz on What SEOs Must Do Now
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In this packed episode, Jes Scholz joins Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal to explore where AI search is really headed. From conversational interfaces replacing the search box to the competitive implications of Gemini 3, Jes explains why Google’s index is shrinking, why publishers must evolve, and why consensus around brand salience — not keywords — decides visibility.
We also cover local search dynamics, review-based consensus modeling, multi-touch attribution myths, and how to create content that earns true distribution in 2025.
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Google Maps Gets AI, Reviews Get Aliases, Ads Invade AI Mode — And Google Uses Its Monopoly to Win the AI War
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In this episode of the Near Memo, Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling unpack Google’s dramatic shift toward an AI-first search ecosystem — including the rollout of Know Before you Go in Maps, ads in the new AI Mode in Search & Maps, and the introduction oof Gemini 3 what that means for personalization and marketers.
We explore:
• Google Maps’ new AI-powered interfaces — including Know Before You Go and the prominent “Ask” module that pulls data from reviews, websites, and third-party sources. We discuss how Google is reshaping t...
What #1-Ranking Personal Injury Lawyers Are Doing Right — Greg Gifford’s GBP Local Ranking Study
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Greg Gifford joins the Near Memo to break down his large-scale Local SEO study of 3,000 personal injury law firm's Google Business Profiles. He reveals what #1 ranked PI las firms are doing that #10 ranked practioners are not. From review response rates and schema misfires to UTM tracking errors, the trio unpacks what’s real in local SEO and what’s hype. The episode closes with a lively debate about the AI-driven future of the SERP.
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AI Search, Reviews, and the Future of Local SEO — Darren Shaw Breaks Down the 2026 Ranking Factors
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Local SEO just got a major shake-up. In this episode, Darren Shaw of Whitespark joins Mike Blumenthal, David Mihm, and Greg Sterling to reveal key takeaways from the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors study — including how AI search, behavioral signals, and reviews are changing the local game. Hear what really moves the needle, what’s fading, and where Google, Gemini, and ChatGPT fit into your future strategy.
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TikTok’s Local Play: How Gen Z Is Rewriting Local Search
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In this episode, Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and Celeste Gonzalez (Rickety Roo) dive into TikTok’s “Local Explorer” — a new review and discovery program inside the app. They explore how Gen Z’s shift toward TikTok and Instagram is reshaping local search, what the Adobe and SOCi studies reveal, and why authenticity may be TikTok’s edge over Google Reviews.
You’ll learn:
• How TikTok gamifies local reviews
• Why 62 % of Gen Z prefer TikTok for finding local businesses
• How to track TikTok referrals in GA4 & GSC
• Why revi...
Google’s Local Antitrust Battle with Yelp, Gemini’s “Grounded” Local AI, and ChatGPT’s New Local Results
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In Episode 229, Mike and Greg unpack Yelp’s revived antitrust lawsuit against Google and what it reveals about search dominance. They dive into Google’s “grounded” Gemini AI—supposedly tied to Maps data—and Mike’s test results showing how unreliable it still is. Finally, they explore ChatGPT’s new local results format, which borrows from Google Maps, and debate whether AI interfaces can ever be trusted to tell the truth.
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AI & Local Business: How AI Is Rewriting Location Management; Interview with Ana Martinez, P2
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AI is reshaping how businesses manage their locations, from adoption challenges to AI Overviews in Google Search, to the renewed importance of citations and directories. Mike Blumenthal, Greg Sterling, and Ana Martinez from Uberall discuss AI’s role in visibility, customer journeys, and local SEO strategy.
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Inside Uberall’s Local AI Shift: From Culture Shift to Client Tools; Part 1
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Uberall’s CTO Ana Martinez joins Greg Sterling & Mike Blumenthal to reveal how the company is going “AI native with their Local Platform location management.” From internal culture shifts to new client-facing tools like UBI and Location Performance Score, learn how AI is reshaping products, teams, and customer expectations.
