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Local SEO
Artificial Intelligence
Google Business Profile
Chatgpt
Reviews
Ask Maps
Local Search Ranking Factors
AI Overviews
AI Visibility
Google Local Services Ads
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AI Search
Brand Awareness
Local Search
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AI Mode
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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.

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Latest Episodes

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Garrett French, Valerie Cecil and James Wirth of Citation Labs rejoin Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal for Part 2. After laying out the six layers of AI visibility in Part 1, they get into how an agency runs against that model: com... more

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Is attribution dead? Not quite, says Dana DiTomaso of Kick Point, but it isn't healthy, and it was always a little fictional. Universal Analytics hid the gaps. GA4 and privacy law put them in plain sight.

Dana joins Greg Sterling a... more

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AI answers get brands wrong all the time: old pricing, expired offers, comparisons nobody updated. Garrett French, James Wirth and Valerie Cecil of Citation Labs explain how they find where a brand drops out of an AI answer and what... more

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Andrew Shotland (Local SEO Guide) and Mark Kabana (Places Scout, now part of Yext) rejoin Greg Sterling and Mike Blumenthal for Part 2 of our conversation. We get into how agencies are turning "AI visibility" into a product, why cli... more

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Recent Guests

Dana DiTomaso
Founder of Kick Point; marketing analytics expert
Kick Point
Episode: Track What You Can, Let Go of the Rest: Dana DiTomaso on Attribution After GA4
Valerie Cecil
Head of Ops at Citation Labs/Zip Sprout
Citation Labs / Zip Sprout
Episode: Correcting the Machine: Citation Labs on the Six Layers of AI Visibility (Part 1)
James Wirth
Technology, strategy, and promotions lead
Citation Labs
Episode: Correcting the Machine: Citation Labs on the Six Layers of AI Visibility (Part 1)
Garrett French
Founder, Citation Labs and Zip Sprout
Citation Labs / Zip Sprout
Episode: Correcting the Machine: Citation Labs on the Six Layers of AI Visibility (Part 1)
Mark Kabana
Executive at Yext described as guest in discussion
Yext
Episode: Rankings Up, Calls Down: What AI Visibility Is Really Worth to Local Businesses.
Andrew Shotland
Founder and CEO of Local SEO Guide
Local SEO Guide
Episode: Rankings Up, Calls Down: What AI Visibility Is Really Worth to Local Businesses.
Damian Rollison
Senior Director of Market Insights at SOCi
SOCi
Episode: The Verification Loop: How People *Really* Find Local Businesses Now (SOCi's Damian Rollison)
Paula French
Director at Search Influence
Search Influence
Episode: Tactics for Building a Local Brand in the Age of AI Search — An Agency Panel
Matt McGee
SEO/Marketing professional with real estate focus
Episode: Tactics for Building a Local Brand in the Age of AI Search — An Agency Panel

Hosts

Greg Sterling
Host of The Near Memo; focuses on local search, technology, and marketing trends.
Mike Blumenthal
Co-host; renowned local search veteran and co-host of discussions on AI in local search.

Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars from 10 ratings
  • Unravel Local Business Marketing with The Near Memo

    Greg, Mike, and David masterfully navigate the convergence of local business, marketing, and tech in The Near Memo. It's a weekly must listen with of invaluable insights for anyone looking to stay on top of the latest in local digital marketing.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    TrackGeekMTL
    United States3 years ago
  • Relevant, timely insights on local search

    With this podcast, now it’s easier for me to stay up to date on the local search industry with its constant mergers, product updates, and evolving consumer behaviors. The hosts keep it fun and casual while explaining the history and context behind industry trends. I appreciate the different types of formats (email, podcast, blog).

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Caroline Ngu.
    United States5 years ago
  • For local digital marketing news/insight, put this on your shortlist

    It's a privilege to listen in as these three veterans of local digital marketing riff on a handful of cherry-picked industry news stories each week. The episodes are short but substantive. And the format brings both range and relevance. The Near Memo highlights some of the most interesting and important developments in local: moves by big tech monoliths, rising new entrants in the market, and just interesting new data that comes to light. If you're going to listen to one podcast in this space, ... more

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    Jonathan C. Hall
    United States6 years ago
  • Great coverage of local digital landscape

    It’s hard to get better hosts than Mike, David and Greg for the topic of local search, social and commerce. All experienced industry thought leaders. Easy flow and great range of sources each episode. If you want to plug into the direction of local and digital, subscribe now.

