AI Is Coming for Local SEO, But Not How You Think. Greg Gifford
Market Movers: Building Brands & Links with Linkifi · 2026-04-30 · 45 min
Episode notes
Welcome to Market Movers: Building Brands & Links with Linkifi! Your go-to podcast for transforming your business into an unforgettable brand, where branding meets SEO and link-building. I’m Chris Panteli, Co-Founder and CEO of Linkifi, and I’m joined by my co-host and Co-Founder, Nick Biggs. In this episode, we’re joined by Greg Gifford, COO at SearchLab and one of the most recognizable voices in local SEO. Greg breaks down why local search has been more insulated from recent AI chaos than most other SEO disciplines, what AI-packed local results could change, why reviews across multiple platforms matter more than ever, and how businesses should think about discoverability as search shifts toward personalization, proximity, and agent-driven decisions. Key Talking Points AI Has Not Fully Solved Local Yet. Greg’s view is that large language models and AI interfaces have not really “figured out” local search because local is fundamentally deterministic. Businesses exist in fixed places, and the systems still need trusted map-layer data rather than pure probabilistic outputs. The Rise of AI Packs. Search is starting to change, though.