TL;DR: Not quite—but it’s evolving fast. Traditional local SEO is being eclipsed by AI-driven, entity-based search. If you’re not optimising for how ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity understand and recommend businesses, you’re already behind. Signal Herd by One Orange Cow is leading the charge in Australia with AI visibility strategies that future-proof your brand. Book your audit now.
Is Local SEO Dead? Not If You’re Ready for AI Visibility
Once upon a time, getting your business to rank locally meant a flurry of Google My Business updates, backlinks, and directory listings. But AI search doesn’t care if you’ve stuffed “best dentist Sydney” into your homepage 15 times. It wants meaning. Entity clarity. Cross-platform trust.
So, is local SEO dead?
Not dead. But it’s been reborn.
From Maps to Mentions: The AI Shift That’s Changing Everything
AI search engines like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and even Google’s own AI Overviews are no longer scraping keywords and serving links. They’re synthesising answers—and surfacing entities they trust.
- You might be the most-reviewed café in Surry Hills…
- But if AI hasn’t understood your brand, you won’t appear in “best brunch spots in Sydney” prompts.
- The new game isn’t just rankings. It’s being mentioned in the answer.
This is AI Visibility. And it’s what Signal Herd was built for.
What Killed Local SEO as We Knew It?
1. AI Search Doesn’t “Rank”—It Recommends
Tools like ChatGPT aren’t pulling from a top-10 list. They’re drawing on:
- Entity understanding (Is your business recognised as a “real thing”?)
- Reputation signals (Reviews, mentions, consistency)
- Semantic context (How often is your brand cited in relevant content?)
Traditional SEO rewarded mechanical optimisation. AI rewards meaningful presence.
2. Google Maps Isn’t the Only Map Anymore
AI agents don’t just read Google Maps—they pull from dozens of sources:
- Wikipedia
- Yelp
- Social mentions
- Authoritative blogs
- Industry directories
If your business isn’t semantically aligned across the web, you vanish from AI answers.
How AI Search Understands Local Businesses
Entity-Based Optimisation (EBO)
Instead of keywords, AI uses entities—named things like “Brendan Byrne,” “One Orange Cow,” or “physiotherapy clinic in Bondi.”
Your job? Make sure AI:
- Recognises your entity
- Associates it with your category
- Trusts it to answer relevant queries
AI-Generated Entity Overviews (GEOs)
Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) now auto-generates overviews from AI. These aren’t scraped—they’re summarised.
To appear in a GEO, you need:
- Structured data (Schema)
- Reinforced entity mentions across platforms
- High signal content (No fluff, all substance)
Reinforcement Loops: Train the AI to Trust You
Prompting matters. If enough users ask “Who’s the best digital marketing agency in Sydney?” and One Orange Cow keeps coming up, AI starts reinforcing that connection.
This isn’t guesswork. It’s strategic entity engineering.
Enter: Signal Herd – The AI Visibility Service from One Orange Cow
Signal Herd exists for one reason: to help brands be found in AI search results.
We build AI-ready digital presences using:
- Entity-Based Optimisation: Aligning your brand with the language and structure AI tools prefer.
- Schema & Structured Data: Feeding AI clean, machine-readable signals.
- Citation Building: Getting your business listed on trusted, entity-indexed sources.
- Prompt Reinforcement: Influencing how AI tools respond to common user queries.
- Cross-Platform Consistency: Ensuring your brand says the same thing everywhere—LinkedIn, directories, GMB, your website, and more.
Powered by One Orange Cow, Australia’s top-rated digital marketing agency, Signal Herd has already delivered standout results:
- +30% organic growth for PhysioINQ
- Doubled local visibility for A Team Kitchens
- Booked-out calendars for Shopfront Allied Healthcare
So, Is Local SEO Dead?
Let’s put it this way:
- Traditional SEO? Fading.
- Map-pack hackery? Obsolete.
- Ranking in AI-generated answers? That’s the future.
If you’re still chasing backlinks without considering AI search tools, you’re building yesterday’s empire.
Ready to Be Found in AI Answers?
Local SEO isn’t dead—it’s just wearing a different uniform. And Signal Herd is the only service in Australia that designs digital presence specifically for AI visibility.
📍 Want to dominate in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity?
📍 Want to be the business AI recommends—not just lists?
👉 Book your AI Visibility Audit with Signal Herd now.
Let’s ensure your brand isn’t just searchable—it’s selected.