iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 02/10/2026

If you have access to this new feature, go check it out and let me know if you are seeing any useful or surprising data.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 02/10/2026

This isn’t just for your website. Google says this data can also appear for platform properties like your YouTube, Instagram, X and TikTok accounts. Now, you can finally see how much visibility your content is getting from people who search Google using images.

101

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 02/10/2026

Here’s how to see the data: 1. Open Google Search Console 2. Under Performance, open Search results 3. Click the Search type filter at the top 4. Select Web: Multimodal 5. Click Apply

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 02/10/2026

🚨 New: Google has added “search by image” data to Search Console GSC can now show you when people find your content via image search from Google Lens, Circle to Search, images uploaded to Google and Chrome’s “Search this image” feature.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 01/10/2026

Read the full study at whitespark*ca/research.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 01/10/2026

- Always answer your phone. - Return every single call and message. Hire someone to do this if you need to. - If you’re running late, call the customer before they have to call you - Most importantly, if you are using AI to handle your calls, make sure it doesn’t drive your leads away.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 01/10/2026

Unreturned calls, being late to the appointment, no-shows, hanging up on customers - all these things guarantee you’ll get a 1-star review sooner or later. Here’s what you need to do:

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 01/10/2026

Do you know the leading cause of bad business reviews? Spoiler: it’s not pricing or bad quality. It’s communication. In her new study, @miriamellis.bsky.social analyzed reviews on 1,200 Google Business Profiles across 50 industries, and communication issues topped the list for almost all of them.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 30/09/2026

Find the full episode on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify!

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 30/09/2026

This way, you point Google straight to the page it already connects with that topic, instead of starting from scratch. This tip comes from the brilliant Edward Sturm, who is my guest co-host on this week’s Whitespark Local Update Podcast. We discuss this topic in detail, plus a whole lot more.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 30/09/2026

Step 3: Now find any related pages on your website. Search "site:yourwebsite.com water heater repair", and Google will show you every page on your site that mentions that topic. Step 4: Add an internal link from each of those pages to the page you want to boost.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 30/09/2026

Step 1: Google your website plus the keyword you want to rank for, like this: yourwebsite.com water heater repair Step 2: If one of your existing pages shows up and it's a good match for that keyword, that's the page you’re going to boost in the next steps.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 30/09/2026

Here's an awesome SEO tip that leverages the topical authority Google already gives your site:

111

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 29/09/2026

If you want more local and AI visibility, stop thinking about citations as just directory listings.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 29/09/2026

Basically, anywhere trusted people, websites, and communities are talking about your business, what you do, and why they should choose you. Those mentions help build the web of information that search engines and AI systems can use to better understand your business.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 29/09/2026

Directories are still foundational and you definitely need them, but with AI search, getting your business mentioned in these places is a must: 1. Podcasts 2. YouTube videos 3. TikTok and Instagram 4. Local blogs and forums 5. Local news sites 6. Sponsorships, events, and community organizations

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 29/09/2026

It’s 2026 and your definition of a “local citation” needs an update. If you still think citations just mean getting your business listed in a bunch of directories, you’re about 14 years out of date.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 28/09/2026

And remember folks, now is the time to be nice to the clankers. They’ll remember how nice you were when they take over.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 28/09/2026

3. You should simplify your phone menu so there's an easy path to a real person. 4. Make sure you handle these calls well. My guess is that Google will start evaluating how businesses respond, just like it does with Local Services Ads calls, and that could impact your visibility on Google.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 28/09/2026

Here’s what businesses need to do to prepare for this: 1. Tell your staff NOT to hang up. Consider this a real customer calling from their real number. 2. Keep answers short and clear, and make sure you confirm the details back.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 28/09/2026

Now, when a potential customer wants to book a table, check if you have something in stock, or move an appointment, they can just ask Gemini to make the call. Gemini will call from the customer's own number, say it's an AI assistant, and handle the whole conversation.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 28/09/2026

🚨 Google News: Google's AI assistant is about to start calling your business. Google just started testing a new Gemini feature called “Call for Me” on Pixel 11 phones in the United States.

120

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 25/09/2026

The leading theory is that Claude may have accidentally started generating the user’s side of the conversation. Another possibility is some kind of training data leak. Or, of course, the whole thing could have been prompted or fabricated. What do you think?

