Google has made the latest round of feature updates to Maps and, you guessed it, they’re AI-centric integrations. These include food ordering, hotel booking, and other local commerce actions. Altogether, it advances Google’s effort to use AI features as a strategic lever in the ongoing mapping wars.
Vendasta is out with its latest set of AI employees for SMBs. Covering the roles of social media manager and blogger, these agentic tools automate tasks such as generating, scheduling, and publishing content. They work within most social platforms as well as WordPress websites and blogs.
AI search may be creating a rare opening for SMBs to compete with brands that have far larger marketing budgets. Generative engine optimization (GEO) increasingly
Yelp has released new data that challenges assumptions and stereotypes around the increasingly purchase-empowered Gen Z. The report, coproduced with Angus Reid Group, identifies the generation as more independently-minded and less swayed by influencer marketing than commonly thought.
The chain restaurant world is a bit schizophrenic as it navigates various macro factors. Headlines point to Culver’s, Texas Roadhouse, and Nothing Bundt Cakes opening hundreds of new locations while Wendy’s, Papa John’s, and Pizza Hut close hundreds. SOCi has made some sense of what’s going on.
SMB SaaS powerhouse Thryv (NASDAQ: THRY) has launched its new AI-native growth platform designed for local services businesses. Balancing AI-driven automation and human support, the
SMB growth platform Pie today announced that it has secured funding from Amex Ventures. This follows quickly behind the company’s June launch and $19.5 million series A round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Other backers in that round included Capital One Ventures and Max Levchin’s SciFi VC.
Google, Apple, OpenAI, and a growing emphasis on AI visibility all point to the same conclusion: artificial intelligence is becoming the local discovery interface through
Google continues to phase in AI-powered search and AI-centric SERPs. It’s doing so even though it massively disrupts its core business. But the question is the optimal pace of that rollout in terms of user acclimation, demand, and revenue. Evidence now points to AI’s pace in approaching default status.
As you’ve likely heard, Comcast plans to separate its media and tech businesses into distinct publicly traded companies. This will happen through a spinoff of NBCUniversal and Sky as its own company, while Comcast and its cable/ISP business will likewise operate independently and with refined focus.
SMB marketing and tech powerhouse Scorpion has announced that it has integrated ChatGPT ads into its platform. This will bring ChatGPT ads to SMBs, allowing them to play in the AI advertising sandbox and benefit from an early mover advantage in an emerging and high-intent ad medium.
Yelp today announced a big update to its restaurant management & marketing tool, Yelp Host. This includes more than a dozen new updates, including an integration with OpenTable, a native food ordering/pickup function, and a suite of personalization and management features.
TikTok has become one of the world’s most influential consumer platforms, but turning that audience into a scalable advertising channel for local businesses has proven
SMB SaaS leader Thryv has announced a collaboration with Breesy AI that’s meant to empower franchise-based local businesses with better decision-making intelligence. Together, the integration goes beyond intelligence, bringing local businesses the ability to take revenue-boosting action.
Google this week announced the next logical evolution for AI Mode: the ability to link to and interact with users’ apps. This is meant to extend AI Mode’s functionality beyond answering questions to completing tasks across users’ frequent apps. In other words, it brings AI mode from answers to agent.
The latest development in OpenAI’s advertising saga has emerged. eMarketer reports that it’s pacing well below ad revenue projections. Specifically, the OpenAI is reportedly 90 percent off its mark, as it experiences growing pains in bringing sponsored answers & content to ChatGPT.
One of the biggest news items in the world of local media & marketing is Apple’s rollout of ads for the first time in Apple Maps. As we examined last week, this monetizes high-intent local searches from billions of Apple Maps users. But there’s a catch… home services ads are banned from the program.
Since AI took search by storm, dozens of AI visibility tracking and generative engine optimization (GEO) tools have launched, giving businesses and marketers a way
This edition of Local Radar highlights three startups betting that AI can reinvent some of the most entrenched categories in software and local commerce. From Auger rethinking and democratizing supply chain management, to Fika Jobs reshaping the way employees are hired, to Self Inspection streamlining vehicle inspections, the common thread is software designed for an AI-native world rather than retrofitted for one.
After lots of waiting, Siri AI is finally here. That is… it’s here in open beta. With iOS 27’s beta, available for the first time this week, Siri AI can finally see the light of day. This will likely be downloaded by a handful of early adopters and AI enthusiasts, but it’s also time to anticipate the wider release.
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