SOCi September ’26 Release Notes

Summary

This release makes bulk page updates faster in Local Pages, brings instant multi-network audits to reseller partners, and extends Social publishing with TikTok photos and trending Instagram Reel audio.

Search

Read-Only Page URLs

Copy any full page URL in one click while editing stays off by default, so an accidental change cannot break live links, redirects, or template structure.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Local Pages

What Changed:

• URL editing is now turned off by default for every user role.
• A one-click copy button lets anyone grab a full page URL instantly.
• SOCi can enable editing for your Super Admin when an exception is needed, then turn it back off.

Benefits:

• Live URLs stay safe from accidental edits.
• Copy any full page URL in a single click.
• Local SEO and redirects stay intact.

Server-Side Rendered Hours

Location hours are now written into the page before it loads, so Google, crawlers, and AI answer engines read them instead of finding blanks.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Local Pages

What Changed:

• Hours are rendered on our servers, before any browser code runs.
• Every page includes both the visible hours your customers see and a hidden structured data copy for search engines and SEO tools.
• Both copies are fed from one source, so they never fall out of sync.

Benefits:

• Customers, crawlers, and AI answer engines all see your hours.
• Visible hours and structured data stay aligned.
• Hours display even with JavaScript turned off.

Auto-Reject Google Suggested Edits

SOCi detects unapproved Google-suggested changes and restores your data automatically, so your listings stay accurate without anyone monitoring them.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Listings

What Changed:

• SOCi now detects pending Google-suggested updates across your managed locations.
• Every changed field is compared against your approved data in SOCi.
• Your data is restored on Google automatically, updating only the field that changed.

Benefits:

• Google data stays true to your approved data.
• SOCi remains your single source of truth.
• No more hours of manual cleanup.

Smart Groups by Field Creation

Create Smart Groups by field without Super Admin access, so the admins who manage your account day to day can set up grouping themselves.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Listings

What Changed:

• Account admins can now create Smart Groups by field, matching what they could already do by filter.
• Admins can view details for and delete the groups they create, from Account then Groups.
• A preview shows the exact number of groups that will be created before you confirm.

Benefits:

• Set up groups yourself, with no waiting.
• Group by Location Status right away.
• Fewer support requests for group setup.

Listings Skill Default Directives

Start agent training from recommended directives built on your own brand data, so teams no longer face a blank instruction box.

Who It’s Available To:

• Local Search Agent, Listings Skill customers

What Changed:

• New Instruction now opens on a Recommended Presets tab with suggested directives ready to review.
• Suggestions are built from your own Google Business Profile categories, business description, and website.
• Presets are grouped by SEO and Visibility, AEO and GEO, Brand and Tone, and Compliance and Legal.

Benefits:

• Train the agent in minutes, not weeks.
• Suggestions reflect your own services and markets.
• Compliance language is surfaced up front.

Social

No Placeholder Posts by Default

Placeholder post creation is now off by default, so your content planner fills with finished posts instead of filler entries to hunt down and delete.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Genius Social Agent

What Changed:

• Placeholder post creation is now off by default.
• An in-app alert appears when no source library is selected, instead of filler entries being generated.
• A Genius Settings toggle turns placeholders back on for accounts that want them.

Benefits:

• Recommendations arrive as full posts, image and text.
• No posts are created without a source library.
• Placeholders remain available in Settings.

Edit Genius Posts Before Approving

Edit an agent-generated post before approving it, so location managers no longer have to approve first and fix the copy later in the Scheduler.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Genius Social Agent

What Changed:

• An Edit control is now available on the generated post preview at the location level.
• Edit opens the regular post dialog, where copy can be adjusted and scheduled.
• The approval loop is unchanged, and Cancel leaves the agent’s original draft as it was.

Benefits:

• Edits happen before approval, not after.
• Fewer customer-visible mistakes.
• Faster posting at the location level.

Per-Location Agent Settings

Set post volume, frequency, and content mix for each location, so locations in the same account are no longer locked to a single account-level configuration.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Genius Social Agent

What Changed:

• Configure Genius now includes a Location Settings step for finding and resetting locations.
• Post mix, posts per month, and content mix are stored for each individual location.
• The agent reads each location’s own settings at generation time, falling back to the account default.

Benefits:

• Change settings location by location.
• Custom versus Default is clear at a glance.
• Settings match what each location needs.

Platform

Video Compliance for Pages

Shield now scans video on Local Pages by audio transcript and on-screen text, so banned language inside video is caught before anything goes live.

Who It’s Available To:

• Shield compliance customers using Local Pages

What Changed:

• Video audio is transcribed and scanned against your account’s existing compliance lexicon.
• Frame-level OCR catches banned words that appear as on-screen text.
• Flagged page edits route into the Pages Approvals queue your team already uses.

Benefits:

• The video gap closes before anything goes live.
• Same review and override flow as text.
• Every scan and override is logged for audit.

Video Compliance in DMs and Replies

Shield extends video scanning to direct messages and comment replies, so private video is supervised to the same standard already applied to text.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Shield

What Changed:

• Connected accounts are swept for video sent natively in direct messages and comment reply threads.
• Each video is scanned twice, by audio transcription and by frame-level OCR, against your account lexicon.
• Flagged threads appear in the Engagements inbox and route to your existing compliance queue.

Benefits:

• Private video is held to the same standard as public.
• Flags land in the queue your team already uses.
• Transcripts and OCR are logged on every scan.

New Shield Policy Builder

Build and manage Shield policies in a full-page editor with a readable policy list, so large policy libraries stay manageable.

Who It’s Available To:

• Included with Shield

What Changed:

• The policy pop-up is replaced by a full-page editor split into Details, Terms, Content Areas, and Scope.
• The policy list now shows type chips, Applies To, Locations, Last Updated, and an inline toggle.
• Sorting, filtering, and bulk select keep a large policy library manageable.

Benefits:

• Edit hundreds of terms on a full page.
• See what each policy does from the list.
• Manage a large library without endless scrolling.

Learn More About This Release

To learn more about any of the enhancements included in this month’s release, schedule a tailored SOCi demo.