Local SEO's New Blueprint: Why Reviews are the King, Content is Queen, and the AI Future is Pay-to-Play

Joy Hawkins outlines the critical shifts in local SEO, emphasizing that Google Reviews are the Undisputed #1 Factor. Reviews are now considered "table stakes" for all SEO and ad return on investment (ROI).

The core strategy centers on hitting the 10-review threshold for an immediate ranking boost, prioritizing the recency and velocity of new reviews, incentivizing front-line staff to collect them, and encouraging customers to include keywords in their feedback.

Beyond reviews, On-Page SEO remains foundational, as the website is a core asset. It requires dedicated pages for every single service to clearly signal offerings to Google, for example, creating separate pages for "Ant Control" and "Wasp Removal" instead of a single page for "Pest Control."

Conversely, many old strategies are now deprecated. Citations are considered "almost not important at all," and backlinks are largely ineffective for moving local pack rankings; businesses should focus their time on only a dozen high-traffic directories.