u/joyhawkins

I was listening to a podcast with Edward Sturm & Kalin Karakehayov and Kalin said something really interesting.

Right around the 1:19 mark he basically talks about how there is a random element to SEO (listen for about 5 minutes). To summarize what he said, he made a point that if anchored links always helped a site, you would simply constantly build links to your site and would see a positive result. If overuse of anchor text always had a negative result, you would simply build links to your competitors and watch them tank.

He said the thing that keeps Google from dealing with this problem is the random element where you don't really know how it's going to impact you and that there is a random factor.

This isn't a concept I've heard anyone really discuss much in SEO and wanted to see what you guys think?

Hi Reddit! I’m Joy Hawkins. I’ve been working in the Local SEO trenches since 2006. Today, I’m the founder and owner of Sterling Sky (a leading Local SEO agency in the US & Canada), and the owner of LocalU and the Local Search Forum.

I am also a Google Business Profile Platinum Product Expert, which means I spend a massive chunk of my life volunteering inside Google's official help forums, helping business owners navigate the constant puzzles, bugs, and shifts on the platform.

If you’ve spent any time working on Google Maps over the last few years, you know that managing a Google Business Profile (GBP) has become a bit of a minefield. Between sudden, automated suspensions, the headache of the new appeal processes, massive algorithm updates like Vicinity, and a relentless flood of fake, spam listings choking out legitimate local businesses, Local SEO isn't as simple as just "optimizing your NAP consistency" anymore.

At Sterling Sky, we don’t rely on guesswork. We test every single theory, myth, and strategy to find out what actually impacts local rankings and conversions.

This AMA is your chance to pick my brain about anything and everything related to GBP issues. We can dive deep into:

• GBP Video Verification: How to survive Google's strict new video verification processes, what to show on camera to prove your business is real on the first try, and how to fix it when the system gets stuck in a loop.
• GBP Suspensions & Appeal: How to navigate Google's brutal suspension workflows without losing your mind, and the exact documentation you need to successfully get a profile back online.
• Fighting and Reporting Map Spam: Red-hot tactics for identifying fake listings, tracking lead-gen networks, and successfully cleaning up your local market using the Redressal Form so your real business can rank.
• Why Your Legitimate Google Reviews Are Going Missing: Breaking down Google's aggressive AI review filters, why perfectly honest customer reviews get ghosted or filtered out, and the exact steps to take to try and get them restored.
• Weaponized Fake Reviews and How to Remove Them: How to confidently identify a negative review attack from a competitor, or other types of fake reviews, and the precise escalation path needed to get Google to actually take down fraudulent 1-star reviews.
• The Truth GBP Optimization: What our internal testing reveals about choosing primary and secondary categories, adding attributes, and whether adding more categories actually hurts or helps your visibility.
• Local Service Ads (LSAs) vs. Organic Maps: When you should stop pouring money into PPC and double down on your 3-pack strategy, and how to structure both to complement each other.
• Local SEO Myth-Busting: Geotagging photos? Keywords in owner responses? Let’s talk about the tactics that are complete wastes of time versus the ones that move the needle.

Whether you're a multi-location brand, a local contractor, or an agency marketer looking for answers, ask me anything!

https://preview.redd.it/7tdfom5rdfah1.jpg?width=1590&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a9dc197bad8743aed973715610914337fe273e08

Do you use a company to find VAs in other countries? We have had a lot of success with having admin staff in South America and we keep our client work mainly in Canada and the USA.

I am exploring getting more technical roles filled in South America as well (like developers).

For those who have done this, do you find it easier to hire through a VA agency or hire them yourself? If you pay an agency, what is a reasonable fee structure? If you paid them $2000 a month, for example, how much of that would you expect to go to the employee?

I just published one of several videos talking about the core updates Google has done in the last year and how we are seeing them impact small businesses. Through posts on social media + conferences I have spoken at, I have interacted with a lot of people that have experienced this. I'm currently tracking a couple dozen sites to see when recoveries happen and so far haven't seen anyone recover.

I do think recoveries can happen but am unclear on the timeline. Do you guys have any examples of sites that look like this? Happy to add more to my list and see if they have the same patterns as the ones I have audited so far.

Google Search Console data for impacted site.

I absolutely loved having the opportunity to interview James Dooley and get a ton of SEO tips he has used to rank over 1000 websites.

Google announced yesterday that they released the May 2026 core update. Anyone notice anything exciting yet?