Local SEO
Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization
Google Business Profile is the most important factor for local pack rankings.
Required fields
| Field | Best Practice |
|---|---|
| Business name | Exact legal name (no keyword stuffing) |
| Primary category | Most specific category that fits |
| Address | Exact match to website and all citations |
| Phone | Local number (not toll-free) with area code |
| Website URL | Link to location-specific landing page |
| Hours | Accurate, including holiday hours |
Optimization fields
| Field | Best Practice |
|---|---|
| Secondary categories | Add all relevant categories (up to 9 additional) |
| Business description | 750 chars max; include primary services and location keywords naturally |
| Services/Products | List all services with descriptions |
| Attributes | Complete all relevant attributes (wheelchair accessible, Wi-Fi, etc.) |
| Photos | Minimum 10 quality photos (exterior, interior, team, products/services) |
| Logo | Square logo, clear at small sizes |
| Cover photo | Represents the business, 1080x608px |
GBP Posts
- Post weekly at minimum (shows Google the profile is active)
- Types: Updates, Offers, Events
- Include a CTA button (Learn More, Book, Call)
- Add a photo to every post
- Keep text under 300 words (first 100 words visible without clicking)
Q&A Section
- Seed with your own frequently asked questions
- Answer all questions promptly (within 24 hours)
- Include relevant keywords naturally in answers
NAP Consistency
NAP = Name, Address, Phone number. Must be identical everywhere.
Why it matters
Google cross-references your business information across the web. Inconsistencies reduce trust and hurt local rankings.
Common inconsistencies
| Problem | Example |
|---|---|
| Name variations | "Bob's Pizza" vs "Bob's Pizza Inc." vs "Bobs Pizza" |
| Address format | "123 Main St" vs "123 Main Street" vs "123 Main St, Suite 200" |
| Phone format | "(512) 555-0123" vs "512-555-0123" vs "5125550123" |
| Old address | Previous location still listed on old citations |
| Old phone | Changed number but old one still appears |
Fix workflow
- Choose ONE canonical format for Name, Address, and Phone
- Update Google Business Profile first
- Update your website (header, footer, contact page)
- Update top citation sources (Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing Places)
- Use a citation audit service or manually check top 50 sources
- Set up monitoring for new inconsistencies
Local Citation Building
Citations are online mentions of your NAP — even without a link.
Tier 1: Must-Have Citations (Do first)
| Source | Authority | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | Critical | Primary listing |
| Apple Maps / Apple Business Connect | High | iOS Maps + Siri |
| Bing Places | High | Microsoft ecosystem |
| Facebook Business Page | High | Social + local search |
| Yelp | High | Major review platform |
| Yellow Pages / YP.com | Medium | Still used by Google |
| Better Business Bureau | Medium | Trust signal |
| Foursquare | Medium | Powers many apps |
Tier 2: Data Aggregators
Submit to these to propagate to hundreds of smaller directories:
- Data Axle (formerly Infogroup)
- Neustar Localeze
- Factual (Foursquare)
Tier 3: Industry-Specific Directories
| Industry | Top Citations |
|---|---|
| Healthcare | Healthgrades, Zocdoc, Vitals, WebMD |
| Legal | Avvo, FindLaw, Justia, Martindale-Hubbell |
| Restaurants | TripAdvisor, OpenTable, Zomato, DoorDash |
| Home Services | Angi, HomeAdvisor, Thumbtack, Houzz |
| Automotive | Cars.com, AutoTrader, CarGurus, DealerRater |
| Real Estate | Zillow, Realtor.com, Redfin, Trulia |
| Hotels | Booking.com, TripAdvisor, Hotels.com, Expedia |
See CITATION_SOURCES.md for the complete list of 50+ sources.
Local Keyword Research
Keyword patterns for local SEO
| Pattern | Example |
|---|---|
[service] + [city] | "plumber austin" |
[service] + near me | "plumber near me" |
[service] + [neighborhood] | "plumber south austin" |
best + [service] + [city] | "best plumber in austin" |
[service] + [city] + [qualifier] | "emergency plumber austin tx" |
[service] + reviews | "plumber reviews austin" |
[service] + cost/price + [city] | "plumber cost austin" |
Local keyword research process
- List all services offered
- List all service areas (city, neighborhoods, suburbs, zip codes)
- Create combinations: service + location
- Add modifiers: best, cheap, emergency, 24/7, near me, reviews
- Mine Google autocomplete for local variations
- Check "People Also Ask" for local question keywords
- Analyze competitor keywords with
research_keywords(if API available)
MCP Tool: Use research_keywords with location parameter for local search volume data.
