Local SEO for small businesses: how to get found in your area

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the process of improving your business's visibility in location-based search results. When someone searches for "electrician near me" or "Italian restaurant Manchester", Google uses local SEO signals to decide which businesses to show.

The most visible result of local SEO is the Local Pack (sometimes called the Map Pack or Google 3-Pack). This is the box with a map and three business listings that appears at the top of search results for local queries. It shows up in around 93% of searches with local intent, and captures 44% of all clicks on the page.

Getting into that Local Pack is the main goal. Research shows businesses in the Local Pack receive 126% more traffic and 93% more conversion actions (calls, direction requests, website visits) compared to businesses ranked just below it.

How local SEO differs from traditional SEO

Google uses three main factors to rank local results: relevance (how well your business matches the search), distance (how close you are to the searcher), and prominence (how well-known and trusted your business is online). Everything in this guide is designed to strengthen one or more of these three signals.

Why local SEO matters for UK businesses

The numbers speak for themselves. Local search is not a niche tactic; it is how the majority of your potential customers find businesses like yours.

Google dominates the UK search market with over 90% market share. For practical purposes, local SEO in Britain means Google optimisation. While Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo exist, their combined impact on local business visibility remains small. AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's AI Overviews are growing quickly, and their influence on how people find local businesses is worth watching. We cover how to prepare for AI search later in this guide.

Mobile search is particularly important for local businesses. The UK has 88.4 million mobile connections, and 50% of all mobile searches have local intent. People pulling out their phone to find "nearest locksmith" or "best pizza near me" are not browsing. They are ready to act. That is exactly the kind of customer you want to reach.

Google Business Profile: your most important asset

Your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is the single most important factor in local search rankings. According to the Whitespark Local Search Ranking Factors survey, GBP signals are the top-ranking factor for Local Pack visibility. If you do nothing else from this guide, do this section properly.

Step 1: Claim and verify your profile

If you have not already, go to business.google.com and either claim an existing listing or create a new one. Google will verify your business, usually by sending a postcard with a code to your business address. This can take 1-2 weeks, so get started now if you have not already.

Step 2: Choose the right categories

Your primary category is one of the biggest ranking signals. Choose the most specific option that accurately describes your main business activity. Google offers around 4,000 categories, so be precise.

• Do: Select "Dental Clinic" if you are a dental practice
• Do not: Select "Healthcare Provider" (too broad)
• You can add up to 9 secondary categories (10 total), but only add ones that genuinely reflect services you offer
• Check what categories your top-ranking local competitors use for ideas

Step 3: Complete every field

Google's algorithm favours complete profiles. Go through every available field and fill it in accurately:

• Business name: Must match your actual signage and legal name. Do not add keywords (e.g. "Best Plumber Manchester"). Google can suspend profiles for this
• Address: Full and accurate. For service-area businesses, set your service areas instead
• Phone number: Use a local number, not a mobile if you can help it
• Website: Link to your main website or a relevant landing page
• Business hours: Keep these current, including bank holidays and seasonal changes. Rankings actually start to drop during the last hour before you close
• Business description: Use the full 750 characters. Describe what you do, who you serve, and what makes you different. Write naturally, not stuffed with keywords
• Services/products: List them with descriptions and prices where applicable
• Attributes: Mark relevant ones (wheelchair accessible, free Wi-Fi, woman-owned, etc.)

Step 4: Add quality photos

Businesses with photos get 42% more direction requests than those without. Upload professional-quality images of:

• Your premises (exterior and interior)
• Your team at work
• Your products or completed projects
• Before-and-after shots (great for trades and services)

Aim to add fresh photos at least monthly. Google rewards profiles that show ongoing activity.

