News and Analysis
How Brands Can Influence AI Search Results—Not Just Rank in Them
As AI answers increasingly replace traditional search results, local and regional brands are facing a new visibility challenge: how to show up when consumers never click a link at all. In an AI search environment where recommendations are surfaced instantly—and often without a website visit—being included in the answer matters more than driving traffic. A […]
Google Anonymous Reviews Reshaping Visibility for Sensitive-Industry Brands
Amid AI Overviews, AI Mode, and a steady drumbeat of core updates, Google quietly introduced a change with outsized implications for certain businesses: Google anonymous reviews. By allowing users to leave reviews under a pseudonym rather than their real name, Google has lowered a long-standing barrier for customers in privacy-sensitive industries. For multi-location brands in […]
Paycom Taps NBA Star Jalen Williams to Put AI Answers Front and Center
B2B tech brands are increasingly turning to familiar faces to humanize complex software — and Paycom is leaning into that strategy with its latest campaign. The Oklahoma City–based HR and payroll platform has tapped Jalen Williams, an All-Star guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder, to headline its new “Answers” campaign, spotlighting how its IWant™ AI […]
Commentary
Streets Ahead: Whitespark Local Ranking Factors and Local Lists in GBP
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses 2026 Local Ranking Factors from Whitespark as well as local lists in Google Business Profiles 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors: Engagement, Credibility, and Connection The News Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors report remains one of the industry’s most trusted indicators of what drives visibility in local search. […]
Content Marketing in the Era of AI Fatigue
AI wants to help you with your content marketing. In fact, it wouldn’t mind at all being at the center of your content marketing strategy. Tell it what you need, giving it as many or as few details as you’d like, and it will crank out content for you nonstop and freakishly fast. And if […]
Streets Ahead: YELP’s AI Transformation, TikTok Search and Generative Optimization
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Yelp’s AI transformation, TikTok’s search revolution and why Generative Optimization misses the point. Yelp’s AI Transformation: From Static Listings to Living Conversations The News Yelp’s 2025 Fall Product Release signaled a major leap toward an AI-driven future in local discovery. The update introduced more than 35 new […]
Latest Posts
BUST: No Cure for Rite Aid’s Ills?
Sometimes businesses, like people, simply don’t respond to health “treatment.” Rite Aid may, sadly, be among those brands. Founded in 1962 (under the name “Thrift D Discount Center”), they were once the third-largest drugstore chain in the U.S., operating 1,200 locations. The category of health and wellness itself is still going strong, but in 2023, […]
Independent Agencies Are Getting Boxed Out of Adtech
Adtech wasn’t built for the local shop on Main Street. It was built for the holding company on Madison Avenue. Independent agencies—fast-moving, deeply embedded in their communities, and focused on outcomes—have always punched above their weight. But today’s advertising infrastructure doesn’t support how they operate. From minimum spend requirements and opaque supply paths to bloated platforms […]
Halloween 2025 Begins and Results are Not Scary
“Summerween” is a term explored by Retail Next. You’ve probably noticed that Halloween pumpkins rapidly replaced flip-flops as early as July. It’s no wonder. The holiday results in as much as $12B in annual spending, and retailers are looking to get their share of the sales treat bag. A recent study (reported in that RetailNext […]
StreetFight LIVE’25: 12 Trends & Disruptive Ideas To Watch
Street Fight LIVE 2025 attracted the best and the brightest thought leaders from across the MULO (multi-location) ecosystem. We deliberately curated and invited a select, diverse group of dynamic senior executives from retail, restaurant, service, agency, and technology businesses to share their perspectives on the future trends and disruptive ideas for MULO brands in an […]
Streets Ahead: ChatGPT, AI-Generated meta descriptions and AI Mode
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses OpenAI expanding the ChatGPT ecosystem, Google experimenting with AI-Generated meta descriptions in search results and Google’s AI Mode reshaping how people search OpenAI Expands ChatGPT’s Ecosystem The News OpenAI has unveiled a major expansion of the ChatGPT experience with the launch of in-app integrations and a new […]
Survey: Voters Feel ‘Worse Off’ Compared to Early 2025
President Donald Trump has a personality problem, according to the latest Voters Trend Report from Resonate, a technology company combines big data and psychographic survey studies to develop an understanding of consumer motivations. Survey responses found that half of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with his personal behavior. Only 13% are satisfied, leaving more than a third […]
AI Is Breaking Down Data Silos — Without Breaking Privacy
The world of marketing has quickly moved away from legacy, invasive practices that took liberties with customer data, and into a new, privacy-first era. Direct collaborations based on first-party data have become the most effective way for brands and media owners to identify shared customers, develop audience insights, and plan, activate, and measure campaigns. While […]
Amperity Gets Personal with Seahawks’ Fans
The Seattle Seahawks are celebrating their 50th anniversary. A lot has changed in marketing over those years, with sophisticated systems that can reach fans at various touchpoints in their ticket-buying journey. Amperity, a customer-data platform, is enabling the Seahawks’ back-office to unify fan information from ticketing, retail, digital, and other systems to create a single, accurate […]
BOOM: First Watch is a Brand to Watch
Founded in 1983, First Watch has quietly and steadily expanded to approximately 500 locations across 29 states. The success is, in part, attributable to the ever-growing popularity of breakfast as a restaurant category. Although the brand still lags behind one of its oldest (1969) and most formidable (600+ stores in 49 states) competitor Cracker Barrel, […]
Streets Ahead: Google AI Mode , OpenAI & Commerce, TikTok
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Google expanding AI Mode from search to transactions, OpenAI pushing into commerce and clarity around TikTok in the U.S. Google Expands AI Mode from Search to Transactions The News Google is extending the capabilities of its AI Mode with two experimental features designed to push conversational search […]
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AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature