Local Memo: Google Business Re-verifications, March Update, and Meta Chatbots

What You Need to Know About Google Business Profile Reverifications

The News In early March, many in the SEO industry identified a large uptick in the number of locations needing reverification on Google Business Profile, resulting in many opting to even pause updates. Last week, Google confirmed the bug and posted a message regarding the fix. The statement from Google was as follows:

“There was an issue causing a spike in reverifications for some accounts last week. The team has identified the root issue and implemented a fix that has taken full effect earlier today. We have validated that a large majority of listings triggered into reverification by this bug have been reverified.”

Though promising for that specific bug, it’s important to note that reverifications have been increasing in frequency since at least September. Around that time, SOCi, along with others in the industry, observed an increase in reverifications for businesses making updates to their Google Business Profiles. The consensus across the industry was that the changes most likely to trigger a reverification were those that businesses typically don’t often update once a listing has been created: Business name, address, phone number, business categories, and local page website URL.

Source: Search Engine Roundtable

While NAP associated updates are expected to trigger reverifications, the addition of categories, specifically additional categories, have made it hard for SEOs to optimize their business listings, as additional category optimizations are a common practice to help boost visibility for important terms online.

Overall, despite the bug confirmation from Google, SOCi has been advised to proceed with caution regarding listings updates, as these issues may still occur. It will be important to follow along and see what Google decides to keep as best practice for verified profiles, and what may be lessened in the future.

What It Means Reverifications can be a challenge for large businesses to overcome, but optimizing business listings is crucial to SEO success. It’s important to recognize that Google has acknowledged it can happen regardless of using a third party provider or updating natively, and businesses should proceed with caution and awareness of the risks associated with certain updates. For now, it may be best for businesses to roll out large optimizations to these primary fields slowly, so as to test the waters before a larger scale bulk update.

Google’s March Update Devalues Forums That Aren’t Reddit

The News Google’s March 2025 Core Update started rolling out on March 13 and has already shaken things up in the world of search. Data from Local SEO Guide shows this update caused some of the biggest search result fluctuations we’ve seen in over a year—especially in the home services niche. Around the same time, SISTRIX also picked up on major SERP movements in both the US and UK, so it’s clear the update is having a broad impact across different markets.

Three key themes have been observed thus far:

1. Forum content (with the exception of Reddit) may be devalued in search results.
2. Websites that practice programmatic content strategies may have been impacted negatively.
3. Typical algorithm updates tend to impact specific sectors of industries, while this update appears more general.

Some sites have come out on top, gaining visibility thanks to the update. Big names like Reddit, Yelp, Quora, and Home Depot are among the winners, while others—like DIYChatroom, Garage Journal, and Mr. Handyman—saw noticeable drops. These changes are part of what we typically see with core updates: some websites benefit from Google’s adjustments, while others take a hit, depending on how well they align with the search engine’s evolving priorities.

Google hasn’t shared many specifics yet about what changed in this update, so the full picture is still coming together.

What It Means As we know, Google is always fine-tuning its search algorithm, and it’s best to observe these changes and continue optimizing according to standard SEO best practices. Sometimes the full impact of updates aren’t seen for months post-update, so holding onto strategy changes until larger results are shown is usually best.

Meta Puts AI Chatbots In All Its Chat Apps

The News Meta is stepping up its AI game by rolling out new chatbot features across Messenger, WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram. Users of these apps can now chat with AI-powered characters and even make their own custom bots with unique personalities.

People (and brands) in the United States can use the AI Studio to design their own AI characters that can chat, answer questions, or share content just like a real person would. These custom bots are meant to reflect your personal vibe or your brand’s voice, and it’s part of Meta’s bigger plan to bring more useful and entertaining AI features into its biggest apps.

They’re also adding more flair to the affair by giving these AIs distinct personalities—including ones modeled after celebs—to make the conversations more fun and engaging. Whether you’re messaging for entertainment, information, or support, Meta wants these AI chatbot characters to feel distinct and useful. It’s one more step toward blending AI into the social media experience in a way that’s natural and fun.

What It Means

Meta indicated this would be rolling out months ago, but recently the activity has picked up. It will be interesting for brands to observe how they can use these bot features to their advantage. AI is inevitable in our marketing strategies, so brands who embrace some of these new tactics early may reap the benefits.