Welcome to the third episode of Season 1 of Search Insights Academy! Co-hosts J (your data-driven tactician) and Mini (your creative strategist) explore how local search is being redrawn for 2025-26.

After a quick 30-second hook, J and Mini jump into Dual Perspectives on the big four shifts:

Gemini-powered AI Overviews reclaiming prime SERP real-estate and blending Local Pack elements (since 14 Mar 2025).

Google Business Profile 2.0: messaging badge, short-form video, social updates, and the new “hero sentence”.

The EU Digital Markets Act forcing Google to shuffle layouts and give third-party links more screen time.

Local Service Ads and multimodal search nudging clicks away from classic blue links.

In Gem-in-a-Minute, they rapid-fire answers on entity data hygiene, review reactions, and why “NAPC” must match everywhere.

The show wraps with a playful Star-sign Hot-take: how the “cosmic twins” would rescue a café that ranks in the Map Pack but never appears in AI Overviews.

You’ll leave with a 12-month action plan: tighten schema, craft conversion-ready hero sentences, launch GBP video, test LSAs, and track trust signals, not just rankings.

Read full article here: Local SEO in 2025-26

Missed our earlier episodes on Google’s ccTLD sunset and the SEO vs GEO shake-up? Queue them next!

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