The AI SEO blog.
Google, ChatGPT, Grok and Gemini are changing how people find local businesses, and they change every week. We write up what just happened, what it means for a UK local business, and exactly what we're doing about it for our clients, with our own Search Console and Analytics numbers where we have them.
13 September 2026 · 7 min read
Google Ads is adding a Data Strength Uplift Metric. Here is what it counts
Google is adding a Data Strength Uplift Metric to Google Ads and moving Data Manager into Analytics. What it means for a small UK advertiser.
13 September 2026 · 7 min read
Google screens your review replies. Usually 10 minutes, sometimes 30 days
Google checks your review replies before they post, usually up to 10 minutes and sometimes up to 30 days. Here is what a UK owner should do.
13 September 2026 · 7 min read
Search Central Live goes to Ciudad de México and Bogota in October. Kent is not on the list
Google is taking Search Central Live to Ciudad de México on 15 October and Bogota on 19 October. Registration closes 16 September. What it means here.
13 September 2026 · 7 min read
Google's review rules: ask with a link or a QR code, never with a discount
Google calls the discount-for-a-review swap strictly prohibited and hands you a free link and QR code instead. What UK local firms should do this week.
13 September 2026 · 7 min read
Google took free AI workshops down Route 66. The exercises travel, the certificate does not
Google ran free Make AI Work for You workshops across five US states. The exercises transfer to a UK small business, the free certificate does not.
12 September 2026 · 10 min read
Google says nearly half of Gemini's admin questions come outside office hours
Google says nearly half of the admin questions people take to Gemini are asked outside business hours. Why that hour decides what gets said about you.
12 September 2026 · 10 min read
Google's AI plans add voice drafting and Google Pics. Spark stays in the US
Google's AI plans now include voice drafting in Gmail, Docs and Keep and Google Pics in Workspace. What a UK small business can use, and what it cannot.
12 September 2026 · 10 min read
The Gemini app arrived on Windows on 10 September. Alt + Space is the new front door
Google launched the Gemini app for Windows on 10 September, opened with Alt + Space over your work. What it means for a UK local business, and what to fix.
12 September 2026 · 7 min read
Musk said SpaceX data is going into Grok's training. xAI's flagship is still Grok 4.6
Musk said SpaceX data is going into Grok's training and 4.7 should be ready in weeks. A month on, xAI's flagship is still Grok 4.6. How to check.
12 September 2026 · 10 min read
Your business is already on Google Maps. Here is how to claim the profile
A listing can sit on Google Maps for years without you. How to tell an unverified profile from a verified one, and how to claim the one that is yours.
11 September 2026 · 7 min read
Google's AI is phoning local businesses. In the UK it can already book the table
Google's AI now calls local businesses to check prices and availability, and books UK restaurant tables in AI Mode. What it asks, and how to be ready.
11 September 2026 · 8 min read
ChatGPT Images 2.5 landed on 8 September. Keep it off your Google profile
OpenAI shipped ChatGPT Images 2.5 on 8 September 2026. What it changes for UK local businesses, and why Google's own photo rules put it off limits.
11 September 2026 · 10 min read
GPT-6 Astra is state of the art at browsing. Your website is the answer it reads
OpenAI says GPT-6 Astra is state of the art at browsing, and free ChatGPT is funded by ads. What that means for a UK local business site.
11 September 2026 · 9 min read
How to change your address and opening hours on your Google Business Profile
Moved premises or cut your winter hours? How to edit the address and hours on your Google Business Profile, and what Google checks before it goes live.
9 September 2026 · 9 min read
Grok 4.7 is promised this week. Grok is a search engine now. It sent us one visit in 15 months
Grok 4.7 is promised for around 12 September 2026. Grok already answers from live X posts and web pages. Grok SEO for UK local businesses: what we do now.
9 September 2026 · 9 min read
ChatGPT has 1 billion weekly users and it cannot see your Google profile. Here's what it reads
OpenAI confirmed 1 billion weekly users on 31 July 2026. How ChatGPT recommends local businesses, using Bing not Google, plus our own GA4 figures.
9 September 2026 · 9 min read
Google's AI report reached every site by 31 August. 30% of UK Google searches show an AI answer
Google Search Console's generative AI report counts how often AI Overviews and AI Mode show your pages. Where to find it and what to do next.
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