Algorithms are evolving. Zero-click SERPs are more common, through AI Overviews (AIO) and Search Generative Experience (SGE). And, consumers’ social awareness has shifted. Having a recognizable and trustworthy brand can make or break your local visibility in 2025.

In our recent Live Masterclass: How Important is Brand for Local Search Visibility in 2025?, expert panellist Elizabeth Rule unpacked how brand strength influences local SEO performance. 

Here are the top takeaways from Elizabeth’s session to help you align your branding efforts with your local SEO goals—and get found by more customers in 2025.

Watch the Replay

Brand Is As Important Now As It Always Has Been

Why is everyone talking about brand right now?

The hype of AIOs and SGE, alongside the increase in zero-click search has brought brand right into focus. A good example of this is how Forbes tends to rank across multiple AIO searches, and continues to show up after various algorithm updates. It feels like Google is favoring bigger brands with more domain authority over smaller brands. 

Alongside this, Google is launching a new brand profile through the merchant center (not all local businesses will be able to use this), which is a clear indicator that Google is shifting toward focusing on what a brand can bring to a topic or industry in search results. 

Tip 1: A Strong Brand Is More than Just Your Logo

Having a strong brand means people know and trust your business. They’re more likely to click on your listing or your website than a brand they don’t know.

Trust and awareness in your brand can come from the local community, your review profile and through zero-click search.

Tip 2: Tap into Communities

Offline communities, online communities, and social media are all great ways to get your brand out to your target audience. 

Brands that use more traditional marketing, such as billboards and branded vehicles, do a little better in SEO because more people are aware of and engaged with the brand in general. This engagement helps you rank better, and the more people click your website, the higher up in the SERPs you’ll show.  

Spread your marketing efforts beyond Google and your website. Local social media groups or community forums, like Facebook groups, Next Door, or local SubReddits, are great ways to get your brand out there. 

Tip 3: Your Brand Website Is Critical

Getting your website up to date is crucial, as it’s a valuable source of truth for Google. Mention the important information about your business—who you are, what you do, the services you offer, and where you do it. Make it easy for Google and your customers to understand all of this information. 

While this information helps Google build its organic results and customers move further down the funnel, it could also help your brand if and when it appears on AIOs. Though there doesn’t seem to be a known indication of Google’s ranking factors for AIO, or how they pull the information that appears from it, it is known that Google sometimes pulls through incorrect information.

Tip 4: Become an Authority in Your Sector

Showcase your authority, knowledge, and understanding of your website through your brand entity. For example, your website is a great place to put your well-crafted content and answer the questions that your customers and potential customers have. 

Tell your audience how to do things and show that you know how to do it best. (An example here would be a decorator—explain to your audience how they can decorate themselves, but also show your authority and expertise in case they’d prefer for you to do it for them.) Become the go-to brand for knowledge and education.

Tip 5: Should You Use Keywords in Business Names?

Your business name is a huge part of your brand, and you want to make sure your business profile appears at the top of search results. With that in mind, adding one or two top-converting keywords to your business name means you can have a keyword-rich Google Business Profile.

An example of this would be to add a unique brand modifier to your name. This could be ‘Tarquin Heating and Air Conditioning’ as opposed to ‘Toronto Heating and Air Conditioning’. 

An oldie, but a goodie… do not do this! 

Tip 6: Online Reputation Is Crucial for Brand

Your brand reputation shows potential customers how well you do business, and reflects your brand as a whole. That’s why reviews are critical for brand, and something you really shouldn’t ignore.

Getting new, regular Google reviews is a ranking factor, and according to the 2025 Local Consumer Review Survey, 27% of consumers would use a business if they can see new reviews from the past month.

So, while you don’t have full control over your Google reviews, you can control how you manage your reputation. Whether that’s responding kindly to a negative review, responding with gratitude for positive reviews, or asking your customers to leave a review for you, reputation can help build trust and conversions. 

All in all, brand-building isn’t a quick SEO fix. It’s a strategic, long-term investment that pays off in trust, engagement, and higher-quality traffic. Having a strong brand will impact the way potential customers perceive you, remember you, and engage with you. 

If you need help building your brand, get in touch with our local SEO services team to discover how we can support your goals. 

Not even 18 months ago, we found that ChatGPT’s local search capabilities were pretty poor. Fast-forward to now, and ChatGPT-4 enables users to search the web in real time, producing local search results similar to Google or Bing.

Hot on the heels of our recent Business Listings Visibility Study, where we analyzed the types of results Google surfaces for local queries, we got straight to work replicating the study for ChatGPT Search. So, ready to dive in?

Methodology and Terminology Used

In this study, we conducted 800 manual local business web searches in ChatGPT, recording the first ten search sources ChatGPT displays in its local results’ ‘Sources.’ It’s important to note that while Google displays results in the hundreds, ChatGPT’s ‘Sources’ can vary significantly—sometimes showing only a handful of sources and other times showing more than ten.

The image below highlights the difference between what ChatGPT displays as results (or answers) to the user query, and the sources for its answers.

We used the exact search terms used within the Business Listings Visibility Study so that we could provide a direct comparison of the results. As we did in that study, we used one ‘transactional’ keyword (e.g. “coffee shop”) and one ‘informational’ keyword (e.g. “best coffee shop”) in searches across 20 different business verticals, using 20 different US cities.

Understanding Definitions Within This Study

For every search result source, we recorded the website name and classification of each website’s ‘type’ using the following criteria:

Search Results Compared

Nearly three-fifths (58%) of all the sources for ChatGPT Search results were business websites. Typically, these were local business websites directly related to the business type or business vertical contained within the search term (e.g. “coffee shop chicago”, “hair salon boston”).

Business websites were also the top result type in the Business Listings Visibility Study (47%). As we noted then, you would generally expect to see business websites dominating search engine results based on the interests and intent of users, so it follows that ChatGPT Search might mimic a similar number of results if it understands intent in the same way.

Business mentions made up more than a quarter (27%) of ChatGPT Search sources across the local searches we conducted. This is significantly chunkier than the 16% we saw for Google’s search engine results. As we’ll get to later on, Wikipedia surprisingly dominates the business mention category throughout this study.

Meanwhile, business directories only made up 15% of ChatGPT Search’s sources. It’s very interesting to note the difference in both the presence and breadth of directory results within this study compared to the business listings study. Not only do directory results show up less for ChatGPT searches than Google searches, but some of the most prominent directories, like Yelp and Facebook, do not appear at all.

The most prominent directory found as a source throughout this study was Three Best Rated, making up almost a quarter of all directory sources (24%), followed by Expertise (18%). Although it seems odd that some of the best-known business directories are missing from the first ten sources, it serves as a reminder that brands and businesses should take the opportunity to boost visibility in all the relevant places, and not just the most well-known ones.

