Real estate is awesome, but today's the day that reminds me every year how being a dad is the best job of all. If you're a dad, Happy Father's Day to you! The Lead Must-watch. Ex-Googler and now local SEO guy Brad Wetherall did this terrific 10-minute video that walks you through the video verification process for your Google Business Profile. If you struggle with this, don't miss it. The latest game-changer? I'm sure you heard that Google is now rolling out its "homes for sale" ads across...
19 days ago • 10 min read
Loving all these Facebook Business Manager partner requests I keep getting. Really flattering. Quite an honor. 😉 BIG newsletter today, let's get to it. The Lead "Everything works until it doesn't." I said that on stage last week at Signal while talking about sites with 100% AI-written content losing their Google rankings and traffic. Some of the charts I showed came from this excellent Lily Ray article on AI strategies that have backfired. GBP 🤝 GA. You'll soon be able to connect your Google...
about 1 month ago • 11 min read
Thanks for spending a few minutes with me over Memorial Day weekend. If you're remembering loved ones who served, I'm thinking of you today. The Lead Here we go again. Two months after the last one, Google just launched another core update. It's still SEO to me, and I like it. Google just posted its first set of AI SEO recommendations, which includes the note that AEO, GEO, etc. are "still SEO." (Where's the "AI bros in tears" emoji?) The document is very good, if a bit aspirational in a few...
about 2 months ago • 9 min read
Happy Mother's Day! If you're a mom reading Marketing Unlocked on your special day, thanks so much. I hope this is the start of a terrific day. The Lead A pretty big deal. Google just announced five ways it's showing more links and expert sources in AI answers. They've been criticized widely for not citing sources enough, so this is a welcome move. I bet it's also a precursor to some bigger changes to be revealed next week at their annual developer conference. Stay tuned.... How fresh is...
2 months ago • 10 min read
If you've been focused on when AI will recommend you to buyers and sellers, you're missing half the story. That's the subject of today's Deep Dive for VIP readers. Thanks for being here. Let's get to it. The Lead It's over. Google's first core update of 2026 wrapped up a couple weeks ago. I always say these big updates shouldn't impact you if you've been doing SEO the right way, but truth is there's always the risk of collateral damage and unintended consequences. I wrote this blog post a...
2 months ago • 10 min read
Hello and happy Q2 to you - hope it's a good one. I know this is a busy time of year. Thanks for reading. The Lead Not so "suite." If your business address has a suite number (or other modifier), make sure it's in the "Address 2" field of your Google Business Profile. Claudia Tomina explains that a suite # in "Address 1" can keep Google from understanding where you're located, which can tank your ability to show up in the local pack and Google Maps. Profiles in AI. Brands that win in AI...
3 months ago • 8 min read
Heads up: Baseball season is here, so my daily temperament for the next 6-7 months will correlate closely with how the Seattle Mariners are doing. The Lead The flip side. You saw the headlines about the guy who used ChatGPT to sell his house, right? The buyer was repped by an agent in Florida, and that agent's broker shared their side of the story. I thank both sides for the perfect lead-in to today's Deep Dive. 90 days then RIP. We keep seeing tests and data like this in the SEO industry:...
3 months ago • 8 min read
Hey you, happy Sunday. Thanks for spending some time with me today. I appreciate you. The Lead Did we sleep on this? Back in January, Gemini 3 began powering AI Overviews in Google search results. It feels like it slipped under the radar, but Bernard Huang says AIOs now show fresher information and are better at answering the search intent right in the AIO, among other changes. Smarter AI, he says, is driving Google impressions and clicks even lower. 😬 Genuine wins. BrightLocal's latest...
4 months ago • 7 min read
Happy March! Has your spring market already started? Hope it's a good one for you. Thanks for reading. The Lead Start strong. Twice last year, I wrote in this space that you'll increase your chances of getting AI to cite you in its answer if you begin blog posts by immediately answering the question/topic. That was based on repeated-but-anecdotal cases that I saw with my own eyes. Now there's some evidence via Kevin Indig's Growth Memo: 44% of all ChatGPT citations come from the intro of a...
4 months ago • 8 min read