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...
26 days 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...
about 1 month ago • 8 min read
Hi again, two weeks later. How are we feeling about the new cadence? I'd love to hear if you get a moment. I always read your replies and feedback. The Lead "Best X" crackdown? Remember that lame tactic I mentioned last week about calling yourself the "Best Realtor in LOCATION"? Lily Ray shares evidence that Google is starting to crackdown on it. Her examples are big brands that published dozens or hundreds of self-promotional articles calling themselves the best ______, and not SMBs like us....
about 2 months ago • 10 min read
Hello, yeah, it's been a while. 🎶 Larry David says it's too late to wish you a Happy New Year, so I'll just say "Welcome to the first Marketing Unlocked of 2026!" The Lead When "perfect" SEO isn't. Jes Scholz wrote a great thread about removing 60% of a real estate website's "perfect" articles because they read like AI. Pay special attention to her "Anonymous Test" in the last post. Great stuff. (And fits well with today's Deep Dive below.) "Perfect" social media, too. Instagram chief Adam...
2 months ago • 8 min read
This is the last MU of the year, which is kinda awkward because I added more new subscribers in the past week than in the previous two months! 😅 If you're new, welcome. I'll explain more below about what's going on. Glad you're here. The Lead Much ado about nothing? People can now use fake names when they review you on Google. Sounds scary, huh? People can say nasty things and hide behind a fake name!! There was a lot of "sky is falling" reaction in my SEO circles, but I tend to agree with...
4 months ago • 20 min read
Happy Sunday. Reminder: If you're doing Costco pies for your clients next week, check your local store to see if they're limiting how many you can buy. (One of ours is, the other isn't.) The Lead Hide and seek vanish. You may never be found for "near me" searches if you hide your address in your Google Business Profile. On YouTube, Joy Hawkins and Colan Nielsen unpack that and several other things that influence "near me" search results. Goodbye local pack? AI Overviews might replace Google's...
5 months ago • 9 min read
Happy Sunday, you! I know you're busy. Thanks for reading. The Lead Rally time. Thanks in large part to AI/LLMs, citations are making a comeback*. Claudia Tomina explains what's going on and offers some ideas on how best to manage all those business profiles across the internet. Personal problems. I keep seeing agents post screenshots of themselves showing up at the top of a ChatGPT or Perplexity answer, which is great! But it's also very possible that the answer has been personalized and is...
5 months ago • 10 min read
Happy Sunday! And happy end of daylight saving time -- you've got an extra hour to enjoy today's newsletter. 😉 The Lead Working on your website? Don't miss Miriam Ellis' guide to the perfect small business website. It's not real estate-focused, but there's still a lot of great info in there. Bring it on. Google just announced a new feature coming soon to Search Console. "Query groups" will pull together similar search terms that represent different ways of searching for the same...
5 months ago • 9 min read
Hey you! It took a while, but I've finally come to terms with the Mariners missing the World Series. Again. For the 49th straight season. I'm okay with it now. As you can tell. 😉 Thanks for reading, let's get into it. The Lead Ch-ch-changes. Have you seen the new way ChatGPT answers local prompts? The bullet list of names/info has been replaced by a more Googley/visual answer that pulls info direct from your Google Business Profile. We had two separate conversations about this in my...
6 months ago • 13 min read