In this episode, Christian Hustle and Ari Nahmani, CEO and founder of Kahena, explore how large restaurant brands and franchise operators can win at local search in an AI-driven world. They break down how the customer discovery journey has shifted away from brand websites toward third-party platforms like DoorDash, Yelp, and OpenTable — and what that means for search strategy. They also cover why review velocity and sentiment have become outsized signals for both Google's diversity update and LLM training, how to build location pages that convert rather than just inform, and why A/B testing at the location level is one of the most underused tools available to multi-location brands. They wrap up with a frank assessment of what breaks first at scale — and why reviews, not data hygiene, are now the hardest thing to manage across hundreds or thousands of locations.
👤 Guest Info
Ari Nahmani – CEO and founder of Kahena
https://www.linkedin.com/in/arinahmani/
🧭 Key Concepts Covered
- How the customer discovery journey has fragmented across delivery and review aggregators
- Branded vs. non-branded search: what the balance looks like for large restaurant chains
- Why AI search query fan-out creates new non-brand ranking opportunities
- Local landing pages V2: what best-in-class location pages include beyond address and hours
- A/B testing at scale: how to test category changes, descriptions, and page layouts across location subsets
- Google's diversity update and why it's making reviews more critical than ever for big chains
- NFC tap cards and post-purchase triggers: practical tactics to increase review velocity
- How review responses train LLMs — and why your USP language needs to be consistent everywhere
- What breaks first at scale: reviews, technical errors, and the risk of rolling out changes too fast
🕒 Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Kahena and Ari's Background
01:22 How the Customer Discovery Journey Has Changed
04:35 Branded vs. Non-Branded Search for Restaurant Chains
07:10 The Opportunity in Near Me and Long-Tail Local Search
09:28 Local Landing Pages: What V2 Looks Like
13:46 A/B Testing Strategies Across Locations
17:00 Optimising Location Pages for Conversion
21:16 Sentiment, Reviews and the Diversity Update
24:00 How Reviews Feed AI Search and LLM Training
28:06 What Breaks First at Scale
🔗 Resources
- Discover Kahena: https://kahena.com
- Discover Location Performance Optimization: https://uberall.com/en-us/products/location-performance-optimization
- Meet UB-I: https://get.uberall.com/ub-i/
- Get GEO & LPO Certified at Uberall Academy: https://academy.uberall.com/
- Follow Kahena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/kahena-digital-marketing/
