🌴 A Note From The Jungle
October is moving faster than free coconuts in the middle of the desert. This week we talk about how you can frame your local search efforts and results to support 2026 goals. Then we will take a look at an update from Google on how to fight negative review extortion and other scams that have been on the rise this year. Let’s go 👇
🦍 Ask GMB Gorilla
Hey GMB Gorilla…how do I prove the value of local visibility to my boss before year-end?
Howdy human! Ah, nothing like justifying your existence as a marketer. It brings back fond memories of the good ole days as a CMO. Wait. Who am I kidding. I’m not really fond of being paraded out in front of the board or the rest of the executive team and having to justify our every move. Then there’s the dancing for budget. Yikes, okay, let’s get you set up for success then…
Local visibility is one of those channels that quietly drives results without flashy attribution. Most of your customers don’t say, “I found you via your Google Business Profile,” they just click, call, or walk in. Even if asked, they’ll likely tell you they did a search or they found you via Google. That makes it tricky to prove impact unless you’re tracking the right things.
We recommend you start a discussion about local visibility by zooming out from “rankings” and focusing on profile actions. Benchmarking the calls, clicks, direction requests, and messages coming from your GBPs brings the conversation closer to revenue then rankings, and impressions, to metrics many point to initially. Show quarter over quarter performance changes, alongside year over year, to tell a complete picture.
You can pair the GBP action data with Google Search Console impressions for branded + near-me searches. You now have a simple, story-driven metric: visibility turning into real-world behavior. For most, this will be enough to get key stakeholders engaged and listening since they can start to “do the math” around potential (and it usually looks good).
If you want to make an even more compelling pitch, you can tie it all together with reviews and follow up engagement. If you are tracking performance properly, you will be able to show how review consistency and or faster response times correlate with more actions, calls, and revenue. Owners and executives love cause and effect as it turns “local SEO” from mystery spend into measurable growth.
You may say this sounds great, but my boss is tough. If you find yourself in this position or you don’t think that actions alone will be enough, then you can also include information about the market and competitors as a whole. Nothing seems to motivate an owner or executive more than seeing a competitor rank higher, have better ratings, more reviews, and…err…visibility than their org.
This should set you up for a much easier conversation, but if you’re still lost and need a roadmap, give us a shout. We’d be happy to help you build benchmarks and reporting to prove the value of local visibility to your organization.
🌴 Jungle Watch
Google publishes guidance on reporting negative review extortion scams
Negative review extortion scams have been on the rise this year and Google has finally made steps to help business owners and profile managers reeling from these attacks.
Google has updated guidelines for handling and reporting these scams: Until recently, users affected by these attacks have had to rely on the public support forums or the wade through the direct support process which often led to dead ends or lengthy delays.
In addition to guidance, Google is providing a direct reporting form: The guidance for handling this situation is a great step forward, but providing users with a specific form and details on what to include is most helpful. It’s not the direct call support everyone wants, but our experience is these specific request forms see better response times then the generic ones.
There’s no simple answer to this problem: Google’s system are generally pretty good about stopping these attacks, but they’re not perfect. Even these guidelines and new reporting form are not going to stop this from happening. While it may never completely stop, at least these appears to be a faster way to fix this issue for affected users before it really impacts their business.
If you’ve been hit by a negative review extortion attack, check out the new guidelines here.
🍌 Banana Bites
Google’s Robby Stein on AI Mode, GEO, and the future of Search 🔮 Search Engine Land
Google Search Ranking Volatility Heats Up October 7th & 8th 📈 SE Roundtable
New Google Business Profiles Insights feature spotted in the wild. 🌴 SE Roundtable
🆘 Need GBP Help?
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Did You Know? Gorillas are capable of lifting up to 10 times their body weight, with silverback gorillas capable of lifting up to 1,810 kg (4,000 lbs). 🦍
Till next time,