    Apple Podcasts
    5
    AaronWeiche
    United States6 years ago

Listeners Say

Key themes from listener reviews, highlighting what works and what could be improved about the show.

The hosts mix industry lore with data-driven commentary, keeping things relatable and current.
Guests offer hands-on expertise that translates into actionable strategies for brands and agencies.
These insights help understand the evolving local search landscape for practical, real-world tactics.
The format stays concise and focused on trends, with credible context from experienced practitioners.

Chart Rankings

How this podcast ranks in the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube charts.

Apple Podcasts
#167
United Kingdom/News/Tech News
Apple Podcasts
#236
Australia/News/Tech News
Apple Podcasts
#98
Ireland/News/Tech News
Apple Podcasts
#159
Israel/News/Tech News
Apple Podcasts
#207
Netherlands/News/Tech News

Talking Points

Recent interactions between the hosts and their guests.

Correcting the Machine: Citation Labs on the Six Layers of AI Visibility (Part 1)
Q: How do you measure success and outcomes in AI visibility work?
They measure across the six layers of visibility, track sentiment and framing, monitor retrieval and citation rates, and assess whether content changes lead to improved AI recommendations and user outcomes, while acknowledging attribution challenges in multi-touch environments.
Correcting the Machine: Citation Labs on the Six Layers of AI Visibility (Part 1)
Q: Give us a case study of a client with incomplete or inaccurate brand information and what you did.
The team outlines a project combining traditional link building, off-domain content generation, and content corrections on publisher pages to ensure accurate descriptors, leading to better citations, mentions, and framing in AI outputs, and ultimately improved visibility and commercial impact.
Part 1: Barnacle SEO in the AI Era: Will Scott on Leveraging AI for Search & ChatGPT Visibility
Q: Will, can you coin Barnacle SEO and explain what that means, and what it implies in an AI world?
Barnacle SEO originated from securing numerous local listings across multiple platforms to ensure visibility when engines pull data from diverse sources; in an AI world, it expands to ensuring a business is well developed across a spectrum of AI sources (not just traditional directories), including video, social, and professional networks, so AI engines can reliably reference authoritative, well-distributed signals.
The Death of Keywords: How Google’s Personal Intelligence is defining the future of Local Search
Q: What should marketers start measuring going forward in a world of personal intelligence?
Measure in layers: first ensure your own data is discoverable and accurate (Google Business Profile), then track visibility and citations across AI and traditional search, and finally tie everything to business outcomes like leads and revenue, recognizing that attribution will become more complex.
How Google’s Personal Intelligence is Quietly Revolutionizing Your Search Results
Q: How did the 12-month Profound study structure its experiments, and what were the key findings about explicit context?
The study created four personas and tested product recommendations across eight AI platforms for 12 months with over 100,000 prompts, showing that explicit context (income, job, etc.) significantly shifts recommendations and changes the tone of AI output, implying strong brand and audience implications.

Audience Metrics

Listeners, social reach, demographics and more for this podcast.

Listeners per Episode
Gender Skew
Location
Interests
Professions
Age Range
Household Income
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Frequently Asked Questions About The Near Memo

What is The Near Memo about and what kind of topics does it cover?

The show centers on local business, marketing, and search, with frequent deep dives into local SEO, consumer data, AI-enabled discovery, and platform governance. Episodes often feature a mix of industry veterans and tech/policy experts debating current shifts in Google Maps, GBP/Ask Maps, review integrity, and the evolving role of AI in discovery and advertising. Notable strengths include practical, battleground-level tactics for local brands, a steady stream of data-driven insights, and candid assessments of regulatory and platform changes. The format tends to blend regulatory context, hands-on optimization tips, and strategic perspectives, making it valuable for agencies, brands, and practitioners navigating AI, local search, and omnichan... more

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Which podcasts are similar to The Near Memo?

These podcasts share a similar audience with The Near Memo:

1. The Whitespark Local Update
2. Local SEO - The Expert’s Guide
3. AI Explored
4. Big Technology Podcast
5. The Startup Ideas Podcast

How many episodes of The Near Memo are there?

The Near Memo launched 6 years ago and published 283 episodes to date. You can find more information about this podcast including rankings, audience demographics and engagement in our podcast database.

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What guests have appeared on The Near Memo?

Recent guests on The Near Memo include:

1. Dana DiTomaso
2. Valerie Cecil
3. James Wirth
4. Garrett French
5. Mark Kabana
6. Andrew Shotland
7. Damian Rollison
8. Paula French

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