VP of Search | Head of Sales @SterlingSkyInc | Faculty/Speaker @localuniv | Google Business Profile Product Expert | Mod @localsearchlink
Toronto
Joined September 2011
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Stop treating SEO as an expense (like a utility bill) and start treating it as a compounding asset.
Google adds new GBP categories almost every month, and most businesses never notice.
If one fits your business, add it early and compare your rankings before and after.
We track new categories for you at Sterling Sky
sterlingsky.ca/google-my-bus…
Colan Nielsen retweeted
No new Google reviews in 2 weeks? In a high-spam category, that’s likely a ~30-day review penalty, and Google won’t email you.
What to do while you wait it out 👇
Colan Nielsen retweeted
AI visibility tools are facing their own version of tracking issues. @Semrush just emailed customers yesterday that Copilot visibility tracking will be discontinued as of 11/9 based on how Microsoft is preventing the tracking of Copilot data. I wonder when other platforms will inform customers.
Thinking about moving or opening a new location?
Run a @LocalFalcon Competitor Report first. It shows how many competitors are near you and where they sit.
Being close to competitors can make ranking on Google Maps harder, and Google may even filter your listing out.
Colan Nielsen retweeted
A home service client bought backlinks on Fiverr, and Google didn’t simply ignore them. After two algorithm updates, their organic rankings for “appliance repair Edmonton” fell below where they started.
The recovery came from a small content change on their brand repair pages that a competitor had been using all along. @ColanNielsen and I walk through the whole case study in this video.
youtube.com/watch?v=Fx-keWc3…
Where do you land on bad links: neutralized or penalty?
BBB gets cited a lot in AI search, including AI local packs.
Get accredited and add the badge to your Google Business Profile landing page, and that trust signal could show up in the AI snippet.
Then go for the A+, which takes a score of 97+ and can’t be bought.
Colan Nielsen retweeted
🔍 Ever notice how two people can Google the same thing and get different results?
Yext found organic results became 48% more volatile post-May 2026 update.
Curious about what this means for your rankings? @ownyourserp breaks it down!
#SEO #GoogleUpdate
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Google is now asking for government ID to verify business profiles.
Source: localsearchforum.com/threads…
Colan Nielsen retweeted
If you’re running Google Maps ads (the sponsored listings in the 3-pack), check one setting in your Google Business Profile.
Without a separate ads phone number in the advanced settings, Google Ads can count a call as a conversion while CallRail gives credit for that same call to your organic GBP listing.
@ColanNielsen and I walk through how to set it up correctly in our latest video. We also share what happened when a law firm’s 3-pack ads went six weeks without a single call.
youtu.be/DVtY-gAQmjI
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Got a suspended Google Business Profile?
The appeal tool changed recently. The old 60-minute countdown and 5-file limit are gone, and you can now attach all your documents right on the appeal screen.
@jlmosebach and @SukhjitSMatharu walk through the updated process in our new video, along with the most common reasons profiles get suspended.
You only get one appeal per suspension, so watch this before you hit submit.
youtube.com/watch?v=Ihdx-D3D…
Rankings are just a single data point. What you actually want is revenue.
I tell business owners to watch the calls coming from their website and their Google Business Profile.
Those numbers show whether your SEO is working far better than a quick search.
More in the video.
Traffic dropped? Before you blame yourself, check your competitors. If they slid at the same time, Google probably changed what it thinks searchers want.
That's an intent shift, and it needs a totally different fix than a penalty.
More in the video. ⬇️
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Tomorrow is the Last Day to Apply for the LocalU DFW Scholarship
Sponsored by Sterling Sky
Dallas/Grapevine, TX | October 20, 2026
1 Full Day of Actionable Local SEO Strategies (plus breakfast & lunch on us!)
5 FREE scholarships for business owners in or near Dallas, Texas!
Applications Close on Friday 10/9
Scholarship Recipients Chosen on Monday 10/12!
Apply 📝 localu.org/dfw-26-scholarshi…
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Still time to apply!
LocalU DFW Scholarship by Sterling Sky
📍 Dallas/Grapevine, TX | 📅 Oct 20, 2026
- 1 Full Day (Breakfast & Lunch included)
- 5 FREE scholarships for Dallas-area business owners
🔗 Apply by Oct 9:
🎉 Winners announced Oct 12!
📝 localu.org/dfw-26-scholarshi…
Colan Nielsen retweeted
I said on a webinar recently that I wouldn't want to be a rank tracking tool right now, and then it hit me that some people in the audience sell rank trackers. A few of them are friends of mine, and I still stand by it.
AI local packs are probabilistic, so the same search can show different businesses in a different order from one day to the next. When we tracked them daily, it was red everywhere. In one example, two law firms showed up far more often than anyone else, and they still weren't there every time or always in the top spot.
One search is one roll of the dice. I'd rather look at how often a business shows up in AI compared to its competitors over time, and whether AI is actually sending leads.
We got into it in this video: youtube.com/watch?v=fvX2k7Gr…
Frequently I hear that Google "penalized" a site. In reality competitors moved ahead because they've been working on their SEO. Normal and fixable.
More worrisome pattern is when traffic drops off a cliff across a number of keywords
I walk through how to spot "the problem" ⬇️
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Announcing the LocalU DFW Scholarship
Sponsored by Sterling Sky
Dallas/Grapevine, TX | October 20, 2026
1 Full Day of Actionable Local SEO Strategies (plus breakfast & lunch on us!)
5 FREE scholarships for business owners in or near Dallas, Texas!
Applications Close on Friday 10/9
Scholarship Recipients Chosen on Monday 10/12!
Apply: localu.org/dfw-26-scholarshi…
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Google added a "Report owner response" option to reviews, first spotted on Reddit.
My colleague @ownyourserp explains what it means for business owners who reply to reviews in anger, since now anyone can flag those replies (not just the reviewer).
Colan Nielsen retweeted
Rank Tracking Is Giving You The Right Data - but Leading You To the Wrong Conclusions...
Ever had a client message you "I just searched and I can't find us" while your report says they're ranking fine?
AI local packs don't behave like the regular 3-pack. Every search is basically a roll of the dice, and when we tracked one for a week, the businesses and the order shifted almost daily. Even the AI-written snippets changed.
@ColanNielsen and I break down why one search doesn't prove much either way and what we're measuring instead.
Have you seen this with your own clients?
youtube.com/watch?v=fvX2k7Gr…
