Your Google Business Profile
For local searches, your Google Business Profile — the listing that shows up in Google Maps and the local pack — often matters more than your website. An incomplete, inconsistent, or under-optimized profile is the most common reason local businesses stay invisible.
We audit the profile end to end: categories, service areas, hours, attributes, photos, and whether the information matches your website and other listings exactly.
- Verify primary and secondary categories match your services
- Check name, address, and phone (NAP) for exact consistency
- Review hours, service areas, attributes, and business description
- Assess photo coverage and Google Posts activity
- Confirm the profile is verified and free of suspensions or duplicates
Citations and NAP consistency
Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone across directories, review sites, and data aggregators. When those details disagree — an old address here, a different phone there — it undermines Google's confidence in your business and your local rankings.
We check your presence and consistency across the directories that matter for local search and flag the mismatches and duplicates that need cleanup.
- Audit NAP consistency across major directories and aggregators
- Find incorrect, outdated, or duplicate listings
- Identify missing citations on relevant local and industry directories
- Prioritize the citations that actually influence local rankings
- Check for conflicting information feeding into Google
On-page local signals and reviews
Your website still matters for local search. Location pages, local business schema, and content that references the areas you serve all help Google connect you to nearby searches. And reviews — their quantity, recency, rating, and your responses — are a strong, visible ranking and trust factor.
We audit both so the profile, the site, and your reputation reinforce each other.
- Check for LocalBusiness schema markup on the site
- Review location and service-area pages for unique, useful content
- Assess title tags and headings for local relevance
- Evaluate review volume, recency, rating, and response rate
- Confirm embedded map, address, and contact details on key pages
More on seo audits
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a physical address to rank locally?
You need a valid location Google can verify, but service-area businesses without a storefront can still rank by setting a service area and hiding the address on the profile. What you can't do is fake an address or use a virtual office you don't actually operate from — Google actively catches that and can suspend the listing.
How much do reviews affect local rankings?
They're a meaningful factor — especially review quantity, average rating, recency, and whether you respond. Beyond rankings, they heavily influence whether someone clicks you over a competitor in the local pack. We look at your review profile as part of the audit, but we never suggest buying or faking reviews — that violates Google's policies and can get you removed.
Is local SEO different from regular SEO?
It overlaps but has its own moving parts — the Google Business Profile, the local pack, citations, and proximity all come into play alongside normal on-page and content SEO. A business chasing nearby customers needs the local layer; a business selling nationwide online generally doesn't. This audit focuses on the local layer.