Latest news with #locationdata
Zawya
05-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
The future of search: Why Location Bank matters in the age of AI?
With the explosive rise of AI-driven assistants like ChatGPT, Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant the way people search is fundamentally changing. Traditional typed searches are giving way to voice commands, conversational queries, and intelligent prompts. But, when it comes to location based searches (or prompts), behind this shiny new interface lies something essential: the same old data. Whether someone asks Siri 'Where can i find a good burger in Rosebank' or types a query into an AI chat window, these platforms don't invent answers from thin air. They pull from structured, trusted data sources like Google Maps, Bing, Apple Maps, and more. And if your brand's location data isn't present, accurate, and consistent across these sources, you're invisible in this new AI-powered world. 'The future of search may look different on the surface but under the hood, it still depends on one thing: clean, trusted data,' said Neil Clarence, Co-founder of Location Bank. 'That's where we come in.' Welcome to the new search ecosystem The future of search is layered, decentralised, and intelligent but every layer still depends on accurate data. Here's how: - ChatGPT pulls data through Bing → Location Bank integrates directly with Bing - ChatGPT pulls data from a brands store locator - Location Bank powers these with consistent data. - Siri now taps into ChatGPT + Apple Maps → Location Bank supports both. - Google Assistant relies on Google Maps → Location Bank publishes to it natively. Location Bank. (2025). Store Locator As AI platforms scrape and learn from massive amounts of third-party data, the quality and consistency of your business's location presence has never mattered more. Why Location Bank is now critical infrastructure Location Bank ensures that your business is published correctly: name, address, phone number, hours, categories, and more across a powerful network of digital endpoints. This includes Google, Bing, Meta, Apple Maps, TomTom, Here, and in-car navigation systems. Here's what that means in practice: - If a customer asks Siri 'Where can I find a good burger in Rosebank?" you show up because your data is there on Apple Maps. - If a user asks ChatGPT 'Where can i find a good burger in Rosebank? and ChatGPT leans on Bing, you show up because your data was indexed. - If someone uses Google Assistant, your business is found because your details are perfectly synced with Google Maps. Even as consumer search habits change, your discoverability doesn't - because you are present where AI learns. The trust factor in an AI world AI systems are trained to prioritise accuracy, authority, and consistency. When your business details vary across platforms or worse, don't exist at all AI deprioritises you in favor of more reliable sources. Inconsistent data confuses search engines, but it completely disqualifies you from intelligent agents that rely on trustworthy signals. That's why uniform, verified, and up-to-date location data is no longer just a local SEO best practice - it's a foundational strategy for AI-era visibility. 'In the age of AI, your discoverability is determined by the quality of your data,' added Neil Clarence. 'We don't just publish your locations, we make them findable, verifiable, and trustworthy across every digital touchpoint.' AI might be transforming how people search but it still relies on structured data to deliver results. Location Bank helps ensure that your business isn't just listed, but trusted, synced, and ready for discovery no matter how or where consumers search. In the era of AI, your visibility will be shaped by your data. Location Bank makes sure your data is everywhere it needs to be. About Location Bank Location Bank is a leading MarTech platform that enables brands to centrally manage and sync their digital location data across key digital platforms. By delivering consistent, verified business information at scale, Location Bank helps brands enhance discoverability, build trust, and thrive in an AI-first digital landscape.
The Guardian
29-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Virgin Media O2 mobile users' locations exposed for two years in security flaw
The locations of millions of Virgin Media O2 mobile customers were exposed for up to two years until a network security flaw was corrected, it has emerged. Before the fix was implemented on 18 May, anyone with a Virgin Media O2 sim card could use their phone to obtain sensitive information about the network's other customers using a 4G-enabled device, including their location to the nearest mobile mast. The flaw has now been patched and reported to the UK's communications and data protection regulators. Virgin Media O2 said there was no evidence that its network security systems had been externally breached. The locations of customers could be tracked most precisely in urban areas, where mobile masts cover areas as small as 100 square metres. Dan Williams, an IT specialist who discovered the defect, wrote that he was 'extremely disappointed' not to receive a response when he flagged the issue, which was resolved only after he blogged about it two months later, on 17 May. He said there had been no explanation for the delay. He wrote: 'I don't want to be the enemy, I simply want to feel comfortable using my phone.' Williams noticed Virgin Media O2's failure to configure its 4G calling software correctly when he was looking at messaging between his device and the network to work out call quality between himself and another O2 customer. 'I noticed that the responses from the network were extremely long, and upon inspection noticed that extra information from the recipient of the call was sent to the call initiator,' he told the Guardian. This included normally private information, such as the cell ID, which is the current cell tower a caller is connected to; information about sim card, which could be used for a cyber-attack; and the phone model, which can be used to work out how to access it. He believed that it was 'possible this was used in the wild and not reported against' though there was no way to quantify that. If it had been that would be 'quite a large problem', as 'there are situations where this data is extremely, extremely sensitive', for example domestic abuse survivors or government workers, he added. 'I came across it by accident. Someone purposefully trying to find these kinds of vulnerabilities would have probably come across it,' he said. 'There are white papers detailing this exact scenario and warning networks against doing this.' The FT, which first reported Williams's findings, said he had tested the problem with another O2 customer, successfully tracking them to Copenhagen, Denmark. Disabling the 4G calling feature on devices would have prevented them from being tracked, though this is not possible on some handsets, such as iPhones. The issue may have also affected some customers of Giffgaff and Tesco Mobile, which use Virgin Media O2's network. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Alan Woodward, cybersecurity professor at Surrey University, said location data 'could be valuable for scams such as social engineering, or even blackmail' and for phishing attempts referencing a recent location, though they would need other information about the person for this to work. He said this was unlikely to happen for normal people who were not criminal targets, but nevertheless fixing the vulnerability should have been a 'matter of urgency'. A Virgin Media O2 spokesperson said: 'Our engineering teams had been working on and testing a fix for this configuration issue over a number of weeks, and we can confirm this fix was fully implemented on 18 May. 'Our customers do not need to take any action, and we have no evidence of this issue being exploited beyond the two illustrative examples given by a network engineer in his blog which we reported to the ICO [Information Commissioner's Office] and Ofcom. There has been no external compromise of our network security at any time.' An Ofcom spokesperson said it was 'aware that O2 has experienced a network security issue', and is in contact with the provider to establish the scale and cause of the problem. An ICO spokesperson said that after assessing the information provided by Telefonica and remedial steps taken, 'we will not be taking further action at this stage'.