Step 5: Post regularly

Google Posts are short updates that appear on your profile in search results. They stay prominent for about seven days, so aim for at least one post per week. Good post ideas:

• Special offers or seasonal promotions
• New services or products
• Completed projects or case studies
• Tips related to your industry
• Community involvement or events

Step 6: Set up Q&A

The Questions & Answers section on your profile is often ignored, but it is a useful tool. Proactively add 5-10 common questions with comprehensive answers. This serves as a built-in FAQ that helps potential customers and sends positive engagement signals to Google.

UK local citations and directories

A local citation is any online mention of your business's name, address, and phone number (NAP). Citations appear in business directories, social media profiles, industry websites, and local news sites. They are one of the key signals Google uses to verify your business is legitimate.

In 2026, citation strategy has shifted. Google's algorithm now prioritises citation quality, consistency, and freshness over raw quantity. A business with 50 accurate, regularly updated citations will typically outrank a competitor with 200 scattered listings containing errors or outdated information.

Priority UK directories (in order of importance)

Industry-specific directories

Industry directories send stronger citation signals than generic directories because they prove you are a genuine, qualified business in your sector. Prioritise these after your foundational listings:

How many citations do you actually need?

Research analysing over 122,000 UK businesses found that top-ranked local businesses average 86 citations, while those in positions 7-10 average 75. The difference is not as large as you might expect, because quality matters more than quantity.

For most UK small businesses, getting listed accurately on 15-25 directories (the foundational platforms plus your relevant industry directories) is enough to be competitive. After that, focus on keeping those listings up to date rather than chasing more.

Local council and regional directories

Many UK councils run free business directories on their .gov.uk websites. These carry strong trust signals because of their government-associated status. Check your local council's website for a business directory and get listed. It is free and takes minutes.

NAP consistency: getting the basics right

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone number. Keeping this information identical across every online listing is one of the simplest yet most overlooked parts of local SEO. Research shows 90% of UK businesses have inconsistent NAP data across their online presence.

Google uses something called "entity confidence scores" to assess how legitimate your business is. When your name, address, and phone number appear identically across multiple platforms, Google's confidence in your business increases. When they vary, even slightly, that confidence drops and your rankings suffer.

UK-specific NAP formatting rules

Pick one format and use it everywhere. Here are the key UK formatting decisions to make:

• Address abbreviations: Choose "Street" or "St" and stick with it. Never mix them across directories
• Postcodes: Always include the space (SW1A 1AA, not SW1A1AA)
• Phone numbers: Use consistent formatting. If you write "+44 20 7946 0958" on Google, use the same format on Yell, Thomson Local, and everywhere else
• Business name: Exactly as it appears on your signage. Not "Smith's Plumbing" on one platform and "Smiths Plumbing Services" on another
• Avoid punctuation in addresses: Write "123 High Street" not "123, High Street"

How to audit your NAP

1. Write down your official NAP format in a document you can reference
2. Search for your business name on Google and note every listing that appears
3. Check each listing against your official format
4. Update any incorrect listings. Most directories let you claim and edit. Others need a support request
5. Use a free tool like Citation Builder Pro's Local Citation Finder to scan 150+ directories automatically
6. Set a reminder to check quarterly

Structured data: helping Google read your details

Adding LocalBusiness schema markup to your website gives Google your business details in a machine-readable format. This includes your name, address, phone number, opening hours, and geographic coordinates.

Use the most specific schema type for your business. A plumber should use Plumber, a restaurant should use Restaurant, an accountant should use AccountingService. This helps Google classify your business correctly and show it for relevant searches.

If your website uses WordPress, plugins like Yoast SEO or Rank Math can add schema automatically. For custom sites, your developer can implement JSON-LD markup. Test it using Google's Rich Results Test.

Reviews and reputation management

Review signals account for roughly 15% of local pack ranking factors, making them one of the most influential things you can work on. But beyond rankings, reviews are what convince people to choose you over the business listed next to you.

How reviews affect your visibility

Your star rating has a measurable impact on click-through rates:

Quality and recency matter more than raw numbers. A business with 25 recent, detailed reviews at a 4.3-star average will often outrank a competitor with 150 older reviews at 4.1 stars. Google's algorithm treats a steady flow of genuine feedback as a stronger signal than a large collection of stale reviews.

