Saturday, September 12, 2026

Local SEO expert Joy Hawkins outlined how reviews factor into Google rankings alongside proximity, category, and website authority—emphasizing recency, engagement, and responsiveness over perfect ratings or keyword-stuffed text.

A study of 6 million local search results found review volume and recency drive Google Local Pack rankings more than star ratings, though consumers still heavily weight ratings in conversion decisions.

GatherUp released Auto Reply Templates, an AI-powered feature that automatically matches pre-written review responses to incoming reviews based on sentiment.

Google redesigned Search results in the EEA, restored view counts to Business Profile posts, and ChatGPT Shopping expanded its reliance on product feeds.