U-Haul is crushing it with this local SEO strategy

get your Monday dose of local SEO tips

September 29, 2025

Hello hello,

Surprise! I have local SEO ideas to share 👇️

1. Catch up on the pod

Last week on the Whitespark Local Update podcast, Claire Carlile and I talked about:

  • Local packs in AI Overviews (Anthony Higman)

  • No more map results in ChatGPT (Matt McGee)

  • Google’s AI Mode for restaurants (Claudia Tomina)

  • Custom GPT for analyzing and reporting negative reviews (Steve Toth)

  • 9 Google Business Profile Verification Tips (Joy Hawkins)

  • Will AI Overviews always rank #1? (Tom Capper)

  • The 4 Types of AI Marketers (Wil Reynolds)

Watch the episode here 👇️

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

2. There is no such thing as a duplicate content "penalty"

You know those sites that use the exact same content on hundreds of "location" pages and they just change out the city name?

Spammy, right?

Well guess what? IT WORKS. These pages rank and drive traffic, so if you're short on time, I wouldn't discount this strategy.

BUT, Google prioritizes unique, specific firsthand experiences (E-E-A-T).

So, while the easy/fast version where you just change the city name will get you ranking, it's definitely better to invest the time to create original content from your own experience. These pages will perform even better.

Michael Doyle shared some good insights on this in the LinkedIn comments.

3. U-Haul is STILL crushing it with this local SEO strategy

They used to have just one Google Business Profile per location, but they quintupled their number of Profiles (and rankings) overnight. How?

With Department Profiles.

If you have separate lines of business located within your main business, you may be able to create department Profiles for them.

Department Profiles on Google do not require legal separation, but they do require:

  • designated signage

  • a different phone number

  • a different primary category

To create a department Profile on Google:

  1. Use the usual "Add a business" flow that you would use for adding a Business Profile.

  2. After verifying the new Profile, go to the Profile in Maps and "Suggest an edit" to make it "located in" the main location.

So, think about any potential departments you might have in your business. You could dramatically increase your rankings for dozens of additional keywords if you create department Profiles for them.

Share your thoughts on Facebook!

4. Use these 3 review request templates to get power reviews

Are you familiar with the concept of power reviews?

Power reviews go a few steps beyond a simple 5-star rating

  • They contain important keywords that help your rankings.

  • They include images and videos of your business/products/services that keep them at the top of the review section.

  • They represent the personal experience of the customer, which nudges potential customers to convert.

These ranking and conversion benefits are worth a little extra work when it comes to your review requests. Without some guidance from you, it’s unlikely that a customer would remember to cover all these aspects in their review.

But don’t worry — you don’t have to figure it out all by yourself.

Last week’s article from Miriam Ellis provides you with three brilliant email and text message templates that you can use to get more power reviews and maximize the value of your customer feedback.

Read the article and get your templates here 👇️

Darren

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