Local SEO
Local SEO (local search engine optimization) is the work of helping a business show up when people nearby search for what it offers, on Google Maps and in Google Search's local results. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and how well-known a business is, and that there's no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Source: Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, checked October 29, 2026
What Local SEO means for your business
Local SEO is part of what we do. Google's own tips are where we'd start. Verify your Business Profile and keep it complete. Reply to reviews. Add photos. Distance is out of your hands, so we'd work on relevance and on how well-known you are.
Google says how well-known you are also comes from things like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have. So the work reaches past your own site, to local news, association listings and directories that use your exact name, address and phone number.
If buyers ask ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode for a nearby business instead of opening Maps, we'd want to know what those answers say about you, so we check them next to your map results. If you show up on the map but AI answers name the shop down the street, getting your business named in AI answers too is the part we'd add.
Last reviewed October 29, 2026. All terms
How AI answers it today
On October 29, 2026, Google's AI Overview cited SEO tool and marketing blogs and YouTube rather than Google's own ranking tips. ChatGPT cited no sources; both listed relevance, distance and prominence, the three factors on Google's help page.
Our run through ChatGPT and Google's AI Overview, October 29, 2026. A sample, not what every buyer sees.
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