In Episode 20 of The Marketing Mechanic, Dennis Yu breaks down the real reason an HVAC company could spend $120,000 on blog posts and still have no clear answer to a simple question: where are our calls actually coming from? Dennis explains that the problem isn’t effort or intent, it’s a misunderstanding of how Google actually sends calls to local service businesses.Dennis outlines the three primary ways Google drives inbound calls: Google Maps visibility driven by real reviews and photos, brand searches where customers type in a company’s name, and non-brand searches where traditional SEO competes for generic service terms. He explains why Maps accounts form the majority of real call volume, why brand searches convert best but can’t be manufactured, and why non-brand SEO is often overemphasized despite producing the smallest share of results.The episode also explains how advertising fits into the picture. Dennis shows why LSA, Google Ads, and Facebook ads only work when they amplify real reputation, not when they’re used to compensate for it. He makes the case that neither SEO agencies, PPC managers, nor AI tools can fabricate reputation, and why businesses that don’t track calls correctly end up misallocating time, money, and trust.If you’re a local service business owner and want stronger Google Maps visibility based on real signals, apply below for our Maps Visibility System. We’ll start with a free quick audit call to review your Google Business Profile, your location service pages, and determine whether improved Google Maps visibility is achievable in your market.If you qualify, we’ll run the initial Maps Visibility work for one week at no cost to measure real movement in your market. If we see clear improvement and believe it’s a good fit, we’ll schedule a second call to review the results and outline next steps through our Maps Visibility System. If there’s no measurable improvement, the engagement ends with no obligation to continue.Apply here to see if you qualify:https://localservicespotlight.com/mvsDennis Yu, Founder of Local Service Spotlight:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennisyu/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisyuTwitter: https://x.com/dennisyuLocal Service Spotlight: https://localservicespotlight.com/

In Episode 19 of The Marketing Mechanic, Dennis Yu explains why Google doesn’t rank websites, it ranks who gets the call. Using a five-step local visibility system, he breaks down how Google decides which contractor shows up in local search and why chasing SEO tactics without fixing the foundation leads nowhere.Dennis walks through the five layers Google evaluates: reality (name, address, phone, and identity), presence across owned properties, proof of life through real jobs and reviews, relevance paths that connect services to locations, and outcomes like calls, directions, and booked work. He shows how Google’s Knowledge Graph connects these layers, why Google Business Profiles and websites must align, and how mismatched signals create confusion that suppresses visibility.The episode wraps with a clear warning against hiding data, gaming rankings, or relying on AI shortcuts. Dennis explains how feeding real outcomes back into Google systems creates a reinforcing loop that rewards honest businesses with real-world reputation and performance.If you’re a local service business owner and want stronger Google Maps visibility based on real signals, apply below for our Maps Visibility System. We’ll start with a free quick audit call to review your Google Business Profile, your location service pages, and determine whether improved Maps visibility improvement is achievable in your market.If we see clear improvement during the initial Maps Visibility work and believe it’s a good fit, we’ll schedule a second call to walk through the results and outline next steps within our Maps Visibility System. If it’s not a fit or we don’t see movement, there’s no obligation to continue.Apply here to see if you qualify: https://localservicespotlight.com/mvsDennis Yu, Founder of Local Service Spotlight:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennisyu/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisyuTwitter: https://x.com/dennisyuLocal Service Spotlight: https://localservicespotlight.com/

In Episode 18 of The Marketing Mechanic, Dennis Yu breaks down a real Houston HVAC case where a contractor spent roughly $20,000 on SEO over several months, only to see their rankings collapse and their keyword visibility nearly vanish. The agency claimed strong results, but when Dennis reviewed the real data, the truth was clear: the website was driving almost no traffic, and the rankings that mattered were never coming from SEO in the first place.Dennis explains how misleading reports, low-value keywords, and duplicated city pages create the illusion of progress while producing no real business impact. He shows how agencies inflate success by highlighting rankings that no one searches for, ignore Google Maps performance, and avoid using tools that expose what’s actually broken. The episode walks through why ranking outside the top three in Maps doesn’t matter, how grid scans reveal the truth, and why most contractors are never shown where their calls are really coming from.The episode then lays out what actually drives results for local service businesses: real reviews, real proximity, real engagement, and real human behavior. Dennis explains why Google Business Profiles and websites are separate systems, how maps and directions act as powerful signals, and how contractors can tie rankings directly to calls, directions, and revenue. This is a clear, practical breakdown of how to tell whether your marketing is working.If you want someone on your team who can audit this correctly, track real signals, and hold agencies accountable using actual Google data, enroll a young adult in our AI Apprentice Program at High Rise Influence, where we train them hands-on to do this work the right way: https://highriseinfluence.net/Dennis Yu, Founder of Local Service Spotlight:Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennisyu/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisyuTwitter: https://x.com/dennisyuLocal Service Spotlight: https://localservicespotlight.com/