When we look at the breakdown of results for transactional and informational search terms, the pattern stays the same. 

However, informational search terms see more of a level split between business website results (43%), business mentions (35%) and directories (22%), while transactional search term sources are largely skewed towards business websites (72%). 

Healthcare and Wellness

Searches for healthcare and wellness businesses predominantly surface business website results. It largely makes sense when you consider the general nature and urgency of a person needing to find a healthcare business. For more urgent care, they’re less likely to want to spend time comparing business information, and will just want to see which businesses are closest to them on a map.

There are just four terms in this group where business website results appear for fewer than 50% of the first ten ChatGPT sources: ‘best chiropractor,’ ‘best day spa,’ ‘best dentist,’ and ‘best gym.’

In these cases, we see more directory sources, yet there does not seem to be a clear reason for this—particularly when Three Best Rated appears as a directory source for so many different business searches. 

It does make sense that ‘best day spa’ and ‘best gym’ would have a higher percentage of business mentions within ChatGPT Search sources. After all, these are the more wellness-focused businesses, for which potential customers might want to read different types of articles and reviews before making a decision.

Hospitality

The hospitality searches are dominated by a range of business mention results. These include well-known hospitality publications like Thrillist, Eater, and The Culture Trip, while local blogs and news sites like Secret Seattle and San Diego Magazine appear for specific location terms.

It is surprising that directories are not more prominent for hotel searches. While giants like Tripadvisor, Expedia, and Booking.com did appear in source lists, they are largely overshadowed by business mentions. If you think about the results you would see in Google’s SERPs, hotel results tend to be very transaction-led, and travel directories themselves have become commercial comparison or booking platforms—so it could be that this is intentional on ChatGPT’s part.

However, the most common business mention source was Wikipedia, which also seems an odd result for hotel searches. It’s not exactly the glossy, photo-laden review content you might expect from Condé Nast or similar.

Services and Trades

A typical search engine user might expect to see many directory results in the Services and Trades group, such as Thumbtack, Angi, BBB, and so on. It’s surprising, then, that only two of the search terms generated a significant number of directory results in the source lists (“best electrician” at 62%; “best storage facility” at 35%).

It’s also not clear why there is such a difference between the number of directory results appearing for ‘best electrician’ and ‘best storage facility’ searches.

As with the healthcare group, sources for Services and Trades searches are mostly in the business website category. Arguably, there is also some degree of urgency attached to the intent behind local services searches, which might explain why the results are mostly business websites. 

Then again, because ChatGPT Search is still so new, we don’t know enough about how well it understands web search intent.

‘Your Money or Your Life’ (YMYL)

The ‘Your Money or Your Life’ group concerns businesses that can impact clients’ lives, health, and finances. Here, directory results take a stronger share of the sources. 

It makes sense that someone searching for these types of businesses would want to compare professionals and businesses by using directories. Directories provide the opportunity to compare customer reviews and read professional profiles in more of a side-by-side view than simply flicking between business websites.

It’s also notable that these percentages tend to increase for informational terms, where a user is more likely to be looking for a comparison.

Entertainment

The Entertainment group is another interesting one where directories are surprisingly absent, although the findings are similar to those of our business listings study.

Both ‘betting store’ search terms see a very large number of business mentions, which, as we discovered in the Business Listings Visibility Study, is likely due to gambling regulations varying so much from state to state. Therefore, local and trade publications are likely to cover the topics.

Notable Findings

Mentions on Wikipedia

As we touched on in the hospitality and entertainment sections above, Wikipedia makes a surprising number of appearances throughout this study. Generally, where local business searches are concerned, Wikipedia is an uncommon result—particularly to appear within the first ten results. This is likely because, as a largely educational platform, it does not match the ‘informational’ intent behind searches such as ‘best coffee shop’ or ‘best hotel.’

Wikipedia probably appears as a source in ChatGPT Search because the platform is trained on Wikipedia’s articles and media. Although this suggests that LLMs might still have some learning to do regarding search intent, it does highlight the value of a Wikipedia presence—something many business owners and brands might not have previously considered.

The below screenshot highlights an example of a local business with its own Wikipedia entry.

If you’re interested in learning more about the relationship between Wikipedia entries and search engine sources, this guide explains how managing brand entities via Wikipedia can inform Google and influence features like knowledge graphs.

No Forum Presence in ChatGPT

One area we haven’t touched on yet is forums. We first conducted a SERP study to analyze result types in May 2024, when Reddit’s exclusive partnership with Google dramatically altered the types of results being surfaced to users. Since then, the Business Listings Visibility Study found that the presence of forum results had decreased significantly, accounting for just 7% of search results displaying for local business searches.

In the case of ChatGPT Search, it seems to ignore forums completely for local business searches. Although it seems that ChatGPT can access content from Reddit or Quora, based on the response below, there do seem to be limitations preventing ChatGPT from sourcing local business information from it.

Yet, at the time of writing, it appears that the Google-Reddit exclusivity deal is still in place. And it doesn’t explain why other forums like Quora aren’t present in its source lists, other than that ChatGPT might not deem these results ‘helpful’ enough.

How to Appear in ChatGPT Search’s Sources

ChatGPT Search, in its current form, has only been available since October 2024, so it’s unclear just how mainstream it might become as a search engine. Yet we can’t ignore the fact that over 300 million users are using the wider ChatGPT platform weekly, with over one billion messages sent a day. So, that’s a hefty number of people that could use it for local queries.

With that in mind, you want to give your brand the best shot at appearing in ChatGPT Search’s source lists. How?

Optimizing for LLMs

Crystal Carter recently put a guide together on optimizing for large language models (LLMs), so we’d strongly recommend reading this. The document can be quite technical and goes beyond just ChatGPT, but contains actionable insights to consider for ChatGPT, such as:

• Checking release notes and documentation for LLMs to keep up to date with changes
• Reporting inaccuracies regarding your brand as and when you see it
• Optimizing for the search engine that powers the LLM (in this case, Bing powers ChatGPT)

Local Marketing Matters

The good news is that optimizing for ChatGPT Search is not an entirely new area to learn, as the local search tactics that you already employ do make a difference. While the sources for information might vary, ChatGPT generally sources local business information like business reviews and ratings to surface results and inform some of the snippets of information it provides—even including Google reviews.

The prominence of business mentions in this study highlights a significant opportunity in building brand awareness through local link-building. Considering outreach and building relationships with different types of press and publications, like news sites, trade publications, and local blogs, can help secure business mentions in the right places. 

Many LLMs are working on securing partnerships with prominent media outlets to train models on their information, so securing coverage with some of your high-priority media outlets could bring two-birds-one-stone returns.