The competitive baseline for most UK local businesses is 15-50 quality reviews. Beyond that, the marginal ranking benefit of each additional review decreases. Focus on consistency rather than volume.

How to get more reviews (the right way)

The most effective approach is a three-touch system:

1. Ask in person immediately after completing the job, while the customer is satisfied
2. Follow up within 24 hours by email or text with a direct link to your Google review page
3. Gentle reminder about a week later for those who did not get round to it

Additional tips:

• Use a QR code: Print it on business cards, invoices, or in-store signage. One business saw a 95% increase in reviews over three months just by adding QR codes at the counter
• Aim for 1-3 reviews per week: Steady is better than spiky. Sudden bursts of reviews can trigger Google's fraud detection
• For products: Wait 2-4 weeks before asking, so customers have had time to experience what they bought
• Encourage detail: Reviews that mention specific services, staff names, or outcomes carry more weight than generic "Great service!" comments

Responding to reviews

Respond to every review, positive or negative. While Google has confirmed that responses do not directly impact rankings, they significantly influence whether potential customers choose to click through and contact you. Over half of customers expect a response within seven days.

For positive reviews: A brief, genuine thank-you referencing something specific from their review.

For negative reviews:

• Respond promptly and professionally
• Acknowledge the problem without getting defensive
• Offer to resolve the issue offline (provide a phone number or email)
• Keep it short. Lengthy defensive replies look worse than the original complaint
• Potential customers reading your response are actually assessing how you handle problems. A calm, professional response to a negative review can build trust

Local content strategy

Your website needs to signal to Google that you are genuinely relevant to your local area. This goes beyond mentioning your town in the page title. Good local content demonstrates real knowledge of your area and serves as a useful resource for local customers.

Location pages

If you serve multiple areas, create dedicated pages for each. A Manchester plumber serving surrounding areas might have separate pages for Stockport, Salford, Altrincham, and Bolton. Each page should be at least 500-800 words of genuinely unique content and include:

• Unique content about services you offer in that area, referencing local property types or common issues
• Real local references (landmarks, neighbourhoods, housing stock)
• Testimonials from customers in that specific location
• An embedded Google Map showing your service coverage
• A clear call to action with your phone number

Structure your page titles as "Service + Location + Value Proposition". For example: "Emergency Plumbing in Stockport: 24-Hour Same-Day Service" rather than just "Plumbing Services".

Local blog content ideas

Locally-focused blog posts help establish your relevance to the area and attract people in the research stage of their buying journey:

• Seasonal local content: "Preparing your boiler for a Yorkshire winter" or "Summer garden maintenance tips for South West homes"
• Local guides: "Best independent cafes in Leamington Spa" for a coffee supplier, or "Guide to planning permissions in Bath" for an architect
• Case studies: Featuring local clients (with permission), showing before-and-after results
• Community content: Event coverage, sponsorship write-ups, local charity work
• Area-specific advice: "Common damp problems in Victorian terraces" for a builder in an area with lots of period housing

On-page local SEO

Make sure these local signals are present on your website:

• Full address and phone number in your website footer (on every page)
• Embedded Google Map on your contact page
• Location keywords used naturally in page titles, headings, and meta descriptions
• LocalBusiness schema markup (covered in the NAP section above)
• Clear service area information on your homepage

Local link building

Links from other local websites tell Google your business is a trusted part of the local community. Local links carry more weight for local rankings than links from nationally-focused websites, even if the national site has higher domain authority.

