Local Search: A Quick Guide for Small Businesses

If you have a local business, you need to appear for local searches.

Because people looking for your businesses like yours are motivated to buy and may become your customers.

By the end of this guide, you'll know how you can boost your business in local search.

But let's first start with some basics.

What Is Local Search?

Local search is when people enter queries into search engines to find businesses or information near them or in a particular geographic region.

An example of this is when someone opens Google Maps and searches "coffee shop near me."

Even without adding "near me," Google Maps shows the user nearby spots, making it easy to find a place that's close. And that user is highly likely to become a customer at one of the shops shown.

Local search results are what search engines show for those locally or area-focused queries.

Why Does Local Search Matters for Businesses?

Local searches matter because they give businesses like yours opportunities to connect with nearby customers who are ready to buy.

Plus, users conducting local searches are often highly motivated. Which means capturing their attention can boost conversions and purchases.

If you appear prominently for local searches, that can make a significant impact on your bottom line.

What Are Some Examples of Local Search Results?

Here are the main types of local search results:

Google Maps

Search results on Google Maps are displayed on a map with pins for quick viewing.

Clicking a pin reveals information about the business, like address, phone number, and directions.

Filters for things like "Rating" and "Hours" are available at the top of the map to help refine your results.

Here's what Google Maps results look like:

Local Pack

The local pack, (also called the map pack, snack pack, or 3-pack) is a result that shows up in Google search results for local queries like "restaurants near me" or "plumbers in [city]."

It typically displays the top three businesses that match your search, along with a map for easy reference.

Localized Organic Results

Localized organic results appear below the local pack in Google's main search results area. They include content like forum discussions, blog posts, and news stories.

For example, a search for "Top 10 Best Coffee Shops in Istanbul" will show these types of results.

I often search like this before visiting a new city, especially when looking for recommendations from specialty sites. Or if I am trying to explore a wider range of options across a city instead of just one neighborhood.

Local Finder

Google's Local Finder is a feature that allows you to see more information about local businesses beyond what the local pack shows.

Users can access the Local Finder by clicking a "More businesses" button or a "More places" button at the bottom of the local pack.

You'll then see a map with results based on the search query.

AI Results

AI tools like Google's AI Overviews and OpenAI's ChatGPT are now providing local search results in the form of recommendations.
AI Overviews appear for certain searches and provide AI-generated summaries with information from various sources. These summaries pull data from search results-including results from local business listings-to offer users a concise snapshot of relevant information.

Answer engines like ChatGPT, Claud, and Perplexity aim to directly answer users' questions by synthesizing information from various sources.

I tested ChatGPT with a Barcelona-related coffee search-specifically for places near Sagrada Familia.

It brought up some decent choices, but it doesn't quite match the accuracy of Google's local results. For example, one coffee shop wasn't exactly near the Sagrada Familia.

That said, ChatGPT's recent preview launch of Operator (an AI assistant that can help with a range of tasks using its own browser) has a lot of potential for local search.

How to Win at Local Search

To optimize for local search (called local SEO), consider the main factors Google uses to determine which local results to show and where:

• Relevance: How closely a search result matches what users are looking for. For example, if someone searches for "pet-friendly hotels in san francisco," hotels that mention being pet-friendly will likely rank higher.
• Distance: How close the business is to the user or the area the user is searching
• Prominence: How well-known and reputable the business is. Which is influenced by signals like online mentions, reviews, etc.

With that in mind, here's what you can do to boost your local search rankings:

1. Create a Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a free tool that helps you influence how your business appears in local search results.

Optimizing your profile is essential for increasing the visibility of your business. To maximize it, you should do the following:

• Claim or create, verify, and fully complete your Google Business Profile

• Add accurate business information, such as your name, address, and phone number (NAP)
• Choose an accurate category to help with the relevance factor

• Write an enticing description that includes terms related to your business that users might search. As you can see, a search for a local keyword that mentions "fondue" shows business listings that mention "fondue."

Semrush's GBP Optimization tool makes it easy to quickly optimize your profile by centralizing everything in one dashboard.

It tracks performance, monitors engagement, and can generate AI-powered posts to keep your profile active.

2. Get Your Listings in Order

Having accurate and consistent business listings across online directories helps search engines trust that what you say about your business is true. Which helps you meet Google's prominence factor.

To get and enhance other business listings, start by using our free business listings audit tool.

Your free audit will give you a report (which you can export as a PDF) with information about missing listings, listings that are accurate, and listings that contain errors. Which you can use as a checklist to tackle issues.

If you're missing from any of the directories, just go to the corresponding listing tool (like the one below from Yahoo) and follow the steps to get listed. Or to claim a listing.

Then, you can start fixing issues like incorrect details (e.g., wrong business name) or missing info (e.g., no phone number). Doing all of this manually for a single or multiple locations can get quite time-consuming.

Use Semrush's Listing Management tool to automatically distribute your business information across directories and help you edit changes from one place.

Here's how to get started:

After running a free audit, click the "Try it now" button to sign up for a Listing Management subscription.

Connect your Google Business Profile (if you've already claimed it) and make sure all your information is correct. And click "Start distributing info."

The tool will automatically sync your info across the top directories in your market.

If you ever need to edit your listings, you can easily do so from the tool's dashboard.

3. Monitor and Answer Reviews

Accumulating reviews (especially positive ones) influences local search rankings and is essential for building trust with potential customers.

People conducting local searches tend to favor businesses with fresh reviews, so it is crucial to actively encourage customer feedback and respond promptly.

You can encourage reviews by placing QR code signs that go directly to your Google review section in your place of business. Or, try inviting customers to leave reviews via links sent through email or SMS.

Reviews on other platforms like Tripadvisor and Yelp can further enhance your online presence and reputation.

Managing and monitoring reviews across many platforms takes a lot of time and effort.

Semrush Local's Review Management tool can help you monitor reviews across different platforms from one place. And even allows you to respond directly to Google reviews.

4. Get Local Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites to your website that signal trust and authority to search engines. These help with traditional SEO as well as local SEO given they address the prominence factor.

High-quality backlinks from reputable local sites are especially valuable.

Here are a couple of key practices to strengthen your local link-building efforts:

• Build links by collaborating with local organizations, local media outlets, and local bloggers
• Sponsor or participate in events with nonprofits

5. Find and Use Local Keywords

Discovering local keywords and creating content around them gives you more opportunities to appear for local searches.

One of the easiest and most effective ways to find local keywords is by taking advantage of Google autocomplete.

Just start typing a relevant phrase into Google, and make note of the suggestions you see.

These are determined by a number of factors, including your location. Which means they're good indicators of what nearby prospects are searching for.

Let's say you own an Italian restaurant in Barcelona.

Begin by typing "Italian restaurants in Barcelona " (including the space at the end).

Google automatically suggests things like: "italian restaurants in Barcelona city centre," "pasta restaurants in barcelona," "italian restaurants barcelona beach," and "italian places to eat in barcelona."

Once you've identified relevant terms, naturally work them into relevant webpages. Including in your headings, meta descriptions, page content, and image alt text.

Take a look at this detailed on-page SEO checklist to learn more about relevant best practices.

Take Action to Boost Your Local Search Rankings

Now that you have a grasp on local search and some tactics (and tool suggestions) to improve your visibility, it's time to put those tips into action.

Keep in mind that boosting your local rankings takes time. So, the sooner you get started, the better.

Focus on building a strong presence in the areas we covered, but also stay on top of the latest trends, search behaviors, and emerging technology.

And check out Semrush Academy's free local search course to level up your local search game even more.