What’s New in AI Search? Whiteboard Friday Revisited With Garrett Sussman

According to Garrett, AI Overviews for local search are “still garbage,” and not much has changed since 2024. The same core concepts reign supreme in Local SEO: proximity, relevance, and prominence.

In 2024, Garrett noted that while the concepts of Local AIOs were simple, the quality of results was poor or incorrect. In 2025, this remains true, with examples of the same law firm showing up multiple times. Content is fed into the local experience from various sources, including Reddit, forum reviews, and Google Business Profiles.

In 2025, the advice remains the same: maintain consistency and accuracy for the knowledge graph for a local business, specifically through your Google business profile, making sure there are no gaps in information. Ensure there are no gaps in information, and that your merchant feed is thoroughly covered with attributes, shipping options, sale details, and so on. Crucially, encourage and maintain your business’s online reputation with reviews. And if you’re focusing on AI Overviews, then aim to gradually increase your positive Google reviews, over Yelp, Facebook or Trip Advisor. 

“Reviews are one of the next most important pieces of content and marketing initiatives that you should have in place for a local business.”