🎙️ Unscripted SEO Podcast
SEO Evolution: Chris Turnbull on Local SEO’s Surprising Stability
Founder of Catalyst Marketing on why local SEO has changed less than everyone predicted — and what’s actually working in regional markets right now.
Host: Jeremy Rivera — Unscripted SEO Podcast | Guest: Chris Turnbull, Founder of Catalyst Marketing
Listen to the full unscripted conversation and explore more episodes at UnscriptedSEO.com
“Entity Optimization and AI with Jason Barnard” — the founder of Kalicube on the algorithmic trinity of modern search, controlling your digital footprint, and practical strategies for the AI search era.
— Jason Barnard, Kalicube | Listen: Entity Optimization and AI with Jason Barnard →
Key Takeaways
- Local SEO is more stable than the headlines suggest. Google Business Profile, consistent citations, genuine reviews, and locally relevant content are still the core signals. The fundamentals haven’t been disrupted — they’ve been confirmed.
- AI overviews have created traffic shifts but not ranking revolutions in local. For service-area businesses targeting local intent queries, the organic local pack and map results still drive the majority of leads. The disruption is happening most in informational search, not transactional local search.
- Reviews are a moat, not just a metric. A business with 200 genuine reviews at 4.7 stars is structurally harder to outrank than one with better technical SEO and fewer reviews. Review velocity — new reviews arriving consistently — is a signal that compounds over time.
- Local link building is still underinvested. Sponsoring local events, earning mentions from local news and community sites, and building relationships with complementary local businesses create link profiles that national competitors can’t easily replicate.
Why Local SEO Hasn’t Been Disrupted (Yet)
Chris’s core observation: the AI disruption to search is predominantly happening in informational queries — “how do I,” “what is,” “explain.” The queries that drive local service business leads — “plumber near me,” “best HVAC company in [city],” “roofing contractor [zip code]” — are transactional and proximity-dependent. AI overviews don’t answer those queries better than a local pack does.
The practical implication: local service businesses should stay focused on the fundamentals that drive local pack rankings and GBP visibility, while monitoring how AI overview insertion affects click-through rates on informational queries in their market.
Connect with Chris Turnbull
- Website: catalystmarketingagency.com
The Unscripted SEO Podcast features candid, unscripted conversations with SEOs and digital marketers. Hosted by Jeremy Rivera.
