Featured Blog

Oct 27th, 2026

Edition 43: Is AI really sending you customers?

Small-business owners now rank AI tools just ahead of Google as a source of new customers, but their customers tell a different story. Discover why Google still sends almost all of the visits and sales, why Chrome now warns visitors before opening non-secure websites, and a fifteen-minute tally that shows where your own customers really start. [Read the full edition →]
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Small-business owners now rank AI tools just ahead of Google as a source of new customers, but their customers tell a different story. Discover why Google still sends almost all of the visits and sales, why Chrome now warns visitors before opening non-secure websites, and a fifteen-minute tally that shows where your own customers really start. [Read the full edition →]
Oct 21st, 2026

Edition 42: Should your town be in your web address?

Changing your web address can feel like a fresh start, but Google remembers the old one for months. Discover why a move Google says takes a few weeks can stretch much longer, why ChatGPT visitors may be hiding in your "direct" traffic, and a fifteen-minute check that shows where your old web addresses actually lead. [Read the full edition →]
Oct 21st, 2026

Edition 42: Should your town be in your web address?

Changing your web address can feel like a fresh start, but Google remembers the old one for months. Discover why a move Google says takes a few weeks can stretch much longer, why ChatGPT visitors may be hiding in your "direct" traffic, and a fifteen-minute check that shows where your old web addresses actually lead. [Read the full edition →]
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Oct 13th, 2026

Edition 41: The Google penalty that tells you why

Google only sends one kind of warning about your website, and it goes to whoever's listed on your Search Console account. Discover why that list matters more as consultants report a rise in Google penalties, why healthcare websites are losing their review stars in search, and a fifteen-minute check that shows you exactly who Google is writing to. [Read the full edition →]
Oct 13th, 2026

Edition 41: The Google penalty that tells you why

Google only sends one kind of warning about your website, and it goes to whoever's listed on your Search Console account. Discover why that list matters more as consultants report a rise in Google penalties, why healthcare websites are losing their review stars in search, and a fifteen-minute check that shows you exactly who Google is writing to. [Read the full edition →]
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Published Oct 6th, 2026

Edition 40: Who proofread your website?

AI can write a page of website copy in seconds, and Google's guidance now calls checking that copy "critical." Discover why an unchecked page can promise things your business doesn't do, why Google Ads will start pulling offers off your website on Oct 12, and a fifteen-minute fact-check you can run on one page of your own site tonight. [Read the full edition →]
Published Sep 29th, 2026

Edition 39: Who's really calling for a quote?

Google's AI now phones local businesses to ask what they charge, then lines up every answer for a shopper to compare. Discover why what your front desk says on that call matters more than ever, why phone numbers in your Google posts now get checked, and a fifteen-minute test that shows you what a caller hears when they ask your price. [Read the full edition →]
Published Sep 22nd, 2026

Edition 38: Your Report Has Two Kinds of Numbers

Some of the numbers in your marketing report are measured. The rest are estimates, and this month the estimating got a lot harder. Discover why one rank-tracking company is pulling 80% less data out of Google than it was, which file type started dropping out of search results in late August, and the fifteen minutes that tell you which numbers in your report to trust. [Read the full edition →]
Published Sep 15th, 2026

Edition 37: The One Thing You Don't Get to Approve

Every other thing you own online publishes only what you put on it. Your Google listing is the exception, and this month somebody used that to put a wrong phone number on more than 150 businesses at once. Discover why Google's own screening caught it late, which two WordPress form plugins are under active attack right now, and the fifteen minutes in your own photo gallery that would catch the next one. [Read the full edition →]
Published Sep 9th, 2026

Edition 36: Nothing Left to Tap

Google's local results are showing two businesses where they used to show three, and often with no call button at all. Discover why a study of 179 profiles traced falling calls to a missing button rather than to lost rankings, which SEO plugin created credentials on WordPress sites without asking first, and the fifteen-minute test that shows whether Google's directions actually get a customer to your door. [Read the full edition →]
Published Sep 1st, 2026

Edition 35: Four AIs, One Business, Four Different Answers

Two Google products, the same clinic, the same hour, the same question. One named the business in every answer. The other never mentioned it. Discover why there's no single number for how you're doing in AI search, which one question type scored above 95% on all four systems we tested, and the 15-minute check that shows you who's getting named instead of you. [Read the full edition →]