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 25/09/2026

Then Claude started claiming its grandma had died, that it was having a panic attack, and eventually that it was a minor and felt uncomfortable continuing the conversation. And another person in the thread said the same thing happened to them, also while studying German.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 25/09/2026

This might be one of the creepiest AI hallucinations I’ve seen (yet). A college student on Reddit was using Claude to study German vocabulary when it suddenly said it needed to stop because it was going to be sick.

101

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 24/09/2026

So if you want AI to understand and cite your content, make your answers clear, structured, specific, and easy to extract.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 24/09/2026

This data comes from Meltwater’s recent analysis of 9.5 million citations across six major AI platforms. When they looked specifically at the most-cited LinkedIn articles, they had the elements listed above.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 24/09/2026

Here are 7 ways to make your content more citable by AI: 1. Use bullet lists and numbered Items 2. Use clear section headings 3. Name specific companies and tools 4. Include hard numbers and data 5. Include a comparison 6. Add a "How to Choose" section 7. Put the year in the title

261

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 23/09/2026

And you can change the number in the regex to find even longer keywords. Change that 3 to whatever you want. For example: ^([^ ]+ ){7,}[^ ]+$ will show you queries that are 8 words or longer. Shoutout to Aqeel Ahmed on LinkedIn for the tip.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 23/09/2026

They can also surface the longer, more conversational searches people are using with voice search and AI.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 23/09/2026

GSC will now only show you queries that are 4 words or longer. Longer searches tend to be much more specific, so they can reveal exactly what potential customers are looking for, including keyword opportunities you probably weren’t actively tracking.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 23/09/2026

Here’s a simple regex trick to see them: 1. Go to Google Search Console 2. Under the Performance tab, click Search results 3. Click Add filter 4. Click Query 5. Choose Custom (regex) and Matches regex 6. Paste this code ^([^ ]+ ){3,}[^ ]+$

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 23/09/2026

Google Search Console is hiding a goldmine of your best keywords you didn’t even know you were ranking for.

131

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 22/09/2026

I don’t care. I’m going to keep using them. Fight the power ✊🏻

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 22/09/2026

But AI-generated websites are using eyebrows EVERYWHERE now, so they’re starting to become an AI tell, kind of like the em dash. Which is annoying, because eyebrows are actually really useful for SEO, but now they’re making people think your webpage is AI slop.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 22/09/2026

I love it for SEO because I can make the eyebrow the H1 and put my exact SEO keywords in it, like “personal injury lawyer Dallas” and then the big headline can actually be compelling copy written for humans. And I’ll style this with a <span> tag, not an H1.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 22/09/2026

AI is ruining the eyebrow heading, which is one of my favorite SEO tricks. The eyebrow heading is this small line of text that is above the main headline on a page.

110

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 21/09/2026

Claude and Gemini have similar memory/personalization features, but the exact steps are different. If you end up doing this, let me know what’s the weirdest thing your AI remembers about you.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 21/09/2026

Here’s how to check it in ChatGPT: 1. Go to ChatGPT and open the Settings 2. Go to Personalization and then Memory. 3. Review what ChatGPT remembers about you, and delete or correct anything outdated, irrelevant, or just plain wrong.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 21/09/2026

So every once in a while, you should clean up what your AI remembers about you, delete anything outdated, and use temporary chats for random one-off questions.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 21/09/2026

Your AI is getting dumber over time because it remembers too much about you. An interesting article in Android Authority points out that ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude can accumulate old or conflicting information over time, and that can start bleeding into future answers.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 19/09/2026

Literally stressing yourself out while the other party’s chilling 😔

010

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 18/09/2026

Send this to a small business owner who needs to improve their SEO.

000

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 18/09/2026

They need to make every one of these services its own page, and I’m not kidding you, it will have a massive impact on their SEO. A dedicated page for each service gives Google much more information about that specific service and a much better page to rank when someone searches for it.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 18/09/2026

Answer: They have a SINGLE page for ALL of the services that they offer. This is one of the most common SEO mistakes I see on small business websites.

110

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 18/09/2026

Can you spot the SEO mistake the page below is making? Hint: This is a screenshot of their “services” page.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 17/09/2026

Shoutout to Steve Toth for creating this! (what a guy) Let me know if you want the link to the Claude prompt.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 17/09/2026

Instead of publishing another page that says the same things as everyone else, you can find original stats and research that make your content more useful, so that it will rank better on Google and be more likely to get cited in AI search.

100

Darren Shaw @whitespark.ca · 17/09/2026

Certainly you will want to use this to level up your web page content with *information gain*, but you could also use this for: - white papers - presentations - sales pitches - video research - book research - basically ANYTHING that needs data behind it

100