Local SEO:
ranking in the map pack where your customers already are
A clinic, restaurant or service business usually loses more customers to a messy Google Business Profile than to a weak website. Wrong hours, inconsistent address formatting across directories and no response to reviews push a business below competitors who simply kept their profile current.
Where the money leaks today
A business with five locations often has five different versions of its address across directories, a profile category that was set once in 2019 and never revisited, and zero responses on the last twenty reviews. Google’s local algorithm weighs consistency and activity heavily, so this costs map pack position directly, and a customer deciding between two similar businesses picks the one with recent review replies over the one that looks abandoned, regardless of which one is actually better.
Multi-location businesses have a specific version of this problem: head office manages the flagship location’s profile carefully and simply forgets that five branch locations exist as separate listings that need the same attention, so a customer searching the branch nearest them sees a profile that has not been touched since it was created.
What we do
We audit and fully optimise the Google Business Profile for each location: correct category, service list matched to real search terms, business description, and photos. We clean up citation consistency across the directories that matter for local ranking, set a review response cadence and templates so nothing sits unanswered, and build a local landing page per location when the site does not already have one, tied to the same NAP (name, address, phone) data for consistency.
For chains and franchises, we set a repeatable monthly cadence per location rather than a one-time fix, since a profile that is optimised once and never touched again drifts back toward the same problems (stale photos, unanswered reviews, outdated hours) within a few months.
What we need from you
Admin access to each Google Business Profile, your current operating hours and service area per location, and someone who can approve review responses or hand that off to us with guidelines on tone. Tell us about any past suspensions or verification issues with a profile, since Google’s local algorithm treats a location with a clean history differently from one that has been flagged before, and knowing this upfront changes how aggressively we can push changes without risking another review. A current photo set for each location, even informal phone photos, speeds up the first pass considerably.
How we measure
Map pack ranking position per location and keyword, profile views, and the ratio of calls, direction requests and website clicks to profile views, which is a cleaner signal than raw views for whether the profile is actually converting. We track map pack position separately from organic website ranking, since the two behave differently and a location can improve sharply in one while barely moving in the other, which is normal and worth reporting honestly rather than blending into one vague number, broken down location by location rather than averaged across the whole chain.
Price and timeline
| Option | Price | What it covers | Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Launch or audit | from $450 | Profile audit, optimisation and citation cleanup per location | 2 weeks |
| Monthly management | from $350 / month | Ongoing posts, review responses, monthly local ranking report (per location) | monthly, no lock-in |
| Full control, handover to your team | from $1,200 | Full setup across all locations, playbook and templates handed to your team | 3 weeks |
Related
Local SEO rarely stands alone for a multi-location business; it usually needs to sit alongside a review and reputation strategy, since the two signals (profile accuracy and review quality) are evaluated together by both the algorithm and the customer making the decision, and fixing one while ignoring the other leaves real position on the table. We scope both together whenever a client’s situation calls for it, rather than selling local SEO in isolation and leaving the review side as someone else’s problem to solve later. Combine this with reputation SEO if review volume or sentiment is the bigger issue, and with SEO for restaurants and hospitality or SEO for clinics for industry-specific playbooks. Full service: SEO and content. See the funnel side on funnels, lead magnets and CRM. The ×2.7 sales result referenced above is documented in the sports nutrition case study. Get in touch with your locations and we will audit the first one for free in the first call.
FAQ
How much does local SEO cost?
Setup is from $450 per location, with monthly management from $350 per location after that, lower per-location as the count of sites grows.
How long until we rank in the map pack?
Profile fixes and citation cleanup often show movement in 2 to 6 weeks; sustained map pack position against established competitors usually takes a full review and post cadence over 2 to 3 months.
What budget do we need for multiple locations?
We price per location with a discount past five, since citation and review work scales; a 10-location chain usually runs $250 to $300 per location per month.
What do you need from us?
Admin access to each Google Business Profile, your current hours and service list, and whoever currently responds to reviews, if anyone does.
How do you report results?
Map pack position by location and keyword, profile views and the ratio of calls or direction requests to profile views, monthly.