The Near Memo
Exploring the big stories for the week at the intersection of local business & marketing across the spectrum of search, social and commerce. With Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal & David Mihm.
The Near Memo
State of Google Business Profile 2026: Impressions Are Down 54%—But Actions Aren’t
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Google Business Profile impressions are dropping fast—but conversions aren’t.
In this Near Memo episode, Greg Sterling, Mike Blumenthal, and Adam Dorfman unpack BirdEye’s latest data and explore what’s really changing in local search.
From AI Overviews and LLM-driven discovery to Google’s new Ask Maps interface, they examine how search behavior is shifting—and why Google still controls the final decision point.
They also dig into:
- Category vs brand search behavior
- Industry-level engagement differences
- The evolving role of reviews in AI-driven results
- Apple Maps as a quiet challenger
If you’re trying to understand how AI is reshaping local SEO, this episode connects the dots.
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