Franchise Marketing Live 2025 Recap: What Marketers Should Know Heading Into 2026

Key Takeaway 1: Educate Before You Automate

One of the most practical sessions came from Ingrid Schneider, CEO and Founder of Stay in Your Lane and Train In Your Lane, who shared a proven approach for introducing AI inside franchise organizations. Her team follows a rollout model that resonated across the conference: Educate → Adopt → Transform → Implement.

Before automation or AI tools can make an impact, teams need to understand why they matter. Schneider emphasized that brands must teach the language of prompts, evaluation, and data care early on. She also reminded marketers that AI policies should feel like permission slips, not detention slips, encouraging curiosity instead of hesitation.

Finally, she challenged leaders to put real budgets behind their ambitions, recommending that 0.75% to 3% of net revenue be allocated toward AI initiatives to support sustainable innovation.

Key Takeaway 2: Moving From Efficiency to Innovation

AI is no longer just a time-saver. It’s a growth driver. Panelists throughout the event discussed how AI is moving from doing things faster to doing entirely new things that generate top-line impact.

That includes forecasting ROI, predicting audience behavior, and making smarter, data-backed decisions that guide content and media strategies. According to research shared during the event, marketing leaders who fully embrace AI report 1.6x higher revenue growth than those who have not integrated it into their workflows.

AI’s greatest value is its ability to enhance, not replace, the human side of marketing. Local teams still own trust and relationships, while AI supports them by streamlining and enriching how they work.

Key Takeaway 3: What’s Next With SEO and Google AI Overviews

The opening keynote from Josh Allen, a leading voice on multi-location digital marketing, focused on the future of Google’s AI evolution. He explored how Google AI Overviews will reshape how brands appear in search results and how marketers should think about discoverability going forward.

Allen explained that “SEO isn’t dead—it’s different.” Visibility now depends on conversational discovery and cross-channel consistency rather than just rankings. The next stage of optimization will merge paid, owned, earned, and rented media strategies, where context, content, and audience intent are equally important.

Early adopters are already experimenting with AI Max Ads and new beta campaign formats to help struggling or emerging markets gain traction. Strong testing policies and clear data interpretation will be essential for these pilots to succeed.

Key Takeaway 4: Shifting KPIs for AI and Social

Another key insight surrounded the concern around where to start when it comes to optimizing your content for GEO. Panelist Vera Shafiq, Marketing Consultant at VS Strategies LLC, shared how brands should rethink their social media and content KPIs in light of AI and local search.

Her slide, titled “Shifting KPIs for AI SEO,” broke down where brands should spend their time optimizing content and how priorities are changing as AI and GEO visibility converge. The chart showed a clear hierarchy of focus:

• 25% – Content: Pillars, FAQs, how-tos, and comparison articles should take top priority, since these directly feed AI models and influence what users see in AI-generated search results.

• 18% – Website Data: Schema markup, sitemaps, and Core Web Vitals remain essential for ensuring structured data is readable and ranks correctly within AI and search.

• 13% – Rented Channels: Reddit, Quora, and Wikipedia, along with business listings like Crunchbase, continue to help brands earn mentions that feed AI discovery.

• 12% – Google Business Profile: Categories, reviews, Q&As, and photos drive local visibility and should be maintained consistently.

• 12% – Feeds: Location and service-based content, including review feeds, reinforce local signals.

• 10% – Earned Media: Reviews, press mentions, and citations help reinforce credibility and authority.

• 8% – Assets: High-quality visuals, videos, and blogs continue to strengthen SEO and AI signals.

• 1% each – Email and Podcast Transcripts: These contribute to discoverability but should play a supporting role in content strategy.

The visual gave marketers a clear path to follow: spend the most effort where AI and location-based optimization overlap, invest strategically where brand awareness fuels discovery, and minimize time in low-return areas.

The key message: AI should inform what you measure and how you adapt, not just how fast you post.

Key Takeaway 5: The Power of Partnerships

Throughout the conference, panelists highlighted the growing importance of strategic partnerships in scaling marketing impact. From creative development to data strategy, working with specialized partners allows brands to accelerate testing, improve campaign performance, and adapt more quickly to change.

As several speakers noted, AI is only as effective as the people and processes around it. Choosing the right partner can make the difference between insight and noise.

Looking Ahead to 2026

The takeaway from Franchise Marketing Live was clear: AI will not replace marketers, but it will elevate those who invest wisely in the tools and systems to help them scale. The brands that win in 2026 will focus on activation through education, aligning people, platforms, and performance under one clear vision.

Franchise success will always depend on people. Technology is finally making it easier for them to do what they do best: connect, communicate, and convert.

Continue the Conversation: Get Your Free AI Audit

Because AI and automation were central themes at this year’s conference, Netsertive is helping franchise brands take the next step.

We’re offering a free AI audit to evaluate how your brand stacks up on SEO and Google AI Overviews performance.

See where your digital strategy stands and how to position your franchise network for success in 2026.

Request Your Free AI Audit Here