Local SEO Guide: Business Profiles, Maps and Your Website

Local SEO helps people find a business when they search for nearby products or services. A useful starting point is to keep your business information accurate, maintain an eligible Google Business Profile, and make your website answer the questions customers ask before visiting or contacting you.

Google says local results are primarily based on relevance, distance, and prominence; complete information can help it understand a business (S1). Neither a complete profile nor any one tactic guarantees a particular position.

Set up a trustworthy business profile#

If your business is eligible, claim and verify its Google Business Profile. Follow Google's representation guidelines for the business name, location, and eligibility. Use the name customers know from your storefront and branding; do not add unrelated keywords to it.

Check these details whenever they change:

• Primary category and services: Choose the most specific category that describes the business as a whole. Add accurate services where appropriate.
• Address or service area: Show an eligible customer-facing address only when it meets Google's rules. Service-area businesses should follow the applicable guidance for their operating model.
• Hours and contact information: Keep regular and special hours current, especially around holidays. Link to a page where customers can act.
• Photos: Add clear, representative photos that help visitors recognize the location, products, or work. Avoid implying stock photos show your business.

A restaurant, for example, should check that its profile links to the correct location's menu and reservations page, and that the holiday hours match the hours posted on its own site.

Make each location page useful#

A location page should help a person decide whether and how to visit. Include its real address when applicable, phone number, hours, accessibility details, services, directions, and a way to contact or book. Explain what makes that location useful rather than repeating the same paragraph with a different city name on dozens of pages.

Link each page from relevant navigation and from its business profile. Use a clear page title such as Bike repair in Madison | Example Cycles only when it accurately describes the business and service. Our meta tag generator can help draft the HTML; review its output and publish it through your site's normal workflow.

If your page describes a real business location, LocalBusiness structured data can help communicate those details. Keep the markup consistent with the visible page and follow Google's Local Business documentation. Valid markup does not guarantee a rich result. See our schema markup guide for testing steps.

Ask for and respond to genuine reviews#

Invite customers to share an honest experience without offering incentives or asking only for positive reviews. Read and follow Google's review policies. Respond professionally to feedback, avoid sharing private customer information, and move sensitive disputes to a private support channel.

Reviews are one input to a broader customer experience. Do not fabricate reviews, claim that a response will improve a ranking, or publish review markup that does not meet the relevant platform's requirements.

Check business information elsewhere#

Review important directories and social profiles for a correct business name, contact information, and destination URL. Prioritize sources customers actually use and fix duplicates or outdated entries when you can. Consistent information reduces confusion; it is not a promise of a ranking increase.

Measure outcomes and diagnose changes#

Set a baseline before making changes and compare similar periods:

1. Review profile interactions in Business Profile Performance, such as directions, calls, and website clicks when available.
2. Use Search Console to review queries, impressions, clicks, and indexed location pages. A live URL test and Google's indexed version can differ (S2).
3. Track meaningful business outcomes, such as completed bookings or qualified calls, with consent-respecting analytics. Separate organic search from other channels where measurement permits.
4. Record changes to hours, service areas, content, and site templates. Compare like-for-like time periods and consider seasonality before attributing a change to one edit.

Sources#

• S1: Google Business Profile Help: Improve your local ranking on Google
• S2: Search Console Help: URL Inspection tool
• Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business
• Google Search Central: Local business structured data

Last updated: October 28, 2026.