October 2026 Release Notes

See exactly where you rank, with faster Local Search Grid reports

Local Search Grid now gets its rankings from Google Maps instead of Google’s Local Finder, on both the new and legacy platforms. That means quicker results and a much clearer view of where you stand.

What’s new?

• Get your results sooner. Grid reports now run much faster, so you spend less time waiting and more time acting on what you find.
• Know your real position, even outside the top 20. We now track up to 100 results at every grid point, instead of 20. Instead of “21+”, you’ll see exactly where a business sits and whether it’s moving up.
• Measure progress more accurately. Your average rank now reflects that fuller view, so it may look different. It’s a more complete picture, not a change in your visibility.
• Compare like with like. Rank change is paused until a report has run twice on Maps, so you’re never comparing two different data sources.

Why it matters: “Somewhere past 20” doesn’t tell you what to fix. A precise position across the grid shows where you’re close to breaking through and where to focus next. For agencies, it also means clearer progress to show clients.

What’s next: Local Rank Tracker, Local Search Audit, and Google Business Profile Audit are moving to Google Maps too.

Save time and always see your latest AI visibility with scheduled reports

Set your Local AI Visibility reports to update automatically, and your data stays fresh without you having to remember to run it. Existing reports stay manual until you choose a schedule.

What’s new?

• Set it once and let it run. Choose weekly updates on the day you want, or monthly updates on any date from the 1st to the 28th. You can also pick the last day of the month.
• Fresh data when you need it. Pick a three-hour window for each update, so new results are ready before your weekly check-in or client report. Times are in UTC for now.
• Less clicking to manage your reports. Your schedule and prompts now sit together in Settings, which replaces the “Manage prompts” button, and they save in one go. We’ll confirm when your next update is due.

Why it matters: AI answers change often, and a report from weeks ago can point you in the wrong direction. Scheduling takes a manual task off your list and means every decision rests on the latest picture.

What’s next: We’re working on more scheduling improvements across all reports.

Put AI visibility and recommended actions wherever you work

Two new APIs are live: the Local AI Visibility API and the Insights API. Bring your AI visibility results and all BrightLocal recommended next steps into your own dashboards, reports, and workflows.

What’s new?

• Report on AI visibility in your own tools. The Local AI Visibility API shows how each location appears across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Google AI Overviews, ready to drop into your dashboards or client reports.
• Get next steps on demand. The Insights API gives you insights and recommended actions for your locations whenever you need them, so your team and your clients always know what to do next.
• Find everything you need to build in one place. All our API documentation now lives at developer.brightlocal.com. Old links to apidocs.brightlocal.com redirect there automatically.

Why it matters: Many of you asked for this. You can stop copying data between tools by hand and show AI visibility and next steps right alongside everything else you report on.

What’s next: More APIs coming with detailed guides at the developer portal.
 

Find the features you need faster with a redesigned sidebar

We’ve redesigned the sidebar in the new platform so it’s quicker to find your way around and move between locations.

What’s changed?

• See where everything is at a glance. Names are clearer: Your Locations is now All Locations, Location Summary is Location Dashboard, AI Insights is Insights & Actions, Rankings is Local Rank Tracker, GBP is Google Business Profile, and Reputation & Reviews is Reviews.
• Spend less time searching. Citations, Google Business Profile, and Reviews now open into their own groups, so related tools sit together.
• Jump between locations without leaving the page. On any location page, switch to another location straight from the sidebar. Your five most recent locations are right there, and you can search the rest as you type or add a new one.
• Get the key details first. The Location Dashboard header now displays your photo, address, rating, and status in a single row.

Why we made this change: The fewer clicks it takes to reach a feature, the more time you have for the work that matters. If you manage lots of locations, the switcher saves you a trip back to your list every time.

What’s next: More tools will appear in these groups as they move to the new platform.

A quick reminder on the new platform

We’re rebuilding BrightLocal piece by piece through the rest of the year. You can use the new and legacy platforms side by side with the same login. More improvements are landing in the coming weeks.

Note: Scheduled updates for Local AI Visibility and the redesigned sidebar are only available in the New Platform.

BUG FIXES

Local Rank Tracker

Resolved: Keywords showed as new instead of showing their movement
Many Local Rank Tracker reports showed a plus sign next to ranked keywords, as if they had never ranked before. They also counted almost every keyword as gained or lost. Your rankings were recorded correctly. The problem was in how each run was compared with the one before it, after a change in how result pages are saved. We’ve fixed the comparison and recalculated movement for reports run since August 25, so your reports and run history now show the real changes. Notification emails already sent can’t be updated. In a small number of reports, the first run after the change can’t be compared and may still show keywords as new.

Fixed: Search results screenshots were blank or incomplete
Some Local Rank Tracker reports showed blank or partial screenshots of the search results page, even with extended search depth turned on. We’ve fixed this, and full results pages are captured again.

Active Sync

Resolved: Some upgrades to Active Sync Plus failed at checkout
A small number of customers couldn’t upgrade a location from Active Sync to Active Sync Plus. The payment failed, and nothing was charged, but in some cases the message suggested a problem with the card. This happened when a location’s Active Sync came from an older plan. We’ve fixed it, so these upgrades now go through. If a payment does fail, the message now tells you what to do next.