▶  Local SEO · S6E137 · 57:06 · September 21, 2026

Local SEO in AI Search: What Actually Works with Greg Gifford

Guest: Greg Gifford, COO at SearchLab Digital
Hosts: Jon Clark & Joe DeVita

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ABOUT THIS EPISODE

Your primary Google Business Profile category is the most powerful local ranking signal you control, and most businesses pick the wrong one.

Greg Gifford, Chief Strategy Officer at SearchLab, joins Jon Clark and Joe DeVita to separate what’s actually changing in local search from the noise. His position: SEO isn’t being replaced, but the foundations now feed a second consumer. AI models pull from the same local directories, reviews, and off-site brand signals that local SEO has always depended on — Yext research found 86% of AI citations for local businesses come from local SEO directory sites — which makes accuracy and off-site presence more valuable, not less.

Greg also gets into why SearchLab reorganized its SEO team around specialists instead of generalists, why customer service became a retention lever, and why AI search is probabilistic rather than deterministic — so the recommendation matters more than the citation link everyone’s tracking.

Plus a lot of automotive: OEM content pushdowns, the approved vendor program, and why dealerships consistently misunderstand service and parts search.

In This Episode

  • Why SearchLab moved from SEO generalists to specialist teams — and how they ran the re-org without losing people
  • Is your primary Google Business Profile category costing you map pack visibility?
  • Why dealerships lose service and parts searches to Jiffy Lube
  • Separate department profiles for parts and service, and the eligibility rule Google waived for car dealers
  • When do city and location pages cross the line into doorway page spam?
  • Review gating, the FTC update, and why Google is removing reviews 400 at a time
  • Recovering filtered Yelp reviews — a 15–20% return without earning a single new review
  • Local citations as the ante, not the win: what directories actually do for AI search visibility
  • Digital PR as off-site brand building, not link building with a new name

A practical look at where local SEO fundamentals still hold, where they’ve quietly changed, and what AI search is rewarding right now.

Connect with Greg Gifford

SearchLab Digital
Greg on LinkedIn
Greg on Reddit
Greg on X
Greg on Bluesky
Greg on Slidesshare

Chapters

  • 0:00

    AI, agencies, and what changes next

  • 1:45

    Meet Greg Gifford

  • 4:13

    From COO to chief strategy officer

  • 7:49

    Why SearchLab dropped SEO generalists

  • 10:37

    Running a re-org without losing people

  • 13:52

    Why dealerships misread service search

  • 18:19

    Is your primary category costing you rankings?

  • 19:27

    Working around OEM content pushdowns

  • 23:13

    The OEM approved vendor problem

  • 26:48

    When do city pages become doorway pages?

  • 31:18

    Local technical SEO that actually matters

  • 35:34

    Google’s review spam crackdown

  • 39:41

    Why review gating breaks FTC law

  • 40:56

    Recovering filtered Yelp reviews

  • 44:33

    Do citations still matter in AI search?

  • 48:56

    Digital PR as off-site brand building

  • 50:35

    Rapid fire: stage prep and GBP posts

  • 52:57

    Best Disney park, ranked

Resources mentioned