Summary

As we’ve highlighted, these results are a snapshot of ChatGPT Search right now—and things are moving fast. Even if you’re not quite ready to test the waters of LLM optimization (or GEO), now could be a good time to review your local marketing efforts and ensure your business information is correct and up to date in all the right places.

Have you tested out ChatGPT Search since its launch? Tell us about your experiences, or share your predictions with us! You can catch us over on LinkedIn, X, Blue Sky, or by joining our Facebook community, The Local Pack.

Appendix

Directories as ChatGPT Search Sources

Although business directories only make up 15% of ChatGPT Search’s sources in this study, 50% of all directories were dominated by the following websites:

• Three Best Rated (24%)
• Expertise (18%)
• Tripadvisor (8%)

The remaining 50% of directories are made up of the following:

Known as Google I/O, the keynote is Google’s opportunity to announce the latest advancements in its technology and offer a glimpse at what’s to come. Past Google I/Os have seen the public introduction of such Google products as the Google Assistant, Google Lens, and more.

And, like always, 2024’s summit is the subject of the week in the search industry. Following its May 14th premiere, search professionals are scrambling to figure out what Google’s self-coined “Gemini era” means for the industry. 

As noted by Google’s Liz Reid,

“With each of these platform shifts, we haven’t just adapted, we’ve expanded what’s possible with Google Search. And now, with generative AI, search will do more for you than you ever imagined. So whatever’s on your mind, and whatever you need to get done, just ask, and Google will do the Googling for you.”

There is a lot of fancy talk surrounding what seems to be an even fancier product. But what does that really mean for local SEOs, who already spend their days deciphering Google’s ever-changing algorithm?

In the words of Near Media’s Greg Sterling: Gemini was the star. Search was there… but in more of a supporting role. Nonetheless, search still got its screentime, with four important updates for local SEOs to focus on—AI Overviews, multi-step reasoning, topic clusters, and itinerary planning with Gemini Advanced.

Let’s take a look at the big announcements most relevant to local SEOs…

AI Overviews

This looks more interesting beyond the standard SGE integration we know. Example of an "AI-organized search results page", bringing it together in a dynamic/full-page experience. Apparently this will be launching within the US in the coming weeks (in labs first). #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/QaIvFagETT

— Brodie Clark (@brodieseo) May 14, 2024

What is it?

AI Overviews is the official name of what was previously called Google’s ‘Search Generative Experience‘. It uses the information collected via Gemini’s multi-step reasoning (more on this below) to present a clear, organized search result that answers all of the user’s questions… and then some.

AI Overviews are, essentially, a quick overview of the answer to the query with links to learn more. 

Gemini becomes the user’s “personal agent”, offering the user all of the pertinent information regarding their query. This allows for complex questions to be answered simply and clearly, all within a single search result page.

This new feature is due to be rolled out to US users this week, with more countries coming soon.

These search results pages consider information that a typical searcher may not have even considered. Take a query about “anniversary celebration dinner spots in dallas.” Gemini’s approach to search intuits the need to check the weather before offering locations.

Breezy summer evening? Gemini knows that a rooftop bar might do the trick. So, once again, it all comes down to detail—businesses must offer Gemini as much specific information about themselves as possible so that they’re first on Gemini’s list when a relative search is made.

What does it mean for local SEO?

In our article on SGE in June 2023, we explored what an AI-generated search response would mean for local search. Since then, some elements of this new search function have changed, but most remain the same.

The key thing that all content publishers should be wary of is whether Google will be showing links, citations, and sources in its AI Overviews. For now, it seems like there’s no consistent answer to that. Some searches return what you might call a ‘zero-click’ result (where the response provides the answer and nothing more), while more complex or debatable answers are prefixed with ‘According to’ and link to the source of the response, presumably so that Google can put the onus on its sources for contentious or controversial topics.

What about searches for local businesses? Well, examples of this were given quite an airing in the keynote, and it seems like, for now, any business information returned for local search terms comes from the usual places: Google Business Profile, directories, citation sites, review sites, and news articles and blog posts recommending businesses.

Keeping your business profiles across Google and other listings platforms remains as crucial as ever, and some form of the ‘local pack’ will likely remain, as Google has a vested interest in adding value to its Google Business Profile product.

The bigger question will be around whether local businesses will continue to see value in publishing localised or locally-relevant content to attract customers via what was the organic ‘ten blue links’.

In a world where Google can take the contents of your article on “the best events for visitors to [your town]” and hand it to searchers without ever linking to your business, you might be thinking again about investing in an organic search strategy.

Ultimately, AI Overviews is the biggest shift in Google search that we’ve seen in decades, and we’ll be closely monitoring how it works in order to provide our readers with the best advice on improving and understanding visibility in the Gemini era.

BrightLocal’s Take on AI Overviews

Kristian Bannister

Chief Product Officer at BrightLocal

We’re excited by the changes coming in Google’s AI Overview and the potential opportunities for local businesses and those working in local SEO.

We always want to ensure that our products equip our customers with the right data and the best insights to help them deal with the changing landscape of local search. Undoubtedly, the release of AI Overviews is one of the biggest changes we’ve ever seen to search results, and we owe it to our customers to fully understand:

• What this means for our existing ranking tools
• How it will impact local search results, search behavior, and businesses
• How we can help marketers adapt and thrive in this new dawn of search

What This Means for Our Existing Ranking Tools

We always ensure that our existing tools continue to work as expected. Google continually makes small changes to its SERPs, which could impact how we and our partners gather ranking data. We already have numerous alert systems in place to ensure these changes don’t interrupt our tools. But we’re being especially vigilant with the rollout of AI Overviews to ensure there will be no (or at least minimal) interruption to our tools and no impact on accuracy.

We’ll also be looking into ways to help businesses better understand their visibility, with keywords triggered by AI Overviews within our rank trackers if we believe these insights have potential value for our customers.

How This Will Impact Local Search Results, Search Behavior, and Businesses

Right now, we aren’t completely sure what this may mean for local search results and businesses. My personal speculation is that simple “how-to” content is likely to be an area where AI Overviews start to take away traffic, as Google will be able to serve it directly in SERPs. That does pose a significant threat to businesses that have built revenue models on the back of this content.

In local search, we could see AI Overviews becoming a tool for discovering and better evaluating local businesses. Local businesses rely on some sort of transaction, whether it’s visiting a restaurant, getting an oil change, or hiring a plumber. AI Overviews won’t replace the end goal, but they will likely change how consumers find and evaluate businesses, which itself is likely to impact local SEO strategies.

