Google just told us how AI agents see your website

your weekly local SEO recap

July 27, 2026

Hello friends,

Here’s what’s up with local SEO this week 👇️

1. Google just told us how AI agents see your website

It’s not just what humans see on the screen.

AI agents are accessing a hidden version of your page called the Accessibility Tree.

It’s basically a stripped-down version of your page that shows the structure, roles, headings, labels, and text that machines can understand.

Your page can look perfect to humans, but be a total mess for AI agents.

Here’s how to check yours in Chrome:

  1. Right-click any page and hit "Inspect."

  2. In Elements, click the double-arrow icon

  3. Select "Accessibility"

  4. Toggle "Show Accessibility Tree" on.

A GOOD accessibility tree clearly shows your headings, text, buttons, links, and page structure. A BAD one can make your content almost impossible to understand:

So, make sure you are using proper HTML headings, labels, descriptive link text, and alt text. The easier you make your website for AI agents to understand, the better chance you have of showing up in AI results.

Let me know what you think about this on LinkedIn.

Your reviews are doing a lot more than helping your customers make a decision. They’re teaching Google and AI about your business:

  • What the business actually does

  • Which services they are known for

  • What problems they solve

  • Why customers recommend them

Look at this example from Gemini below:

Many of the specific details it highlights are summarized directly from customer reviews on Google Maps.

So when you ask for a review, encourage customers to naturally mention:

  • The service they received

  • The problem you solved

  • What made the experience great

The more specific and detailed your reviews are, the easier it is for Google and AI to understand your business and confidently recommend it.

3. This new Google Maps loophole could tank (or fix) your SAB’s rankings

Mika Lepisto discovered that even though Google hides the address and map-pin editing options for Service Area Businesses, users can still access them by modifying the Google Maps URL.

Watch this video to learn how the loophole works 👇️

Instagram Reel

Google’s bug bounty team told Mika that this is “intended functionality”.

On the plus side, though, maybe this loophole might finally be a way to fix a service area business that is ranking in the wrong location.

But until Google adds proper controls for business owners, this is far too easy for bad actors to abuse.

P.S. The Whitespark Local Platform software will monitor your listing for any changes (including map pin moves) and send you alerts. It’s only $1/month, which makes it a great insurance policy to catch changes like this before they destroy your rankings.

4. How to get “Immersive View” on your GBP without Google’s permission

You can’t have Immersive View unless Google invites you to the program, but here’s a brilliant trick to create a similar effect on your Google Business Profile:

Get a simple drone video of your business, upload it to your Google Business Profile, and you can create a very similar visual effect.

It won’t be the official Google Immersive View, but it can still make your Profile look way more engaging than the average Business Profile.

Shout out to my friend Aaron Weiche, who shared this example with me 👇️

Check out my video on the topic here.

5. Catch up on the pod

The lack of pricing on your website can destroy your AI visibility.

It turns out that pricing is a huge category in AI search.

It makes sense why some businesses wouldn’t want to list their pricing (maybe you don’t want to scare people away, maybe you want to filter out low-budget leads).

But in his article “Where AI agents get stuck on your site”, Kevin Indig explains that when AI bots do searches on behalf of the users, they always try to figure out pricing. Even if the user is not directly asking about the price, the AI will look into it.

So, not listing your pricing on your website, listings, etc. leaves you with 2 outcomes:

- the AI completely excludes you from its answer
- the AI finds your pricing on 3rd party websites, affiliates, or aggregators and gives possibly inaccurate or incomplete pricing information to the user

Both outcomes suck, so you’re better off naming your price yourself. Claire Carlile and special guest Julian Hooks discuss this on today’s podcast episode. They also talk about:

  • The State of Local SEO in 2026 (Joy Hawkins)

  • Why Your Google Reviews Disappear (Sterling Sky, Brad Wetherall)

  • New Google Reviews Bug: You Have No Reviews Yet (Barry Schwartz)

  • Build your own AI search visibility tracker for under $100/month (Julian Hooks)

  • AI Prioritization Framework for SEOs (Elizabeth Linder)

Watch the episode here 👇️

🎧 Or if you prefer listening, find it on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

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Darren

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