Google local finder rolls out website mentions matching your query

Sergey Alakov first noticed that Google has begun rolling out the local finder website mentions that Google began testing earlier this month.

Website mentions in the local finder show the searcher if their query, the search they used to bring up the local results in Google, matches any of the content found on the local business website. Now it seems to be live for all, and I am able to replicate the “Their website mentions” notations myself. Here is a screen shot:

The interesting part about this feature is that is demonstrates that Google does crawl — and can surface — local website content, yet the company has never explicitly said that site content is a factor in local rankings. As I’ve said before, Google has never confirmed that local ranking listings use signals from the content of the local business website. In fact, its guidelines and tips make no mention of content on the local business website.

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