How We Can Help Marketers Adapt and Thrive in This New Era of Search

This is where things get exciting. We’ve been following the development of SGE and anticipating this launch for some time. Like you, we’re in a phase of discovery and exploration with this new technology, focusing on understanding what new problems and opportunities may arise that we can help our customers address. Our mission is to help marketers become brilliant at local SEO, and these changes make that mission even more important as we all enter uncharted territory together.

We’ll be looking outwardly at what our industry peers and experts are saying, but we also want to hear from our customers. If you want to reach out to me personally to share your thoughts and ideas, I’m available any time. Please feel free to reach out at contact@brightlocal.com. And if you see any significant changes in your or your client’s local rankings, we’re on hand to help at support@brightlocal.com, as always.

Multi-step Reasoning

What is it?

Throughout the summit, Google emphasized multi-step reasoning as a key feature of the Gemini era. So, what does that mean? 

According to Google, ‘multi-step reasoning’ refers to the tool’s ability to take a larger, multi-part question and break it down into sections before determining what needs to be answered and in what order. It then uses reason, alongside Google’s vast information index, to answer the questions logically. 

Coming soon, we’ll bring new multi-step reasoning capabilities to Google Search. It breaks your bigger question down into parts and figures out which problems to solve and in what order, so research that might've taken you minutes or even hours can be done in seconds. #GoogleIO pic.twitter.com/Op8Iu7K21m

— Google (@Google) May 14, 2024

What does it mean for local SEO?

Considering that Gemini needs to get its information somewhere, it’s more important than ever that businesses provide Google with the most detailed and accurate information possible for Google to find.

Ratings, reviews, business hours, and more can all come into play when someone queries Google, and the last thing a business needs is for Google to spit out the wrong information or, even worse, overlook it entirely.

Topic Clusters

What are they?

Remember the query about anniversary spots? Just because outdoor seating could be a good option due to the sunshine doesn’t mean it’s the only option.

Instead, the personalized search results page will be broken down into what Google refers to as “topic clusters.” These clusters group results based on unique angles of the search, such as “outdoor seating,” “rustic charm,” or “restaurants with live music,” offering users different directions to take their query. 

What do they mean for local SEO?

Details. Details. Details. We can’t say it enough. For Google to determine that a restaurant belongs in that “rustic charm” cluster, it’ll need evidence to prove it. Having a fully filled-out Google Business Profile, a robust history of reviews, and a detailed website all help signify to Google that yes—this is one of the top “rustic charm” restaurants in town.

Gemini Advanced

What is it?

Gemini Advanced takes all the above functionalities and offers a full-fledged itinerary-planning capability. Whether you’re trying to figure out a family-friendly meal plan or planning a romantic trip to New York City, Gemini Advanced uses its multi-step reasoning capacities and topic clustering features to provide a fully personalized AI overview of the ideal plan. 

What does it mean for local SEO?

With Gemini Advanced, Google will look at more than just your business—it’ll look at the context surrounding it.

With the advanced contextualization and reasoning around search results, Gemini Advanced will know not to show the local ice cream parlor in the dead of winter following a Christmas Market. However, it may know to show it if it serves the best hot cocoa in town and is only a block away from the market’s entrance.

But, to make those connections, it needs the correct data to draw upon… such as an updated menu, mentions in local publications, and a host of positive reviews.

Google on Responsibility

Acknowledging the uncertainty that always comes alongside new technologies, Google assures that they’re approaching Gemini with the same AI principles they say they’ve always abided by. 

Google’s AI Principles

• Be socially beneficial
• Avoid creating or reinforcing unfair bias
• Be built and tested for safety
• Be accountable to people
• Incorporate privacy design principles
• Uphold high standards of scientific excellence
• Be made available for uses that accord with these principles

Also, according to Google, they are introducing Gemini with the intention of maximizing the benefits for people and society. And, while local SEO may change according to these new tools, we trust Google’s intention to use its AI for a better user experience. 

In Summary

Overall, the significance of these updates to local all comes down to the same thing: data accuracy and detail are more important than ever. With an expert tool crawling the web to find the best possible fit for a user’s query, businesses need to ensure that the tool can find them—and everything it needs to know about them. Things like having comprehensive and descriptive FAQs will become even more important players in visibility.

That being said, this is all based on what we know right now. The most important thing is that businesses continue to stay agile and up-to-date on industry trends; with Google’s constantly changing methods, it’s important never to get too stuck in your ways. This year’s Google I/O is simply further proof of that.

When your head is buried in the day-to-day, whether you’re responsible for a small business or managing several business locations, let’s face it—sometimes you just miss stuff.

With some users already actively engaging with Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE), but many others around the world unable to get a feel for this new search experience, it got us thinking about how ‘ready’ local marketers really are. So, we decided to find out.

We polled the BrightLocal user base, including freelance marketers and representatives from agencies, single-location businesses, and multi-location businesses, to get a snapshot of how people are feeling about SGE right now.

Recap: What is SGE?

Announced in May 2023, Search Generative Experience (SGE) is Google’s new way of integrating generative AI into search results. Collating key information from a variety of sources, and presented as a ‘snapshot’ at the top of search results, it’s essentially designed to enable more detailed searches from the beginning and encourage more conversational follow-up queries.

Currently, SGE is available to a limited amount of US-based users via Google Labs, and the wider roll-out date is unknown—yet expected to be in early 2024.

1. Do local marketers feel confident in their understanding of SGE?

Before we can understand how marketers think local search will be affected, we wanted to measure how confident they are in really knowing what SGE is—apart from yet another digital marketing acronym.

• 33% of local marketers have not heard of SGE.
• Just 17% of marketers feel they have a confident understanding of what SGE is.

We expected to see low levels of confidence in terms of understanding what SGE actually is, but we were surprised to find that one-third of local marketers have not heard of SGE at all. It reinforces the point that not everyone in the business of local marketing is fully engaged with SEO news.

Meanwhile, less than a fifth of local marketers (17%) said that yes, they do have a confident understanding of what SGE is. That leaves 50% of users that don’t have a confident understanding of SGE—assuming the 9% of ‘I don’t know’ responses essentially mean ‘no’.

2. Do local marketers think SGE will make appearing in local search results easier or harder?

While we can’t know for certain what the full roll-out of SGE will look like for businesses, we wanted to measure users’ optimism towards potential changes to local search results. Do they think it will be easier to appear in local search results with SGE, harder, or about the same?

• 4% of local marketers think that SGE will make it easier for local businesses to appear in search results.
• 15% of marketers think it will be harder for local businesses to appear in search results.

Overwhelmingly, we can see that local marketers really just don’t know what will happen. Given the general lack of understanding and awareness around SGE, this is not exactly surprising. But it does tell us that, simply, marketers are not ready for the roll-out and its effect on their businesses or clients.