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Google GBP Suspension Increases?, The Future of Reviews, and Liz Reid’s AI Vision for Search
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In this episode of the Near Memo, Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal dig into Google Business Profile suspension increases over time, the broken state of reviews, and insights from Google’s Liz Reid on AI Overviews, AI Mode, and monetization. What do these changes mean for small businesses, SEOs, and consumers? Tune in for an unfiltered take.
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Google Review Extortion, Maps AR, What ChatGPT is Missing & YouTube’s Strategic Power
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In this episode of the Near Memo, Mike and Greg break down:
👉 Subscribe for more insights on Google, AI, and local marketing.
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Interview with Barry Schwartz: Review Ransom, The State of the Open Web, and the Implications of AI on Search Interfaces
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In this episode, Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and Barry Schwartz discuss various pressing topics in the digital marketing landscape, including the rise of local review ransom schemes, the ongoing debate about the state of the open web, and the implications of AI on search interfaces. They explore how Google's recent changes and the introduction of AI features are reshaping user experiences and the future of search. The conversation also touches on the challenges businesses face with review moderation and the impact of spam on search quality.
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Google’s Action Links Crackdown, The “Declining” Open Web, and Siri + Gemini
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We discuss Google’s new guidelines for Business Profile action links, the company’s conflicting statements about the health of the open web in an antitrust case, and Apple’s rumored partnership with Google’s Gemini to power Siri. Together, these stories highlight Google’s tightening grip on local businesses, the shifting economics of publishing, and how Apple’s AI ambitions could reshape search traffic and advertising revenue.
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AI Overviews in Local: When & Where, DOJ Google Remedies (?), and an SMB GBP Case Study
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We dig into when/where Google’s AI Overviews (AIOs) appear in local, how people actually split tasks across Google vs. ChatGPT, what the DOJ’s remedies mean for defaults, and a fresh case where a brand-new local biz triggered an AIO—plus practical takeaways.
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AI Overviews & Why consumers like them, Reviews vs. Reality & Why Google Search Volumes Aren’t Falling
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Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling discuss three hot-button topics:
Consumer vs. industry perspectives on Google’s AI OverviewsHow review expectations differ from actual behavior in the legal verticalWhy Datos data shows AI growth isn’t displacing search usageSubscribe to our newsletters and other content at https://www.nearmedia.co/subscribe/
Google’s LSA Shake-Up, Google LSA Dark Patterns & BrightLocal SMB Marketing Insights
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Google is consolidating Local Services Ads trust signals into a single verification badge — but is it really about trust or revenue? Greg and Mike discuss Google’s evolving ad strategy, the ongoing degradation of organic results, their "dark patterns" that elevate LSA usage and new BrightLocal data showing less than half of small businesses have claimed their Google Business Profiles. Plus: why email remains an overlooked channel, and whether AI tools like ChatGPT can realistically challenge Google in local.
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Part 2- Barnacle SEO in the AI Era: Will Scott on Tools, Automation & Content Strategy
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In part two of this interview, SEO veteran Will Scott of Search Influence joins Mike Blumenthal and Greg Sterling to unpack how AI is reshaping search, why semantic SEO matters, and how to use no-code automation tools to scale content. Learn how to barnacle onto high-authority sites, repurpose content across platforms, and adapt to an AI-first search world.
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Part 1: Barnacle SEO in the AI Era: Will Scott on Leveraging AI for Search & ChatGPT Visibility
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In Part 1 of this interview, SEO veteran Will Scott joins Near Memo to unpack the rise of Barnacle SEO in a world reshaped by AI. We explore how content visibility, listicles, and trusted sources like Reddit and Yelp are influencing AI-generated responses. Plus, we debate the viability of “GEO” as a term, Google’s evolving narrative, and the role of automation tools in SEO.
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The Future of Maps: User Focused, Contextual & Integrated AI with Goetz Weber
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Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal talk with mapping expert Goetz Weber about why today’s maps fail to deliver personalized, contextual experiences — and what needs to change. From intent modeling to the limits of monetization, from ChatGPT to Snap Maps, Goetz lays out a compelling vision for mapping 2.0: visual, social, and powered by AI.Â
For relevant links and a transcript visit our site.Â
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