The Reputation Dividend: Why Reviews and Listings Deliver the Highest ROI in the Age of AI Search

The way customers find businesses is changing. AI is now becoming part of the search journey, changing how people discover, evaluate, and choose local businesses. Customers increasingly ask AI for recommendations, validate businesses through reviews and maps, and visit websites later in the decision process. For franchise brands, this makes reviews, ratings, and accurate local listings more important than ever. In this session, we’ll explore why reviews and listings are becoming some of the highest-ROI marketing assets for franchise brands and how reputation can compound over time. We’ll also look at how AI search systems use reviews, listings, and other digital signals to determine which businesses get recommended. You'll learn: • Where local marketing spend stands in 2026 • Findings from the 2026 Online Reputation Report • How AI systems read reviews and listings • A Franchise CEO on what actually changed Speakers: Xan Gulish, VP of Business Development Dan Claps, CEO and Co-Founder, Voda Cleaning & Restoration