Local Landing Pages
For businesses serving multiple areas, create dedicated landing pages per location/service area.
Structure for location pages
/locations/ (Store locator / all locations)
/locations/austin-tx/ (City landing page)
/locations/austin-tx/south-austin/ (Neighborhood page, if sufficient demand)Required elements per location page
- H1:
[Service] in [Location](e.g., "Emergency Plumber in Austin, TX") - Unique content: 500-1,000 words specific to that location
- NAP: Full name, address, phone for that location
- Embedded Google Map: Centered on the business location
- LocalBusiness schema: JSON-LD with location-specific data
- Customer reviews/testimonials: From customers in that area
- Service area description: Neighborhoods, landmarks served
- Photos: Location-specific images (storefront, team, local landmarks)
- CTA: Location-specific call-to-action ("Call our Austin office")
Avoid
- Duplicate content across location pages (each must be unique)
- Doorway pages (thin content with only city name swapped)
- Creating pages for areas you don't actually serve
- Keyword-stuffing the city/neighborhood name
Review Management
Reviews are a top-3 local ranking factor.
Review generation strategy
- Ask happy customers for reviews at the right moment (after service completion)
- Make it easy: provide a direct link to your Google review form
- Train staff to ask in person
- Send follow-up emails/texts with review link (1-3 days after service)
- Never incentivize reviews (violates Google guidelines)
- Never buy fake reviews (Google can detect and penalize)
Review response templates
Positive review response:
Thank you for the kind words, [Name]! We're glad we could help with [specific service].
We appreciate you choosing [Business Name] and look forward to serving you again.Negative review response:
[Name], thank you for your feedback. We're sorry to hear about your experience with
[specific issue]. We take this seriously and would like to make it right. Please contact
us at [phone/email] so we can address this directly.Review signals that impact rankings
| Factor | Impact |
|---|---|
| Overall star rating | High — 4.0+ preferred |
| Review count | High — more reviews = stronger signal |
| Review velocity | Medium — steady stream better than bursts |
| Review recency | Medium — recent reviews weighted more |
| Review diversity | Medium — reviews from different platforms |
| Owner response rate | Medium — respond to all reviews |
| Keywords in reviews | Low-Medium — organic mentions of services help |
Local Pack Ranking Factors
The local pack (3-pack) shows for local intent queries. Key ranking factors:
Top factors (in approximate order of importance)
- Google Business Profile signals — primary category, completeness, keywords in description
- Proximity — distance from searcher to business location
- Review signals — rating, count, velocity, keywords
- On-page signals — NAP on website, local keywords, location pages
- Citation signals — NAP consistency, citation volume, quality
- Link signals — local links, domain authority, link diversity
- Behavioral signals — click-through rate, mobile clicks-to-call, driving directions requests
- Personalization — user's search history and location
What you can control
- GBP optimization (fields, categories, posts, photos)
- Review generation and response
- NAP consistency across citations
- Local landing page quality
- Local link building
- Website technical health
Multi-Location SEO
Architecture for multi-location businesses
example.com/ (Homepage)
example.com/locations/ (Store locator with map)
example.com/locations/austin-tx/ (Location page)
example.com/locations/dallas-tx/ (Location page)
example.com/locations/houston-tx/ (Location page)Key rules
- Separate GBP profile for each physical location
- Unique landing page per location with unique content
- Location-specific LocalBusiness schema on each page
- Unique phone number per location (helps with tracking and citations)
- Consistent NAP per location across all citations
- Avoid cannibalization between location pages (different target keywords)
Related Skills
- seo-on-page-optimization — on-page elements for location pages
- seo-schema-structured-data — LocalBusiness schema markup
- seo-content-strategy — local content planning
Key MCP Tools for Local SEO
| Tool | Use For |
|---|---|
analyze_page | Audit location landing pages |
extract_schema | Validate LocalBusiness schema |
generate_schema | Generate LocalBusiness JSON-LD |
research_keywords | Local keyword research with location targeting |
See GBP_OPTIMIZATION_CHECKLIST.md for field-by-field GBP guide. See LOCAL_SCHEMA_TEMPLATES.md for LocalBusiness schema templates. See CITATION_SOURCES.md for the complete citation source list.