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What should marketers do with this data?

Well, if you’ve also been feeling unsure about what SGE will bring, then the key takeaway is: know you are not alone!

It’s going to be an interesting time as we all get to grips with the Search Generative Experience but, in the meantime, here are some key considerations and sources to help you keep on top of the changes.

Agency and freelance local marketers

If you work for an agency or freelance for local SEO clients, the number one thing you should be doing is managing their expectations for changes to come. There will likely be an adjustment period, but, as more users search with SGE, it will also learn and change over time.

Prepare your clients ahead of time so that, on day one of roll-out, you aren’t bombarded with panicked questions!

Senior SEO Specialist, Andy Simpson, summed this up nicely for us and commented on how much SGE is changing already:

Andy Simpson

Senior SEO Specialist at Digital Law Marketing

 

“SGE (and Google’s Bard) is seeing constant updates and changes, so what we see this week can be different the following week. It’s an exhilarating time to be in the local search space, how will it change the landscape of local search and/or search in general?

At this moment in time, depending on the search query, it dominates the top of the desktop/mobile search experience, users are going to either ignore it and think “what the hell is this” until they get familiar with it OR they won’t scroll down to the 10 blue links below, and the organic SERPs will be lost to many users forever… let’s just see where this ride takes us!”

In-house marketers and local business owners

On the flip-side, if you are in-house or managing local SEO for your own business, don’t panic. As mentioned above, SGE will change as it learns, so we wouldn’t advise making any drastic changes based off of a hunch!

SEO Strategist, Dayna Lucio, highlights how SGE should reinforce the key fundamentals of local SEO, such as Google Business Profile (GBP) information, and customer reviews:

Dayna Lucio

Strategist, SEO at Amsive Digital

“I think it more or less is continuing to showcase the things we already stress in local SEO—provide the information that users are looking for on GBP profiles and within on-page content and continue to pay attention to reviews, because this is another way that Google is highlighting those. Like anything with Google, I expect there to be multiple tests and changes as time goes on, so its hard to say what the impact will be.”

So, the key advice here is to continue to ensure you are grounded by local SEO principles and focus on your customers.

Community, industry news, and expert sources

• If you’re not already, we’d recommend subscribing to our newsletter—we regularly round up the latest and most important news in local marketing and wider SEO practices, as well as release our research findings and expert takes on the most talked-about topics in local SEO.
• Join our community of local SEOs in The Local Pack, a group of over 2,000 strong! This is your place to ask (and answer) questions, exchange insights, and discuss new changes and challenges in local search.
• Similarly, Sterling Sky’s Local Search Forum is a goldmine of all things local search, with many prominent local SEOs answering queries and providing advice.
• Our Expert Focus series sees local and digital marketing take on a variety of topics, from AI in local search, to agency culture and client engagement.
• Follow Google Search Liaison on Twitter (sorry, X…) for updates on SGE.

Do you have any strong feelings around the future of local search and SGE? We’d love to hear your thoughts or help answer any questions. Please feel free to comment in The Local Pack, tweet us @BrightLocal, or email research@brightlocal.com. 

Methodology

This poll was conducted within the BrightLocal tool platform and received 378 responses from our user base, including local SEO consultants, and representatives from agencies, single-location businesses, and multi-location businesses.

• Do you feel you have a confident understanding of what SGE is?
• How do you think SGE will affect local search results?

We asked the experts how they’re using AI at the moment, and how they think SGE will change the landscape of local search. 

(One small caveat—in the past few weeks we’ve seen new features and functions added to SGE. By the time this piece goes live, we’re sure there will have already been some major changes!) 

Ben Fisher

Founder and VP of Marketing at Steady Demand

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

AI is a great assistant for our SEO team. They use it for research, some technical tasks, and coming up with ideas for our writers. We don’t use AI for anything that is forward facing like blog post content, and our clients prefer it this way. We play with prompts every day and create a vault of useful prompts. AI assistants can save us a lot of time, especially with the right prompt. Our SEO team can focus more on strategy and critical thinking/analysis because AI can execute many tasks to save time.

Overall, AI assistants can be a valuable asset to any SEO team. They can help SEO professionals save time, improve the quality of their work, focus on more strategic and creative tasks, and stay ahead of the curve.

Despite AI’s impressive capabilities, the human touch remains integral to our processes, ensuring that our strategies are not only data-driven but also empathetic and user-centric.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

There is a glimmer of hope for the local SEO profession, as the 3-pack results appear to be the same as what you would see in a regular search. However, I think that as Google learns, there will be new winners and losers. Unfortunately, I think that SMBs will suffer, as the real estate they were used to will be replaced by new features.

Dayna Lucio

Strategist, SEO at Amsive Digital

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

Mainly it’s been a lot of testing of different platforms to understand the capabilities and differences of each. Right now, I’ve been using AI to help streamline processes such as summarizing data, mapping cities to zip codes for local tracking, or building regex filters for GSC. It’s also been helpful in brainstorming ideas for content such as sourcing questions for FAQs or coming up with metadata tests. I think in general things are moving really fast—something new seems to come up every day! Brands should definitely be thinking about how platforms like BingChat, Bard, ChatGPT, and SGE are providing information about their company, products, or services, and what types of content gaps need to be filled or opportunities they can explore.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

I think what we’ve been able to see so far has been interesting, the local examples that Google shared with the comparison layout between restaurants definitely shows how this can be used on a local level. However, I think it more or less is continuing to showcase the things we already stress in local SEO—provide the information that users are looking for on GBP profiles and within on-page content and continue to pay attention to reviews, because this is another way that Google is highlighting those. Like anything with Google, I expect there to be multiple tests and changes as time goes on, so its hard to say what the impact will be. Once more people have access to SGE I think it will be important to test different types of queries and questions about local businesses to see how the answers and layouts changed based on what’s being asked. 

Amanda Jordan

Director of Digital Strategy at RicketyRoo

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

I currently use AI to help generate ideas and consider new ways to think about data. Right now I think the best use case for many AI tools is for SEOs to understand how generative AI actually works. Knowing the capabilities and limitations of this technology can help us understand what to expect from Search in the future.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search? 

I hope SGE is the end of sites being filled with generic content. My hope is that SGE will encourage websites to focus on unique, personalized, and usable content for users. I believe truly understanding your customers and being obsessed with the customer experience will be extremely important in the future.

Jess Peck

Machine Learning Engineer at Local SEO Guide

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

We’re currently using machine learning for a series of tasks: analysis, clustering data, forecasting, text analysis, and to an extent content generation. We use several different ML techniques including lda, keyword extraction, text summarization, and technologies like using Google’s APIs and TensorFlow. Like many people, we are also using LLMs like GPT, though not entirely relying on them. For example, we tend to chunk our outputs, and then use other ML techniques to check the input matches the output, and check for plagiarism: we use knowledge graphs and entity extraction to try and streamline parts of these processes.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search? 

