Merchynt's Local SEO Blog

Google’s AI Destroys Fake Reviews + Interesting Findings

Google just turned up the heat on fake reviews and not in a subtle way. They’re now using their AI system, Gemini, to sniff out and remove fake and policy-violating reviews (read Google's post). And if you get caught? Google might slap a warning label right on your profile telling the world that your reviews look suspicious. So if you’ve been tempted to take a shady approach to reviews… don’t. Google is strict on reviews because they matter a lot, which we’ve learned a lot about from the ranking data we’ve been studying from Paige, our GBP optimization AI. Here’s our top 3 findings about reviews so you know what really matters according to the data!

April 10, 2025

Newsletter

Google Myth Busters: How Long Does It Take To Rank?

We interrupt your regularly scheduled newsletter full of tips on how to get more customers from Google Maps with a Public Service Announcement. PSA: It takes 4-6 months for most businesses to start ranking higher on Google Maps after starting a new SEO strategy. This isn’t news to us, but it is obvious there are misconceptions in the marketplace about the time it takes to rank a Google Business Profile on Google Maps - shared by shady sales people.

April 3, 2025

How to Grow Your Marketing Agency in 2025 (Even Without a Huge Team)

Hey agency owners 👋 — If you’re wondering how to actually scale your marketing agency in 2025 (and not just bounce from client to client), you’re in the right place. We’ve cracked the code on lead generation and automated fulfillment, and I’m going to show you our exact playbook so you can copy it for your agency. Whether you offer web design, local SEO, social media, or even PPC, this guide will walk you through what’s working to grow fast (without burning out).

March 31, 2025

A Step-by-Step Guide to Creating SEO-Friendly Videos for Your Business

In today’s digital world, short-form videos like Reels and shorts are gaining immense popularity. They are quickly becoming the preferred content for capturing attention and engaging audiences. Even Google is reinforcing this trend by actively encouraging businesses to post videos on their Google Business Profiles. This guide will break down why video marketing is necessary for local SEO, the best affordable tools to create high-quality content, and how Paige—an AI-powered solution—can streamline the entire process for you.

March 25, 2025

The Ultimate Checklist for Keeping Your Online Listings Accurate

Here’s a real story that happened. A Yelp user searched for a smoke shop online and they found one on Yelp. They looked at the business opening hours and decided to take a stroll down to the shop, only to find it closed. Frustrated, they searched for the GBP of the company and left a scathing review. In this blog post, we’ll provide the ultimate checklist for managing online listings and introduce a powerful tool—Paige—that can save you time and effort while boosting your local SEO rankings.

March 21, 2025

Newsletter

The New Secret Weapon for GMB Rankings

Think YouTube is just for influencers and funny pet videos? Think again! If you're not using YouTube to boost your Google Business Profile, you’re missing out on one of the biggest ranking hacks out there. Google loves businesses that use video, and since Google owns YouTube, it rewards those who do. Yet, most local businesses completely overlook it. That’s great news for you because it means an easy way to get ahead of your competitors. Here’s a list we threw together of the top 3 benefits of YouTube posting for your GMB rankings!

March 20, 2025

The Best Local SEO Software for Small Businesses: A Breakdown of the Top Three Options

If you’ve ever wondered what the best local SEO software for small businesses is, you’re in the right place. We get asked this question all the time, so I wanted to break it down and give you the best options available today. I’ll go over two of the most well-known choices in the industry, and then I’ll introduce you to my personal favorite (spoiler alert: it’s something I built, and there’s a reason it’s taking off fast!). So, let’s dive in!

March 14, 2025

Newsletter

Google Drops Hints for GMB Optimization

Google has been dropping some not-so-subtle hints lately. In not one, but TWO of their SMB newsletters in the past couple months, they encouraged businesses to upload videos to their Google Business Profile. Translation: Google wants more videos, and if you give them what they want, they’ll probably reward you in rankings and visibility. Google doesn’t highlight features for no reason. When they push something repeatedly, it’s a clear signal that businesses that take action now will have the upper hand over those who wait.

March 12, 2025

How Customer Reviews Affect Local SEO and Google Business Profile Rankings

When customers leave reviews on your Google Business Profile (GBP), it shows Google that your business is active and trustworthy. This can help improve your local search rankings, making it easier for potential customers to find you on Google Maps and local search results.If you want your business to appear in local searches and the Google Map Pack, you need a strong review strategy. In this post, we’ll explore how customer reviews influence local search visibility and what steps you can take to optimize your GBP for better rankings. You can watch our video on the importance of customer reviews and how to get reviews on auto-pilot for your business. Let’s begin!

March 7, 2025

Newsletter

Google Pushes GMB Reviews for Ranking

If Google could shout one GMB ranking tip from the rooftops, they’d be yelling: “Get more reviews!” and to make sure you do, they’re now generating QR codes for your GMB review page. That means no more hoping customers remember to leave feedback—just show them the QR code, let them scan, and watch the stars roll in. You can access this on desktop by searching for your business, then clicking on "Ask for reviews" or by going to your reviews and clicking on "Get more reviews." But collecting reviews is only half the battle– the reviews also need to be optimized for you to get the most out of them. That’s why we compiled a list of our most important tips to optimize your reviews so you can take it a step further!

March 5, 2025

Geotagging 101: How SMBs Can Use Photos and Videos to Rank Locally

Let’s try a small experiment. Let’s search for the term “French Onion Soup” on Google Maps. What you will notice in the image below is that Google returned the profiles that had images similar to the search term. This shows us just how much value Google places on images. But what if we took it a step further? What if, instead of just uploading images, we geotagged them? In this blog post, I’ll discuss how SMBs can use photos and videos to rank higher on Google Maps.

February 28, 2025

Newsletter

You’re Driving Potential GMB Customers Away

Ever wonder why your Google Business Profile brings in visitors, but they’re not converting into customers? Most of the potential customers your profile attracts are visiting your website on their phones. If your site is slow, hard to read, or frustrating to use on mobile, they’ll bounce—and head straight to a competitor. Your Google Business Profile is the front door to your website, but if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re basically slamming that door in your customers’ faces. Let’s fix that!

February 24, 2025

Everything you need to know about Heatmaps Reporting

If you have ever heard the term “heatmaps reporting”, there’s only one of the two things. You either know all about heatmaps reporting and can explain it in your sleep like me, or you’re like Winnie on my team who just nods whenever it’s mentioned. Don’t worry, I’ll definitely send over this blog post to her. Heatmap reporting is an integral part of ranking online, sadly a lot of people have turned it into a local SEO buzzword. In this blog post, we’ll explain the components of a heatmap ranking audit, explain how to interpret rankings and explore how to use this data to enhance SEO efforts.

February 21, 2025

From Service to SaaS: How to Sell Your Marketing Agency For The Most Money

If you’re running a digital marketing agency, you’re probably familiar with the grind of managing clients, and employees, and the endless stream of tasks to keep everything running smoothly. But what if you could transform your agency into a SaaS (Software as a Service) business? Doing so could significantly boost your profit margins and the valuation multiple when it’s time to sell your business.

February 14, 2025

Newsletter

Did Your Google Reviews Disappear?

In the past few days, many businesses have noticed their Google reviews mysteriously vanishing. Don’t panic—Google has confirmed this is a temporary bug and is working on a fix. Google did confirm that all of the missing reviews still exist and will come back once they sort this out. In the meantime, the best thing you can do is continue gathering fresh 5-star reviews.

February 12, 2025