What exactly is local SEO?
Local SEO covers everything that makes a business visible in location-based searches: “dentist in New York,” “locksmith open now,” or simply “bakery,” which Google interprets based on where the person is. The results then take a special form, the local pack, which combines a map and a few business listings above the regular links, and they also show up in Google Maps.
- 1RelevanceDoes the listing match the search?Lever
- 2DistanceWhere the searcher is relative to youFixed
- 3ProminenceReviews, mentions on other sites, website qualityLever
Google itself describes the three factors that determine the order of these listings in its tips to improve your local ranking: how relevant the listing is to the search, the distance between the searcher and the business, and the business’s prominence, which comes from reviews, mentions on other sites and the quality of the website itself. Distance can’t be worked on; the other two factors can.
This work matters for any business that serves a defined geographic area: stores, restaurants, professional practices, contractors, real estate agencies, but also businesses without a storefront that travel to their customers, and chains with several locations. It extends the work an SEO agency does on the whole site, with its own tools and rules.
Local SEO vs. traditional SEO: what changes
The two disciplines share the same foundations, a healthy site and useful content, but they don’t target the same spots and aren’t measured the same way.
| Criterion | Traditional SEO | Local SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Target placement | The blue links on the results page | The local pack, Google Maps and mapping apps |
| Main asset | The site’s pages | The Google Business Profile, then the site’s pages |
| Trust signals | Links from other sites, content quality | Customer reviews, directory citations, consistent contact details |
| Competitors | Every site targeting the same query, anywhere | Businesses in your industry in the same area |
| Metrics tracked | Rankings, organic traffic, conversions | Calls, direction requests, visits from the listing, position on a grid of points around the address |
A local business almost always needs both: the listing captures immediate searches, while the site answers longer searches and reassures people who compare before calling.
Optimizing your Google Business Profile, step by step
The Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, is the centerpiece of the whole setup. Many businesses have one without knowing it, often incomplete. Here’s what we check and set up, in this order.
- Claim and verify the profile. Ownership must belong to the business, on an account it controls. If someone else holds access, we start the ownership request process; we also get duplicates that scatter your reviews reported and merged. Verification itself increasingly requires a video of the business: we prepare it with you to avoid a rejection.
- Your real name, nothing more. Adding a city or a keyword to the business name goes against the guidelines for representing your business on Google and puts the profile at risk of suspension. The name must be the one on your signage and official documents.
- Categories. The primary category weighs heavily on relevance: it should describe your core business, not the broadest one. Secondary categories cover the other services you actually provide.
- Address or service area. A business that serves customers on site displays its address; a business that goes to its customers hides the address and lists the cities or regions where it works.
- Hours, including special hours. Wrong hours lead to negative reviews and lost visits. Holidays and closures should be set in advance.
- Description, products and services. The text presents the business in plain language, the services list uses the words your customers use, and the main link points to the most useful page on the site, not necessarily the homepage.
- Photos and posts. Storefront, interior, team, completed projects: authentic images, updated with the seasons. Posts are for announcing an offer, an event or something new.
- Attributes and questions. Accessibility, payment methods, online booking: every attribute you fill in answers a question the customer won’t have to ask.
A suspended or restricted profile can usually be restored by fixing whatever breaks the rules, then submitting a reinstatement request with supporting documents. We prepare that file when the situation comes up.
Citations, reviews and local pages: the other levers
The same contact details everywhere
The business’s name, address and phone number, known in the industry as NAP, appear in dozens of places: directories, social networks, booking sites, review platforms, chambers of commerce. Each mention is a citation. When this information doesn’t match, because of a move or an old number, search engines start doubting the listing. We find these mentions, correct the wrong ones and fill in the platforms that matter in your country: Apple Maps (through Apple Business Connect), Bing Places, Yelp in the United States, PagesJaunes in France, Yell in the United Kingdom, Páginas Amarillas in Spain.
Customer reviews
Reviews play two roles: they build prominence in Google’s eyes, and they often decide the final choice between two nearby businesses. We set up a simple process to request them after every job, a direct link to the review form, and reply templates you adapt to each customer. Responding to negative reviews, calmly and with facts, matters as much as getting good ones. We never buy reviews and never write them on your customers’ behalf.
We also don’t filter which customers get asked based on how satisfied we think they are, and we offer nothing in exchange for a review: Google prohibits it, removes the reviews in question and can restrict the profile.
Pages that talk about your area
The site has to confirm what the listing says. One page per location, or per service area you actually cover, with the address, hours, directions, the services offered there and information specific to the place. LocalBusiness structured data describes these details to search engines in a format they read without ambiguity. We avoid dozens of identical city pages where only the name changes: Google treats them as low-value content.
Local links and mentions
A partnership with a nonprofit, an interview in the regional press, a listing on a supplier’s or trade show’s site: these local links build prominence in your target area far more than a link from a site unrelated to your business.
Our process, from diagnosis to monthly tracking
The engagement is built around five steps, each ending with a named deliverable, so you always know what’s been done.