Despite being a machine learning engineer in practice I’m deeply ambivalent about SGEs. I don’t actually think these kinds of experiences usually improve sites, and it still feels like Google is scrambling to catch up while ChatGPT eats it’s lunch. 

While I do think SGEs are a logical next step for Google and other search engines I also see it as a way for Google to wash its hands of the consequences of serving certain data to the public. LLMs are trained on all of us, so surely it’s all our fault when they go astray? I think an ideal scenario would have Google back away from OpenAI style chatbots and towards using a combination of LLMs and extractive data to continue down the conversational path they have been going down, but how can that be done without robbing sites of their advertising? 

Fundamentally if your site relies on visitor metrics you must focus on unique aspects that cannot be replaced by a machine. I think UGC might end up being extremely useful: sites like Wirecutter that specialize in human, comprehensive reviews: small hobbyist sites with a human touch. The race is as it has always been: do it better than Google, and invite people into your site.

Andy Simpson

Senior SEO Specialist at Digital Law Marketing

What are you doing with AI at the moment? What tactics are you currently using?

Our team is currently learning how we can use things like ChatGPT as a tool for SEO. We’re definitely not using it for creating site content, we have our own brilliant content team for that. They have been using ChatGPT for some content outlines and ideas but we’re a firm believer in creating good, unique content, unlike the content spewed out by ChatGPT. Bing Chat and Google’s Bard are way off the mark when it comes to anything related to content creation. Very recently we used ChatGPT to expand and suggest additions to our local business schema, it’s fantastic for writing the code for FAQ and HowTo schema, we verify what’s produced but it’s been very good to date. Will Reynolds very recently posted how you can use ChatGPT to help with internal link-building suggestions, it’s a great video to watch and make you start thinking about how you can use ChatGPT as a tool for SEO.

What do you think about SGE? How do you think SGE will change the landscape of local search?

Not an easy one to answer in just a few lines, I recently voted “Meh” to Lily Ray’s question on Google’s SGE, BUT I do like it! It’s “meh” because it’s good but not great and that’s not surprising as this is Version 1.0 of whatever SGE will be eventually before it’s launched to the masses. There’s no doubt it will be launched but in what iteration we don’t know yet. SGE is only open to those that want to take a look at it, it’s not open to the general public yet, so I’m not too worried about what we are currently seeing i.e. I am not panicking if my client does/does not display in results displayed by SGE—it’s nice when they do and interesting to see what does display when they don’t. As someone who’s been doing SEO for more than two decades, it’s great to have a new toy to play with. SGE (and Google’s Bard) is seeing constant updates and changes, so what we see this week can be different the following week. It’s an exhilarating time to be in the local search space, how will it change the landscape of local search and/or search in general? At this moment in time, depending on the search query, it dominates the top of the desktop/mobile search experience, users are going to either ignore it and think “what the hell is this” until they get familiar with it OR they won’t scroll down to the 10 blue links below, and the organic SERPs will be lost to many users forever… let’s just see where this ride takes us!

Conclusion: 

Overall, it looks like AI is a great tool to help SEOs manage processes, generate top-level ideas, and help structure content. But, we’re all clear that generative AI should not be a replacement for content creation. 

Additionally, SGE proves an exciting time for local search specifically, with a general sense of optimism around it. Let’s see what happens in the coming months! 

It’s the longest episode we’ve ever released and for good reason! It’s a meaty topic with plenty to chew on, so step inside Marie’s mind and get the most up-to-date insights on Google and AI today.

PLUS we’re going live with this episode on the same day as Marie’s brand-new book (and accompanying workbooks) ‘SEO in the Gemini Era – The Story of How AI Changed Google Search’. Check it out for yourself now.

Listen to Learn:

• Why Marie thinks Google gave us the API leak data on purpose, and what we should and shouldn’t take away from it
• Why and how Gemini goes beyond other large language models
• Why SEOs shouldn’t be scared of the future of AI and SEO
• What skills will still be important in the new age of AI and search
• How the nature of search is changing, and how marketers can react to it
• How to become resilient to changes, and actually benefit from them
• A whole lot more, including how advancements in wearables and brain-computer interfaces will change the future

Watch the Video

Resources

• SEO in the Gemini Era – The Story of How AI Changed Google Search, by Marie Haynes: https://mariehaynes.com/gemini-era-seo/
• The Creating Helpful Content Workbook, by Marie Haynes: https://marie-haynes-consulting-inc.ck.page/products/creating-helpful-content
• Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines Book, by Marie Haynes: https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/
• How to Use Bard, by Marie Haynes: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Learn-use-Bard-Prompts-skills-ebook/dp/B0CQBCYM2H/
• Google Devising Radical Search Changes to Beat Back A.I. Rivals: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/16/technology/google-search-engine-ai.html
• Ted 2014: Larry Page on Google’s robotic future: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-26658892
• Marie’s Newsletter: https://www.mariehaynes.com/marie-haynes-newsletter/
• Marie’s Podcast, Search News You Can Use: https://community.mariehaynes.com/spaces/12946477/feed
• Marie’s Training Services: https://www.mariehaynes.com/training
• Marie’s online community, The Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/feed
• Follow Marie on X: https://x.com/marie_haynes

In this wide-ranging and tactical nugget-filled conversation, Steve covers the challenges and opportunities available to multi-location SEOs today, and shares his proven processes for working with brands.

Listen to Learn

• Steve’s expert take on the findings of the Brand Beacon Report 2024
• Why social media isn’t the quick fix for multi-location brands that some think it is
• How agencies can develop a one-pager that sets out everything the HQ of a brand needs to know about local SEO
• Why some brands struggle to get on board with local SEO
• Preventing roadblocks and getting buy-in when working with enterprise brands
• The multitude of ways brands can use AI, and what to avoid when generating content with AI
• The data-backed secrets of success for a brand location page
• Advice for SEOs uncertain about the future of search in a world with AI

As you can see from the list above, it’s a long one, but absolutely worth getting stuck into if you’re working with big brands or looking to do so.

Watch the Video

Resources

• BrightLocal’s Brand Beacon Report 2024: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/brand-beacon-report/
• Wiideman Consulting Group: https://www.wiideman.com/
• A Data-Driven Strategy for Optimizing Location Pages to Rank in Google: https://www.wiideman.com/location-pages-for-seo
• Wiideman Search Engine Marketing Tutorials and Checklists: https://www.wiideman.com/learn
• Steve on X: https://twitter.com/seosteve
• Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seoexpert/
• Steve on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@seosteve
• Steve on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seosteve/

In the latest episode of Adventures in Local Marketing, host Claire Carlile speaks to Near Media’s David Mihm about the state of GBP for multi-location businesses, SGE, schema, and much more.

