Filmed On: 15th January 2026Host: Sean Barber - / https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/ - He & Him

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Darren Shaw - Founder of Whitespark, long-time local SEO authority, and creator of the Local Search Ranking Factors study.

Darren breaks down what actually moves the needle in local SEO right now, what most businesses are still getting wrong, and how Google Maps, reviews, AI agents, and social signals are reshaping local visibility heading into 2026.

We dive deep into review recency, business hours, service-area myths, Google Business Profile optimisation, AI-powered local discovery, and why Google is likely to dominate local AI search.

Connect With Darren• Darren Shaw (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/darrenshaw https://www.whitespark.ca

Topics we cover•

What most people still misunderstand about local SEO

• Review recency vs review volume

• How to actually generate more Google reviews

• Anonymous Google reviews — risk or opportunity?

• Local SEO myths

• Business hours as a hidden ranking factor

• Service-area businesses, hidden addresses & ranking drops• Why Google Posts don’t affect rankings — but do drive conversions

• Social content showing directly inside Google Maps results

• Short-form video as a local SEO advantage

• AI agents coming to Google Business Profiles

• Why Google is better positioned than ChatGPT for local AI search

• Building a personal brand alongside a growing SEO business

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by Carmen Domínguez, Director of Organic & Brand Growth at Welltech and an international search and digital growth speaker.

Carmen returns to the show to unpack how organic search has fundamentally changed — from classic SEO into a much broader mix of brand, reputation, social platforms, communities, and AI-driven discovery.

We discuss why SEO is now only a small part of modern organic growth, how platforms like Reddit, YouTube, Pinterest, and social media influence AI systems and search visibility, and why brand trust and reputation are becoming non-negotiable in both Google and AI-powered experiences.

The conversation also covers the risks of AI in health, the explosion of low-quality AI content, what’s really happening on YouTube right now, and why human connection still wins - even as platforms automate more of the web.

Connect With Carmen - https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-dominguez-rodriguez/?locale=en_US

https://welltech.com/

We covered a wide range of topics, including:

- Why SEO is now only a fraction of modern organic growth

- The rise of brand, reputation, PR, and community as ranking signals

- How Reddit influences Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, and brand perception

- Managing negative sentiment and reputation at scale

- Why brand ownership in search is often unclear inside organisations

- The dangers of AI in health and medical recommendations

- Why AI makes misinformation more convincing — not less

- GEO vs SEO: what’s actually changing (and what isn’t)

- Why many SEO roles and titles no longer reflect reality

- The explosion of low-quality AI content across the web

- How AI is overwhelming platform safeguards

- Why YouTube success depends on audience insight, not volume

- Shorts vs long-form video and real YouTube growth mechanics

- Using human-led content to outperform AI-generated videos

- Community building as a long-term growth and trust strategy

- Why ROI thinking often breaks brand and marketing

- How search, social, product, and brand are fully converging

- What the future of search and the internet may look like

Filmed On: 8th January 2026Host: Sean Barber - / https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanrbarber/ - He & Him

In this episode of Chat With Sean, I’m joined by James Hocking - Co-founder of Get Heard Online, data & AI specialist, and recent BrightonSEO speaker.

James has been working with AI since the late 90s, and in this chat we break down what the rise of AI-powered search really means for brands - including why GEO isn’t just SEO rebranded, how businesses should think about AI visibility tools, and why prompts + questions matter more than most people realise.

We also dig into the reality of AI adoption inside companies, why sentiment scores can be misleading, and what the next 12 months might look like as Google, ChatGPT and others battle to become the default interface for discovery.

Connect With James – https://www.linkedin.com/in/jameshocking-hd/

Get Heard Online – https://getheard.online/Quiz - https://getheardonline.scoreapp.com/

We covered a wide range of topics, including:

- James’s early AI background (1998 neural networks → modern LLMs)

- Why GEO is not “SEO all over again” (and why it’s more complicated)

- How Get Heard Online measures why brands are mentioned / not mentioned / replaced

- The AI readiness quiz James created and who it’s useful for

- The ethics + risk side of AI adoption (data governance, drift, guardrails)

- Why brand reputation will matter more as AI becomes the spokesperson

- The problem with sentiment scores (especially across different AI systems)

- How businesses should choose which AI platforms matter most-

Why prompts/questions must reflect real customer behaviour (not marketer language)

- Which platforms are most likely to “win” by late 2026 (Google, Apple + more)