Local SEO checklist for service businesses: 25 checks that decide who gets the call

Google’s own help page says local results are mainly based on relevance (how well a profile matches the search), distance (how far the business is from the searcher) and prominence (how well known the business is, including reviews and ratings). It also says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up, and that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Everything in the checklist below supports relevance or prominence. Work top to bottom; the first group usually matters most.

1. The profile is claimed and verified by the owner, not a former employee or agency.
2. The business name is the real name, with no extra keywords or cities added.
3. The primary category is the most specific one that matches your main service, with as few extra categories as possible.
4. Service-area businesses hide the address and list the areas they serve; storefronts show the exact address.
5. Hours, holiday hours, phone and website are correct and match your site.
6. Services are listed with short descriptions, and there are recent photos of real work, vehicles and team.
7. Someone answers questions and replies to every review within a week.

1. One page per main service, with the service and area in the title and first heading.
2. Area pages only where the work, prices or travel differ; never the same text with a different city name.
3. Phone number at the top of every page, tappable on a phone.
4. Name, address or service area, phone and hours in the footer, matching the profile.
5. A questions section on each service page with the questions customers ask on the phone.
6. Real photos, licences, guarantees and prices or price ranges where you can share them.
7. Pages load quickly on a phone and the site uses HTTPS.
8. LocalBusiness structured data (schema) with the same details as the profile.

1. Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and Facebook carry the same name, phone, address or area and hours.
2. The two or three directories that matter in your trade (for example a trade association or a booking platform) are claimed and consistent.
3. Old listings with a previous address or phone are corrected or removed.
4. Local mentions with a link: suppliers, sponsorships, local news, community groups.

BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US consumers found 97% read reviews for local businesses, 74% only consider reviews from the last three months and 89% expect the owner to respond.

1. Every customer gets a review request with a direct link or QR code, the day the job is done.
2. Every review gets a personal reply, good or bad, within a week.
3. No incentives for reviews: Google says offering free or discounted goods or services for reviews is strictly prohibited.

1. Calls and form submissions are tracked as conversions in Google Analytics.
2. The Google Business Profile website link carries UTM tags so profile visits are separated from other organic traffic.
3. Once a month you compare calls and forms from organic and maps with the previous month, and note what changed.

Go deeper on the profile itself in our Google Business Profile optimization guide.

To see how local SEO fits with ads, AI search and follow-up, start from the small business growth hub.