Josh 🦏

Three things I do to avoid bad clients: - Only work with clients I vibe with - Avoid stingy clients - Find clients that bring recurring business

1/ Google AI Overviews don't care where you rank. In February 2026, only 38% of cited pages were in the top 10. Down from 76% just 8 months earlier. The rules changed. Here's what actually gets a local business cited now (4-post thread):

58% of businesses still don't optimize for local search. 46% of ALL Google searches have local intent. Your competitors are leaving money on the table. Pick it up.

SEO delivers an average ROI of 22:1. $22 back for every $1 spent. Paid search? 2:1. The math isn't complicated.

Hot take: The businesses struggling in 2026 aren't the ones who invested in SEO. They're the ones who invested in 2019's version of SEO and never adapted.

63% of businesses say AI Overviews HELPED their traffic. Not hurt. Helped. Maybe read the data before you panic.

Brands cited inside Google's AI Overviews earn 35% more organic clicks. Not cited? Full 65% CTR decline. The game isn't over. The rules changed.

Google processes 13.7 BILLION searches per day. 5 trillion per year. If that's "dead," I want whatever they're drinking.

Real estate SEO ROI: 1,389% Financial services: 1,031%. B2B SaaS: 702%. Legal: 526%. Tell me again how SEO "doesn't work."

Voice search is how customers find local pros now: 58% use it, and 76% of smart-speaker searches are “near me.” Google answers from your GBP. Optimize: write conversationally, complete every attribute, keep hours accurate, and list services in full sentences.

I did 6 years in the military before starting ScaleStorm. That’s why we hit timelines, keep promises, and reply fast - no offshore handoffs. We keep our client roster small so you get senior attention. Accountability beats strategy.

Unpopular opinion: your website matters less than your Google Business Profile in 2026. Local pack = GBP signals (32%) + reviews (20%); links are just 8%. 60% of searches are zero-click, and AI Overviews often pull from GBP. If you only optimize one thing this hour: GBP.

Anonymous Google reviews are live - and they rank like named ones. Since Nov 2025, Maps allows pseudonyms: more volume, more fakes, same conversion. You can’t control who posts. Control the reply: respond to every review, fast.

Google killed GBP Q&A. Now “Ask Maps” (Gemini) auto-answers by scanning your profile, site, and reviews. If your info is thin, it can confidently be wrong. Audit weekly: approve fixes, edit bad answers, seed key questions - or AI writes your story.

2024: Google → website → Yelp → decide. 2026:  AI Overviews, Maps, voice, and ChatGPT answer before clicks. ~60% of searches end zero-click, but buyers still convert inside Google + AI. New rule: GBP = homepage.** Reviews + photos = your sales copy

Review autopilot: Ask at the point of service. Text/email a direct GBP review link. Rotate who asks. Target 2–5 new reviews/mo. Reply to every review within 24h. Joy Hawkins showed rankings drop when review flow stops. Consistency wins.

Whitespark 2026: Local Pack = 32% GBP signals + 20% reviews (52%). On-page 15%, behavior 9%, links 8%, citations 6%. If you’re spending most time on links/page tweaks, you’re optimizing the smaller half. Rebalance to GBP completeness, photos, review flow + fast replies.

Your Google Business Profile is training data for AI. When people ask ChatGPT, Google, or voice assistants for local recommendations,they pull from your attributes, reviews, photos, and Q&A. An incomplete profile makes you invisible. 45% use AI for local recs (up from 6%).

2026 local reality: 97% read reviews. 31% require 4.5★+, 68% need 4★+, 47% skip businesses with <20 reviews, and 74% only trust the last 3 months. Recency + volume win. Reply like a human: be specific and give a next step.

"Just get more backlinks” is the worst local SEO advice in 2026. Stop tactics meant to game rankings. Build local brand instead: partner with nonprofits, earn local news, and get validated by business groups. Rankings now follow real GBP engagement, not links.

Google nuked 240M fake reviews in 2024 (12M fake profiles, 900K accounts). That’s 40% more caught - powered by Gemini AI. With the FTC fake review ban live, honest businesses win: fewer spam listings means you move up in local results.