Episode 14: Important Conversations from brightonSEO USA

Key Takeaways

• Apple Maps is one of the most overlooked local SEO opportunities
• Google now uses image recognition to match photos on your business profile to specific search queries
• Review engagement and user signals (calls, direction clicks, time on profile) are increasingly important ranking factors for local search
• Search diversification is here — ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI tools should be treated as channels, not just novelties
• 73% of location marketers cannot connect their efforts to revenue — adopting a revenue-first mindset is the most important shift for 2025

brightonSEO is the world’s largest SEO conference, and this year’s US edition in San Diego brought together hundreds of practitioners, partners, and thought leaders with one question on everyone’s mind: How is local search changing, and what should brands be doing about it?

In this special live episode of the Local Marketing Beat podcast, host Christian Hustle records on the floor at brightonSEO USA, connecting with Uberall partners, SEO practitioners, and industry experts to capture the tips, trends, and predictions that matter most for multi-location brands heading into 2025. From Apple Maps opportunities to AI-driven search, from review engagement signals to the 73% revenue attribution gap, this episode distills the sharpest insights from the conference into one conversation.

Timestamps

00:00 Welcome to brightonSEO USA and what to expect from this episode

01:05 Connecting with experts: local SEO tips and predictions

02:18 Apple Maps: the overlooked opportunity for local SEO

04:08 AI and the consumer journey: what’s changing?

05:03 Research insights: contractors and construction SEO trends

09:20 The power of reviews and imagery in local SEO

14:50 Effective strategies for optimizing location pages

18:10 Local performance optimization: bringing revenue into focus

20:55 The future of AI in search and SEO predictions for 2025

26:50 Success stories from Uberall partners

31:45 Search diversification and embracing new platforms

36:15 Leveraging AI for efficiency and growth

40:00 Wrap-up: AI, visibility, and 2025 SEO trends

Apple Maps Is the Most Overlooked Local SEO Opportunity

“Apple Maps has done a tremendous job in the last year or so really investing in themselves, especially being a search platform. I see a lot of enterprises and SMBs that are just not investing or spending time or focusing on that.” — Kevin, Director of Partnerships, Uberall

Kevin highlights what he hears consistently from Uberall’s partner network: Apple Maps is one of the biggest missed opportunities in local SEO.

While most businesses focus their optimization efforts on Google, Apple has been rapidly investing in its search platform and in partnerships with tools like Uberall to make it easier for businesses to manage their presence.

For any business with a physical storefront trying to drive navigation and foot traffic, ignoring Apple Business Connect means leaving an entire audience unserved. With Apple’s device market share and the growing role of Siri and Apple Intelligence in local discovery, this gap is only going to widen. As Kevin notes, businesses that invest in Apple Maps now have an opportunity to stand out against competitors who simply are not paying attention.

Google Image Recognition Is Changing How Photos Impact Rankings

“Google knows what a shingle is. It knows what a roof is. It knows what a basement is. It can tell these things from the images, and it feeds into the relevance factor. When you type in certain searches, the image that comes up with the business is tailored to whatever your search is.” — Julian Hooks, Senior Manager of SEO, Asurion

Julian shares a striking finding from his research into contractor SEO: Google’s image recognition now matches photos on your Google Business Profile to specific search queries. If you search for iPhone repair, a repair shop’s profile will show a photo of an iPhone being repaired. Search for MacBook repair, and the same business will display a MacBook photo. Google is reading images and surfacing the most relevant one for each query.

Christian adds a parallel from the hotel industry: Properties could not rank for “hotel with pool” until they uploaded photos showing their pool. For multi-location brands managing listings at scale, the implication is direct: Every location needs recent, relevant photos of its key services and products. Generic brand photos will not cut it. The photos you upload are now a ranking signal, not just a visual aid.

14% of Contractors Have No Website — and the Basics Still Win

“Over 1,300 of them didn’t have a website. That’s about 14% of all the businesses we looked at. The ones that really take their internet marketing and their local marketing seriously are able to have an unfair advantage because so many of the other businesses just aren’t doing that.” — Julian Hooks, Senior Manager of SEO, Asurion

Julian’s research into nearly 10,000 contractor businesses reveals a stark reality: 14% had no website at all, and 22% of those that did had their homepage title tag set to “homepage” — meaning no one had ever touched the basic SEO.

For businesses in industries where competitors are not investing in digital marketing, the opportunity is enormous. Even foundational optimization — a claimed profile, a proper title tag, relevant local landing pages — creates an outsized advantage.

Julian shares a specific case study: A general contractor who niched down into basement waterproofing, built a targeted website with location pages optimized for each city, gathered five reviews, and generated an extra $60,000 in revenue within 60 days. The lesson for multi-location brands: Do not assume your competitors are sophisticated. In many industries, getting the basics right — accurate location data management, optimized content, and a steady review flow — still creates significant competitive advantage.

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Search Diversification: Treat AI Tools as Channels, Not Novelties

“ChatGPT is pulling in something like two and a half billion views a month. If you’re not getting in front of those people, then you’re going to be missing out on potential customers. We need to treat it as a channel, not just as a novelty.” — Crystal Carter, Head of SEO Communications, Wix

Crystal Carter delivers one of the strongest messages from the conference: Search diversification is no longer optional. ChatGPT alone generates 2.5 billion monthly views, with users spending an average of six minutes per session.

Perplexity, Claude, and Co-Pilot all generate links that drive traffic. Custom GPTs can include direct links to businesses. For local businesses, these are not experimental tools — they are channels where potential customers are already spending significant time.

Crystal also emphasizes the importance of structured data and managing your listings across platforms, since LLMs are pulling from third-party sources to generate their answers. For brands already investing in AI visibility, this reinforces the strategy: Ensure your business information is accurate, rich, and distributed across every surface where AI tools look for data. The brands that treat AI search as a channel today will be the ones that capture demand as adoption grows.

Revenue First: Why 73% of Marketers Need a New Approach

“73% of people said that they didn’t have a way of really showcasing revenue at the end of all the work that they do. If you focus on visibility and have a revenue mindset, I think you’re going to be in a better spot than you are yesterday.” — Partho Ghosh, VP of Product, Uberall

Partho, Uberall’s VP of Product, shares the finding that anchored much of the conference conversation: From a survey of 500 respondents, 73% of location marketers could not connect their efforts to revenue.

During user research, the Product team found that nearly half of customers did not have revenue on their main dashboards. The gap between activity and attribution is where budgets get cut and teams lose credibility.

Partho’s advice is twofold: First, make your Google Business Profile as complete and engaging as possible — it remains the foundation of local visibility. Second, adopt a revenue-first mindset by connecting location marketing activity to location performance optimization metrics that leadership can understand.

As he notes, if your location data is up to date and your profiles are in good shape, you will be primed for whatever AI search tools emerge next — because the data foundation is the same.