Listen to Learn

• Why bulk verification can be such a struggle for enterprise businesses
• The best approach to managing local SEO between HQ and branch levels
• A two-level training framework for local SEO and enterprise businesses
• The value of third-party vendors in highlighting the importance of local SEO
• What’s next for schema and GBP Posts
• When we should be expecting Google to launch SGE, and what it might look like

Watch the Video

Resources

• BrightLocal’s Brand Beacon Report: https://www.brightlocal.com/research/brand-beacon-report/
• Near Media: https://www.nearmedia.co/
• Near Media’s Research and Analysis: https://www.nearmedia.co/tag/analysis/
• The Near Memo Podcast: https://www.nearmedia.co/memo/
• Is Google’s DMA Compliance DOA for Local Searches in Europe?: https://www.nearmedia.co/google-serp-restaurants-eu-dma-analysis/
• Don’t Put All Your Eggs In Google’s Basket – Beyond the Google Monopoly: https://www.brightlocal.com/blog/beyond-google-monopoly/
• Follow Near Media on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nearmediaco/
• Follow Near Media on X: https://twitter.com/nearmediaco
• Follow David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmihm/

Now that SGE has been made available to those on its waitlist (currently in the US, and hopefully worldwide soon) it is set to shake up the search world in multiple ways when it finally rolls out. 

In fact, Greg Sterling of Near Media has suggested that ”local and products may be two of the most affected segments”. 

We’ve gone ahead and compiled what we know so far about SGE for local search, what the experts say about it, and how it might impact both users and businesses in the future. 

So, what is Google’s Search Generative Experience?

Put simply? Say goodbye to ‘hairdressers near me’, say hello to ‘mens hairdressers offering traditional wet shave and trim package in Boston’.

The snapshot returned to the searcher is designed to offer a comprehensive, detailed response to the user’s query—no matter how complex the question (within reason, of course… but, hey, who are we to doubt Google?). The response is generated using a variety of Large Language Models (LLMs) such as MUM and PaLM2, allowing users to, in the words of Google:

• Ask entirely new types of questions that you never thought Search could answer
• Quickly get the lay of the land on a topic, with links to relevant results to explore further
• Ask follow-up questions naturally in a new conversational mode
• And get more done easily, like generating creative ideas and drafts right in Search

But don’t fret—this isn’t the end of shortt-tail searches. Google SGE seems to respond just as thoroughly to classic searches like “brew pub near me”.

These results can then be expanded upon, through what Google has dubbed ‘conversational mode’, where users will be prompted with further questions that follow the natural line of questioning (or, at least, what Google’s AI predicts it to be):

What does SGE look like for local search results?

While SGE won’t be available to the public for a while yet (there’s no consensus on when), it has been made available for use by those who joined the waiting list in the USA.

We’ve had a quick play around with some local searches in the US and have noticed a few key things:

• SGE results appear in a colored box, with the caveat “Generative AI is experimental. Info quality may vary.”
• Results show a 5-pack that looks similar to the existing local pack.
• The 5-pack has a short description next to each pack result; this sometimes includes reviews.
• It also shows a carousel of cited results, above a view of a map with pinned locations. 
• At the bottom of the SGE results, we see the prompt to ‘Ask a followup’ with additional prompts to continue the conversation.
• In some cases, Google will offer the traditional local pack accompanied by a prompt offering the user an AI-powered response.

What are the experts saying about SGE and local search? 

SEOs have jumped at the chance to delve into SGE to find out what it looks like, how it works for the end user, and what it could suggest for people working in the SEO space. 

RicketyRoo’s Amanda Jordan has noted that results vary between Google SGE results and the local pack:

I’m seeing multiple opportunities for local here. You get very different local business recommendations if you ask your query outright vs converse with AI.

— Amanda Jordan (@amandatjordan) May 26, 2023

Others pointed out the significant overlap that exists between SGE results compared to traditional local pack results.

In her piece for Local U, Sterling Sky’s Joy Hawkins noted that SGE results give visibility to businesses that show in the local pack already. However, she has found that “the two lists don’t match up identically. Sometimes the map in the AI box has a wider map view which shows different businesses than the local pack.”

Aleyda Solis commented with a similar point in her own piece, saying, “The SGE provides the least useful result I’ve seen: pretty much a duplication of the map pack that Google is already featuring below the first two organic search results anyway. Not useful.”

How will BrightLocal respond to SGE?

Myles Anderson on SGE

Myles is the CEO and Co-founder of BrightLocal

 

As a local business, understanding your ranking in search has always been complex. Your business can appear in multiple result types including traditional organic results, the local pack, knowledge panel, maps results, video results, and even in local service ads if you monitor those. 

For local businesses, it’s not as simple as saying “I rank #4 in Google”. With the introduction of SGE, we have a whole new set of results to monitor and report on. The monitoring aspect is pretty straightforward and we’ll be updating our ranking tools shortly to include these new result types. We are seeing different businesses, and different ordering of results, in the SGE pack vs local pack; even the quantity of local results showing in the SGE varies for different queries. 

All of this increases the complexity faced by marketers in determining how their clients are performing in search, and our team is focusing hard to reduce this complexity and provide clarity. 

Overall, I think that your ranking will remain a valuable data point to monitor, but the ultimate proof of success is in lead and revenue generation and the clarity of these metrics is less distorted by changes in Google’s interface.
  

What does this mean for local businesses?

With the heart of SGE being comprehensive results, Google has placed an emphasis on vertical experiences, including local search. According to Google, “SGE will provide context about local places, using AI-powered insights that make it easy to compare and explore options.” 

Preliminary research by Near Media revealed that most local searches seemed to return a snapshot featuring five or more listings as well as a carousel. Clicking on individual listings prompts a knowledge panel; clicking on one of the carousel items brings the user to the business’s website. 

SGE also allows for more specific comparisons of businesses: 

Andy Simpson, Digital Law Marketing, has even found that SGE uses content from Google reviews in its answer, meaning that processes like review management may be more important than ever: 

SGE using text from GBP reviews to help answer follow up questions.#LocalSEO #SGE pic.twitter.com/7lcXm3WUgU

— Andy Simpson (@ndyjsimpson) May 26, 2023

The takeaway? Local businesses shouldn’t be scared about SGE. In fact, it’s still distinctly possible that SGE will give small businesses more opportunities to get in front of customers due, at least in part, to the duplicated local pack.

