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E26: Map Pin Discovery, More Local Packs, Clicks Drive AI Visibility
new podcast episode is live!
Most people don’t know how critical this is for local SEO. TBH, I didn’t even know it.
Claudia Tomina published a great article showing how your suite number could be destroying your rankings without you even realizing it.
In local search, your rankings are based on your map pin placement. When you enter your address, Google runs it through its geocoding system, translates it into coordinates, and places your pin on the map.
Here’s the thing I didn’t realize: Claudia points out that if you put your suite number in Address Line 1, you could break that process.
With the suite number in the address 1 field, Google interprets the entire string as a street-level address. But suite numbers aren’t street-level data. They’re unit identifiers inside a building.
So Google often can’t properly resolve the address, and instead of placing your pin on your building, it can put it in the wrong place, and that’s where you’ll rank.
So if your address includes a suite number, it’s critical that you enter it in the address 2 field.
Claire and I discuss this in today’s podcast episode, plus:
The Truth About Multi-Location Franchise SEO (NearMedia and Steve Wiideman)
AI Is Not Search. Here's What It Actually Is (Brittney Muller on The Ross Simmonds Show)
How Google Click Signals Drive SEO Rankings and AI Answers (Cyrus Shepard)
The SERP in 2026: A data-driven feature analysis (Stat Search Analytics)
20 Local Developments You Need to Know About from Q1 2026 (Miriam Ellis)
Watch the episode here 👇️
🎧 Or if you prefer listening, find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Watch by topic:
00:00 Intro/Bants
00:40 The Truth About Multi-Location Franchise SEO (NearMedia and Steve Wiideman)
04:24 Map Pin Discovery (Claudia Tomina)
07:22 AI is not Search (Brittney Muller on The Ross Simmonds Show)
11:15 Clicks Drive AI Visibility (Cyrus Shepard)
13:14 The SERP in 2026 (Stat Search Analytics)
16:22 20 Local Developments from Q1 (Miriam Ellis)
Darren
P.S. Whitespark can help you ⬇️
😍 Visualize your local search performance on the most beautiful ranking grids
🚨 Get notified when Google updates your GBP and reject unwanted changes
🚀 Increase your local rankings and conversions
📈 Track rankings across different zip/post-codes
⭐️ Get more reviews
🧹 Clean up and build citations
🔍 Find citation opportunities

