The SEO Juice: ChatGPT, Social Signals & Skipping the Search Phase

Danielle Kudis

Grab your glass, it’s time for another pour of The SEO Juice!

This month, we explored how ChatGPT is officially in the local search game, confirmed that social media signals do impact your Google rankings, and took a hard look at Q1 search trends showing consumers are skipping the browsing phase and heading straight to action.

Industry Updates: Fresh Squeezed Insights

ChatGPT Is Now a Local Search Player

ChatGPT doesn’t just write copy anymore. ChatGPT is helping consumers find local businesses. Our latest data shows that 10.8% of consumers have used ChatGPT for local search in the last 30 days, outpacing Tripadvisor and Gemini.

But here’s the twist: ChatGPT pulls from Bing’s web index, not Google, and uses its own logic to decide what shows up. That means your Bing SEO, structured data, and website content are now part of your visibility strategy, whether you’re ready or not.

✅ What to Do: Make sure your local pages have structured data and are ranking in Bing. Yes, Bing.

It’s not just a theory anymore. Google confirmed it.

A new SOCi study with Painting with a Twist found that locations linking social profiles to their GBP saw a 9% increase in search impressions and 10% more clicks and calls.

✅ What to Do: Add social links to every GBP location. No local pages? Use your brand profiles. And post regularly. Google notices.

Consumers are Skipping Search

Q1 benchmarking revealed a clear pattern: Search volumes dipped across industries, but clicks and leads stayed strong in sectors like property management, insurance, and healthcare.
What’s happening? Consumers are skipping the research phase and taking action faster, making conversion-ready local experiences more important than ever.

✅ What to Do: Focus on web clicks, calls, and directions in your local reporting. Search visibility only matters if it leads to action.

Maximize Your Local SEO Strategy with These Updates

Google’s new “What’s Happening” feature gives restaurants a fresh way to highlight timely offers and events right in their Business Profile. If your GBP is linked to Facebook or Instagram, social posts may be eligible to show up too, but only on mobile, and only if the content is relevant and recent.

👉 Pro Tip: Link your social accounts and keep content fresh. Expect Google to expand this feature to more industries.

Caught in the Wild: Fun New Features

Hotel 3-Pack Stacking

We’re seeing multiple hotel packs stacked in the same SERP, each with different results, not duplicates.

Attributes in Image Carousels

Google Maps profiles are now highlighting attributes like “Diesel fuel” or “clean bathrooms” directly in the photo carousel, sometimes replacing review snippets.

👉 Pro Tip: Keep your attributes updated. Google is pulling them into more surfaces than ever before.