Where local results show up
When someone searches for a business or service near them, Google shows local results on Google Maps and in Search, usually a map with a short list of businesses, followed by the regular web results. Searches like furnace repair Grand Rapids, or simply electrician typed on a phone, work this way.
Google builds those listings from several sources: what you enter in your Business Profile, information crawled from the web including your own website, licensed data from third parties, and contributions from users such as reviews and photos. Local SEO is the work of making each of those sources accurate, complete and convincing.
How Google ranks local results
Google says local results are mainly based on three factors, and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Local SEO works mostly on relevance and prominence. Distance is set by where your business is, which is why few businesses appear in the map results across their entire service area.
- Relevance: how well your profile and website match the search.
- Distance: how far your business is from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well known your business is, including how many websites link to it and how many reviews and ratings it has.
What the work includes
A complete local SEO effort touches seven areas. Most small businesses have gaps in two or three of them, and those gaps are where the early gains are. Structured data can help as well: Google's LocalBusiness markup lets your site describe details such as business hours in a format Google reads directly.
- Google Business Profile: verification, the right categories, services, service areas, hours, photos and replies to reviews.
- Service pages: one page for each main job you want more of, written for customers.
- Area pages: honest pages about how you serve specific communities, not copies with the town name swapped.
- Reviews: a steady routine for asking every customer, within Google's rules.
- Consistency: the same business name, phone number and address or service area on your site, profile and the directories customers use.
- Local mentions and links from suppliers, associations, sponsorships and local news.
- Technical health: a site Google can crawl and index, that loads quickly on phones.
How local SEO differs from general SEO
The two overlap. Both depend on a site Google can crawl and on content that genuinely helps people. The difference is that local SEO ties everything to a place, and the Business Profile carries much of the weight. The table below shows where they split.
Consistency matters more locally than many owners expect. Google asks that a Business Profile represent the business the way it is consistently known in the real world, across signs, stationery and other branding, so mismatched names or phone numbers across the web create doubt for customers and for Google.
Local SEO and AI answers
Google says the same SEO best practices apply to its AI features, AI Overviews and AI Mode, with no additional requirements and no special files or markup. Its list of fundamentals for those features includes keeping your Business Profile information up to date. A business that is clear, accurate and well reviewed on Google is in the best position for both classic and AI search.
How to measure it
Measure local SEO by what happens after people find you. Your Business Profile performance report shows views, the searches that found you, calls from the profile and direction requests. Search Console shows which searches display your website and how many people click. Pair both with a count of calls and forms from those sources. If inquiries aren't growing, positions alone don't matter.
We report local SEO the same way, around real inquiries, and quote it as a flat monthly fee after a free 30-minute call with Nick.
| Aspect | Local SEO | General SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Where you appear | Map results plus regular results for nearby searchers | Regular results for searchers anywhere |
| Main assets | Business Profile and website together | Website |
| What Google names as key | Relevance, distance and prominence | Many ranking signals, with links as one of them |
| Reputation shows up as | Reviews and ratings on your profile | Mentions and links across the web |
| Measure of success | Calls, direction requests and booked jobs | Traffic, leads or sales |
Related questions
Is local SEO different from Google Ads?
Yes. Local SEO earns placement in Google's free local and organic results and costs nothing per click, but it takes time. Google Ads are paid placements you can switch on quickly and stop anytime. Google says advertising has no effect on organic rankings, so the two work independently.
Is a Business Profile enough, or do I also need a website?
A profile alone can appear in map results. A website gives Google more to match against specific searches, supports your prominence, and is where many customers check you out before calling. For most service businesses the two work better together than either does alone.
What does NAP consistency mean?
NAP stands for name, address and phone number. Keeping them identical on your website, Business Profile and directories helps customers and Google recognize one business. Google asks that your profile match how the business is consistently known in the real world.
Can a business without a storefront do local SEO?
Yes. Service-area businesses can hide their address and list up to 20 service areas. They still rank partly on distance from the searcher, so clear pages for the towns they serve and a steady flow of reviews matter even more.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
- Google Business Profile Help: How Google sources and uses business information
- Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google
- Google Business Profile Help: Manage your service areas
- Google Search Central: Local business structured data
- Google Search Central: AI features and your website
- Google Search Central: SEO Starter Guide
- Google Search Central: Do you need an SEO?
- Google Business Profile Help: Understand your Business Profile performance
- Search Console Help: Performance report