Local Memo: Google Expands Social Posts Visibility in Local Search Results

Mike Snow

Summary

In this week’s update, Google expands social posts visibility in local search results; Google Search Labs adds car detailers, phone repair shops, and pet groomers to their “Ask for me” experiment; and a new study finds a correlation between local pack and AI Overview results.

The News In yet another reason to add those social URLs to your Google Business Profile if you haven’t already, SOCi’s local search team observed late last week that recent posts for linked social networks are now appearing prominently in Finder search results on mobile devices.

While recent social media posts have been appearing on some Google Business Profiles since January of last year, they have only been featured in direct search results on mobile in a feature that typically appears further down SERP in between related organic results.

This new feature appears in a more prominent position just below Review summaries, and (when they appear) the Popular Times and About this place features. Its relation to those features is likely a sign that Google sees social posts as experiential, helping to define what a customer can expect from that business.

We’ve observed that up to 10 posts may appear in the “Social media updates” carousel” from multiple networks starting with the most recent.

For posts to appear, business owners must add links to their social media profiles. Google has confirmed that multi-location and enterprise businesses who may not have localized profiles for all networks can link the same social URL to multiple profiles.

Why This Matters Not only do signals from linked social profiles seem to have an effect on local search visibility, they can now also provide customers with additional information about your business, giving them a reason to select you over your competition. Businesses not taking advantage may not only lose visibility to those that are, but also see a decrease in engagement as customers become more used to seeing and expecting this feature.

Google Search Labs Expands “Ask For Me” Experiment

The News In February, Google Search Labs launched a new experiment, called “Ask for me,” that uses AI to call businesses on a customer’s behalf to find out what they charge for a service and when it’s available. Initially limited to auto services and nail salons, Google Search Labs recently expanded the test to include car detailing, pet grooming, and phone repair, with the promise of “more coming soon.”

Customers that take advantage of the feature are asked a series of questions to define the service(s) needed and provide enough information for a business to reasonably provide a quote (i.e. car type, phone type, dog breed, and size).

Google promises “responses in 30 minutes” via text or email. Our testing found that response time only applied during typical business hours for that industry.

Why This Matters If Google is expanding this experiment to other industries, it likely indicates a positive response to early tests — though Google may also be expanding to other industries due to lack of engagement. Either way, Google is taking an active role in providing live leads to businesses who answer their phone and engage with the feature.

New Study Finds Correlation Between Local Pack and AI Overview Results

A week doesn’t go by that I’m not asked about how businesses should be optimizing for Google’s AI Overviews. My short answer is always the same: “be the best answer.” While search platforms (traditional or AI-based) all have their own proprietary algorithm, they still tend to rely on the same basic data (reviews, website, local and industry citations, etc.), so top performers tend to have better visibility overall.

A recent study published by William Furcolo at willdoseo.com is the first I’ve seen that goes beyond my anecdotal response by comparing traditional Google Search results with Gemini’s AI-generated recommendations, using 1,000 restaurant-related queries to assess how often businesses appeared in both result types.

One of the most striking findings in the study was the strong correlation between Google’s Local Pack rankings and AI visibility. Businesses in the top three local positions had a 25.9% likelihood of appearing in Gemini’s results.

A table displaying correlation between Google’s Local Pack rankings and AI visibility

Source: WILL DO SEO

However, this still means that nearly three-quarters of top-ranking businesses were not mentioned, underscoring a significant divergence between these systems.

Moreover, an unexpected U-shaped pattern emerged: businesses ranked 4-6 showed dramatically lower AI visibility than those in positions 1-3 or even 7-10. This unusual trend was statistically validated and suggests that visibility in AI results may be influenced by more complex factors than simple rank order.

In contrast, the relationship between organic search rankings and AI visibility was much weaker. Only 5.1% of businesses in the top three organic positions appeared in Gemini responses, and match rates across all ten positions remained relatively flat. This may suggest that for restaurant queries — where local intent is high — AI prioritizes proximity and relevance over traditional authority signals that typically drive organic search rankings. These patterns may differ significantly in non-local or informational search contexts.

Source: WILL DO SEO

Why This Matters

AI-driven search results, like those from Gemini, prioritize local relevance over traditional search rankings and GBP signals, significantly refocusing how businesses gain visibility online. Marketers need to adapt strategies to account for AI as a separate discovery channel, with an emphasis on local signals and deeper analysis of how AI platforms surface business information.