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01
Local diagnosis
A review of the listing, an inventory of existing citations, a comparison with the competitors that appear in the pack for your main searches, a check of the site’s local pages.
If the site itself is a problem, a full SEO audit can complement it.
Deliverable: The current-state review, with fixes ranked by urgency
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02
Cleanup
Fixes to the listing, categories and contact details, cleanup of duplicates and incorrect citations.
Deliverable: The change log, platform by platform
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03
Review process
Review link, a template message to send to customers, reply templates, who does what on your team.
Deliverable: The written process, ready to use
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04
Local content
Creation or rewrite of location pages, structured data, regular posts on the listing.
Deliverable: The page plan and the posting calendar
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05
Tracking
Every month, a report on calls received, directions requested to your business, visits from the listing, movement on a ranking grid around each address and new reviews. How we choose these metrics is explained in the SEO KPIs guide.
Deliverable: The monthly report
For a chain with several locations, the same process applies to each address, with shared brand rules and centralized profile management. For a business present in several countries, each market has its own directories, habits and language, in line with our international SEO services.
Get recommended nearby by ChatGPT and AI Overviews
More and more people ask an assistant to recommend “a good chiropractor in the neighborhood” or “a wedding caterer near London.” ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Google’s AI Mode then build their answer from sources they consider trustworthy: business profiles, directories, reviews, local press articles and the business’s website.
They don’t all use the same sources. Gemini and AI Mode draw directly on Google Maps and your Business Profile; ChatGPT and Perplexity don’t have access to it and rely on directories, review sites, local press and the pages of your site. A business that’s only on Google can therefore be recommended by Gemini and ignored by ChatGPT.
The same foundations serve both worlds. A listing consistent with the site, plenty of reviews that describe the service precisely, pages that cover practical questions and a presence on reputable sites all increase the chances of being cited. We check across a set of typical questions whether your business shows up in these answers, and which sources the assistants use. For brands that want to go further, our GEO agency is entirely dedicated to this kind of visibility.
How much do local SEO services cost?
We work by quote, because two local businesses almost never start from the same place. The price depends on several factors:
- the number of locations or service areas to cover;
- the starting state of the listing and citations: a profile to create, a suspended profile or one that just needs a refresh don’t take the same time;
- the competition in your industry and city, stronger in a major metro than in a small town;
- the number of local pages to create or rewrite on the site;
- the countries and languages targeted;
- the scope of work: a one-time cleanup, or monthly management with posts and review responses.
A one-time cleanup often suits a single location in a market with little competition; ongoing management makes sense when several competitors are already investing in the same searches. The first conversation is about deciding between the two, with no commitment on your part.
How to choose a local SEO provider
Use these criteria to compare offers, ours included.
- Ownership of the profile. It should stay in your name, with manager access for the provider. A provider who keeps ownership makes you dependent on them.
- Detailed actions. Which platforms will be fixed, how many pages created, at what pace: a serious quote spells it out.
- Metrics tied to your business. Calls, directions and contact requests say more than your position on the map alone.
- Following the rules. Fake reviews, keywords added to the business name, fake addresses in virtual offices: these shortcuts sooner or later lead to a suspended profile.
- Knowledge of your markets. Directories and search habits vary from country to country; ask which countries the provider usually works in.
If your site needs to be built or modernized before working on local, our small business website service includes location pages and structured data from the start. For a site built on WordPress, the technical side is covered on our WordPress SEO page.
Your questions: Local SEO
Can’t find your question? Ask us
When does local SEO start to pay off?
Fixes to the listing and categories can have an effect within a few weeks. Reviews, citations and local pages build up more slowly and increase visibility over several months, especially in a competitive industry.
Do you need a physical address to appear on Google Maps?
A real address is required to create the profile, but it can be hidden. A business that travels to its customers then lists a service area instead. A P.O. box or virtual office isn’t enough and puts the profile at risk of suspension.
How do you get into Google’s local pack?
You need a verified, complete profile, the right primary category, consistent contact details across the web, a steady flow of reviews and a site that confirms the business and its address. Distance from the person searching remains a factor no one can change.
Do Google reviews affect rankings?
Yes. Google lists reviews among the prominence factors it takes into account. Their number, frequency, content and the owner’s responses all count, on top of their direct effect on customers’ decisions.
Can you get a negative review removed?
Only if it breaks Google’s rules, for example if it’s abusive, off-topic or written by someone who was never a customer. Otherwise, the best response is public, polite and factual: it speaks to future customers as much as to the reviewer.
Do you manage multiple locations?
Yes. Each location has its own profile, its own page on the site and its own tracking, with shared rules for the name, photos and review responses, and an overview to compare locations with each other.
My Google Business Profile was suspended: what should I do?
First identify the rule that was broken, often a modified name, a non-compliant address or a duplicate, fix the profile, then submit a reinstatement request with supporting documents such as an invoice or a photo of your signage. Creating a new profile usually makes things worse.
How much does local SEO cost?
Our quote is built around the number of locations, the starting state of the profile, the competition in your area, the pages to create and the level of ongoing management you want.