Definition

Local SEO is the discipline of improving a business's visibility for geographically qualified queries, primarily through its Google Business Profile, on-site signals and consistent listings across the web.

Google states that local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance reflects how well a profile matches the query; distance is calculated from the searcher's location; prominence reflects how well-known the business is, drawn from web signals such as links, articles, directories and review counts. Local SEO covers Google Business Profile management, local citations, on-page geographic signals and review handling.

Examples

• Cafe chain

  A cafe chain claims a Google Business Profile for each location, keeps opening hours and photos current, and earns reviews from customers. Its individual stores appear in the Local Pack for 'cafe near me' searches in each suburb.

• Service-area business

  A mobile mechanic defines its service area in Google Business Profile and adds LocalBusiness structured data on its website. The business surfaces in local results across the suburbs it lists.

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help — Improve your local ranking on Google

Related terms

• Local Pack
  A group of local business listings displayed with a map on Google Search, ranked by Google's local algorithm using relevance, distance and prominence.
• Google Business Profile
  A free Google listing that represents a real-world business across Google Search and Maps with details such as name, address, hours, photos and reviews.
• Citation
  A mention of a business's name, address or phone number on another website, which Google can use as a signal when understanding a local business.
• Knowledge Panel
  An information box in Google's search results, automatically generated for an entity from sources like the Knowledge Graph and the open web.
• Schema Markup
  Structured data added to a page that describes its content to search engines in a machine-readable format.

Where QueryCatch uses this

• Local Business Schema
• SEO Audit