While that also potentially leaves more opportunities for your competitors, we’d suggest continuing to keep your listings optimized and keep your business as visible in organic listings as possible. 

We know that SGE shows business descriptions, images, and reviews in results, so make sure these are up-to-date and relevant. 

So, in essence, while SGE may be something to keep your eye on, for now, the best thing to do is continue on with best practices for local SEO while Google continues to experiment.

What if I told you the boat is an illusion? 

What if I told you, it doesn’t matter whether you learn how to turn AI prompts into crypto NFT gold? Or gold into crypto? Or crypto into Google Search Console (GSC) metrics? What if I told you that the best thing you could do in the AI space right now is to stop reading and start doing?

From Childcraft to AI: A Journey of Doing 

I’m fortunate enough to have grown up with Childcraft: The How and Why Library. It was an encyclopedia set for kids with volumes like “World and Space”, “How Things Change” and “Life Around Us”. If you treated the volumes well and actually read them, your parents might buy the more grown-up World Book when you were old enough. “Make and Do” was my favorite and I still have it. It’s completely covered in grime and glue.

I attempted every project in that book. My favorite thing to make was shoes. Actual shoes. Our garage was littered with various iterations of them. It was a revelation to 5-year-old me that if I followed the instructions, I would end up with shoes I could possibly wear. Spoiler: I was not allowed to wear the shoes.

How does this relate to ChatGPT? My friends, it’s the same thing! AI isn’t smart. ChatGPT isn’t smart. It’s just predicting the next word in a series. Sure, it’s the Babe Ruth of that kind of thing, but it is absolutely, positively not smarter than you.

I’m not a scientist and I don’t know how large language models work. That is also part of my point. Back in 1975, when I was an aspiring cobbler, did I know what a printing press was? OK, I did, but did I know how to operate one? Did I understand bookbinding or how the words that came to live in my Make and Do book got there? Nope. It never even crossed my mind. I just started making and doing. This is the same. 

The AI Rollercoaster: Keeping Up with the Pace

I may not be able to understand how large language models work, but I’ve been interested in AI, have been using it, and following the research for years. Conversion, which became Jarvis, which became Jasper. MidJourney. Duplex (lol). And who can forget Libratus, the system that Carnegie Mellon built to play Texas Hold ‘Em?

What Google's Search Generative Experience Means for Local Search

Learn More

But when ChatGPT became the new hotness this year, it took me exactly one week to feel like I was late to the party, and nothing would ever be good again. I was overwhelmed with information and advice being provided by “experts” and none of it seemed relevant to me, but all of it seemed like something I needed to know right now. 

A Helping Hand from ChatGPT: The Birth of the AI Assistant 

If speed dial had existed for 5-year-old me, the Greenville County Library would have lived at spot number one. I was told you could call them up and ask them anything, so I took that at face value and pretty much called them daily.

It dawned on me that I might be able to get ChatGPT to act in a similar way. If I told it I was overwhelmed with new information about large language models and that there were many things I wanted to know and do, but I didn’t know how to get started, what would it say? Imagine my delight when it replied with a question.

“What do you want to do with a large language model?”. Dang it Cheshire Cat, you’re right!

Because I didn’t know what I wanted to do, it didn’t really matter how I got started. It turned out, just like most things, I needed an end goal. 

My AI Assistant’s Debut: A Technical SEO Trivia Game 

After a little back and forth with my new digital assistant, I determined that I wanted to create something fun to show off to my coworkers. A trivia game about everyone’s favorite subject: technical SEO! I thought the easiest and quickest way to accomplish this was to create a very simple website that had a trivia game embedded in it. I had been developing websites for years but decided to forget everything I ever knew and let ChatGPT tell me how.

I ended up with an extremely simple site with questions and answers completely written by ChatGPT. We played the game in our team meeting, and it was fun. The game took me less than 30 minutes from start to finish and that was only because I tweaked the CSS for vanity’s sake. So, what came next? What did I “need”? 

The next project kind of fell into my lap. Because I wouldn’t shut up about ChatGPT and MidJourney, I was voluntold to do an Office Hours session about it. So now I was going to be one of those people who tells other people how to leverage AI for fun and profit. How could I do this but make it lighthearted and not boring or scary and make it absolutely clear that I wasn’t an expert?

I decided to let ChatGPT do all the heavy lifting. It wrote the entire presentation and MidJourney provided all the images. I used carrd.co to park the site and at the time it almost seemed like magic. 

The Personal Concierge of Awesome: ChatGPT in Daily Life 

I’m not going to pretend that at this point my main goal was using AI professionally. I used it to write scenarios for my partner’s D&D sessions, to create music based on famous chess games, to find out where the best places to retire will be based on climate change data. The possibilities are endless when you treat these tools as your own personal concierge of awesome.

Bored while waiting in the doctor’s office? Tell it you’re bored and ask it to entertain you.

Having a panic attack and need a distraction? Ask it to tell you something good.

Hear an interesting line in a song, movie or show and wonder what that would look like as an image? MidJourney it! [The best lyric from one of the greatest songs ever written, Wichita Lineman.]

Dinner party hits a snag and you need to lighten the mood? Get MidJourney to show you “are birds fish”.

Or “lizard man, but he’s here to help”. 

But wait. I thought we were supposed to be thinking about how AI tools can make us money and leverage the widgets and circle back on the strategery. Sometimes the progress is the profit and if progress means you use these tools to get through the day with some levity, you are leveling up.

The Freedom to Use AI, Your Way 

Are there a million tutorials out there offering you secret sauces to optimize your prompts for these tools? Sure, there are. I won’t say that I never dip my toes into those waters. They’re a part of the expansive and exciting landscape of AI, and they can lead to some amazing results.

But here’s the truth that I’ve come to embrace and want to share with you: you don’t have to go down the rabbit hole of optimizations to get value out of these tools. There is an inherent power and potential in AI, and it’s accessible to all of us, even at the most basic level. You may barely know how to use them, and they can still transform your personal life and your work life in ways you couldn’t have imagined a few months ago. 

Don’t let the noise of “experts”, the litany of articles, or the pressure of “getting it right” intimidate you or keep you from exploring the AI realm. These tools are your allies, ready to assist, inspire, and amplify your efforts. They can turn a mundane task into an exciting project or convert a daunting challenge into an achievable goal. Or, they can simply make friends and family laugh around the dinner table.

Give yourself the freedom to use AI, your way. Step in with curiosity, engage with openness and don’t get swept away by the tidal wave of AI complexities. Instead, enjoy the ride. Embrace the technology that’s here to help you make, do, and achieve more. Remember, the journey with AI is not about reaching a destination; it’s about the possibilities you discover along the way. So, start where you are, use what you have, and dive into the incredible world of AI–one prompt at a time.