Sean sat down with Rhea Allen on Episode 276 of The Marketing Expedition Podcast to talk about where search is headed and what local service business owners should be doing about it right now.
Here's the short version. Your customers are not just Googling you anymore. They're asking ChatGPT, checking Google Maps, reading your reviews, and watching YouTube before they ever pick up the phone.
It's not search engine optimization anymore. It's search everywhere optimization.
Listen to the full episode here or on Apple Podcasts.
SEO became search everywhere optimization
For years, SEO meant one thing: rank on Google. That's still important. But it's no longer the whole picture.
Today, a homeowner looking for a roofer might ask ChatGPT for a recommendation, scan the map pack, read a dozen reviews, and watch a video before they call anyone. Every one of those is a search. If you only show up in one of them, you're invisible in the rest.
The good news is that the fundamentals did not change. SEO is not tricking or gaming Google. It's being clear about who you serve and proving it everywhere your customers look. When your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and your content all tell the same clear story, Google and the AI tools have an easy time recommending you.
Your Google reviews should be on autopilot
Reviews do double duty. They help you show up in local search, and they are the first thing a new customer reads before deciding whether to trust you.
The problem is most business owners forget to ask, or they ask once and never follow up. Sean and Rhea talked about how to automate the review request so it goes out every single time a job is finished, without anyone on your team having to remember.
The secret is never in the thing. It's in the follow-up of the thing.
Want the exact words to use? Grab our free Google review scripts. Copy, paste and send them to your happy customers by text or email. Get the free Google review scripts.
Start with the goals and the competition
Before we touch a single page on a client's site, we get clear on two things: what the business actually wants to grow, and who they're up against.
Marketing is a race. It's not what you do; it's what you do versus your competition. Once we know who is winning the searches you want, we can see exactly what it will take to pass them. Then we make decisions based on data, not personal preference or emotion.
Video, testimonials, and YouTube build trust fast
People connect with people, not logos. Video lets a potential customer see you, hear you and get comfortable with you before they ever meet you.
Testimonials work the same way. Anything you say about yourself is a claim. When a happy customer says it, it's proof.
And YouTube is one of the most overlooked SEO plays for local businesses. It's the second largest search engine in the world, and a simple video answering a question your customers ask all the time can keep sending you leads for years.
Automation catches leads. People close them.
One of the biggest takeaways from the conversation: automation and AI are tools, not a replacement for real relationships.
Use automation to catch the leads that would otherwise fall through the cracks. The missed call, the form fill at 9 pm, the customer who forgot to leave a review. But don't hand your whole business over to it. If your growth has stalled, the answer is often to get more personal, not less.
As Sean put it on the show, "We are not relying on automation to grow our business." People love people.
Want help showing up everywhere your customers search?
At Sean Garner Consulting, we build, fill, and optimize sales funnels for local service businesses so you can get more leads and become the clear leader in your industry.
If your phone is quieter than it used to be, it's probably not the economy. It's your marketing. Book a call with Sean, and we'll show you exactly where you're missing customers.
And a big thank you to Rhea Allen and the Peppershock Media team for having Sean on the show.
