Short answer: no. They never were. Long answer: they might still be the most important thing on the list, because they're the only one you can keep working. Let's look at the numbers, then let's argue about it in the comments. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗲 Whitespark published the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors report on November 6, 2025. 47 local search experts scored 187 factors. Here's the top of the local pack list, the one that decides the Maps three-pack. 1. Primary GBP category 2. Proximity of the address to the point of search 3. Keywords in the GBP business title 4. Physical address in the city of search 5. Business is open at the time of search Reviews finally appear at number 6, as high numerical ratings. Review quantity with text lands at 9. Recency at 11. A steady drip of reviews instead of bursts at 14. Top 10. Not the top of the list. A category dropdown is. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗦𝗵𝗼𝘄𝘀 Here's the part that should make every one of you pause. Look at what beats reviews. Category. Proximity. Business title. City. Hours. You set the category once. You can't move your client's building. The title has to match the real-world name or you're playing with a suspension. Hours take five minutes. Every factor above reviews is either a one-time fix or something you don't control. Reviews are the only signal in that top 10 that compounds every month you hold the account. They're also moving up. Darren Shaw's read on this year's data: "the biggest changes we're seeing are an increased importance of review signals and behavioral signals." Now the half nobody mentions. The local organic list, the one that decides your blue-link spot, has a completely different top three: a dedicated page for each service, geographic keyword relevance, and inbound link quality. Reviews don't crack the top 10 there at all. 𝗦𝗼 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗗𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄𝘀 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴? Because reviews are the only local signal with a number the client can watch go up, and a scoreboard beats a correct answer every time.

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Post your 3 weekly goals in the smart format… These should your 3 high priority tasks... Don’t forget to report on last week's goal results… If you didn’t meet your goals, reflect a bit about why you missed the mark. Share your reflection if you’d like to do so. People who post to this weekly pinned thread 3 times get access to the accountability bonuses

Every agency owner has a tool stack. Most of us also have a tool graveyard. We just don’t talk about that one. You signed up for the free trial. It rolled into a paid plan. Then life got busy and you never logged in again. That’s not a discipline problem. That’s the business model. Free trials are built to renew quietly, and every guru with an affiliate link is selling you one more login. Here’s the math. $49 a month doesn’t sound like much. It’s $588 a year. Stack three of those and you’re at $1,764 for software you never open. Now ask how many hours of client work it takes to clear that. Nobody posts this part. The feed is full of “here’s my stack” screenshots. Nobody screenshots the cancel page. So I want to break that pattern today. Not “I should probably audit my subscriptions.” Open your card statement and name one. What tool are you paying for right now and not using? Name it and the monthly price.

12k in estimates on the street and all so far saying "it's going to be awhile". Obviously the value for them is not there, my bad..