UK-specific link building opportunities include:

• British Chambers of Commerce: 51 regional chambers across the UK. Membership gives you a listing and link on a trusted local business site
• Local newspapers and news sites: Regional publications actively seek local business stories. A new service launch, community initiative, or award win is genuinely newsworthy
• Sponsorships: Sponsoring a local sports team, charity event, or community festival gets your name and link on the event website
• Industry body directories: Law Society, ICAEW, RICS, RIBA, and similar bodies list members with links
• Guest posts on local blogs: Writing a genuinely useful article for a complementary local business blog
• Local council business directories: Many councils list local businesses for free on .gov.uk domains, which carry strong authority

Technical local SEO

You don't necessarily need to be a developer to handle the technical side of local SEO. These are the key areas that affect your rankings, with practical steps for each.

Mobile-friendliness

Over half of mobile searches have local intent, and Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily looks at the mobile version of your site when deciding rankings. If your site is hard to use on a phone, you are invisible to most of your potential customers.

• Test your site using Google PageSpeed Insights and aim for a mobile score above 70 (90+ is ideal)
• Make sure phone numbers are tappable (click-to-call)
• Buttons should be large enough to tap accurately on a small screen
• Text should be readable without zooming
• No horizontal scrolling required

Page speed

Your website should load in under 2 seconds. Research shows 70% of consumers say page speed influences whether they buy from a business. Common fixes:

• Compress images (use WebP format where possible)
• Enable browser caching
• Use a UK-based hosting provider or CDN with UK edge servers
• Remove unnecessary plugins, scripts, and third-party code
• Aim for a server response time under 500 milliseconds

HTTPS security

Your website must use HTTPS (the padlock icon in the browser). This is a confirmed ranking factor, and browsers display warning messages on non-HTTPS sites that scare away customers. Most UK hosting providers offer free SSL certificates through Let's Encrypt.

Voice search

Roughly 58% of consumers now use voice search to find local businesses, and 76% of smart speaker users run local voice searches at least weekly. About 18% of the UK population uses smart speakers, and that number is growing.

Voice searches are longer and more conversational than typed searches. Someone types "plumber Manchester" but asks their speaker "Where can I find a plumber in Manchester who can come out tonight?" To optimise for voice:

• Structure your content to answer questions directly (FAQ format works well)
• Use conversational language that matches how people actually speak
• Keep your Google Business Profile complete. Google Assistant pulls answers from GBP, while Siri uses Apple Maps and Alexa uses Bing
• About 41% of voice search answers come from featured snippets, so structuring content with clear questions and concise answers helps

AI search and local business discovery

AI-powered search is changing how people find local businesses. Google's AI Overviews now appear on roughly 68% of local-intent searches, and tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity are growing fast. In the UK, 21 million people were actively using AI tools by late 2025, with Perplexity growing 78% year-on-year.

The impact is real: when an AI Overview appears, click-through rates to the top-ranking website drop by around 58%. But businesses that are cited within the AI answer see 35% more clicks than those that are not mentioned at all. The challenge is no longer just ranking highly. It is being selected as a source.

Each AI platform pulls local business data from different sources:

• ChatGPT draws over 70% of its local data from Foursquare's Places database, supplemented by Bing. If you are not on Foursquare, you are largely invisible to ChatGPT
• Perplexity prioritises web citations and industry-specific directories like Yelp, TripAdvisor, and sector-specific platforms
• Google's AI Overviews (Gemini) favour your own website content more than the others, with over 52% of citations coming from brand-owned websites

The practical takeaway: no single platform covers all bases. You need consistent, accurate information across multiple sources.

How to prepare for AI search

The good news is that most of the fundamentals overlap with good local SEO practice. Here are the specific steps that matter for AI visibility:

1. Claim your Foursquare listing: Many UK businesses have neglected Foursquare, but it powers the majority of ChatGPT's local recommendations. Make sure your details are complete and current
2. Check your robots.txt: Ensure AI crawlers (GPTBot, PerplexityBot) are not blocked from accessing your website. Many sites block these by default
3. Structure content to answer questions directly: AI tools favour content where the answer appears in the first paragraph, with supporting detail below. Lead with the answer, not the backstory
4. Implement comprehensive schema markup: LocalBusiness schema with name, address, phone, opening hours, geo coordinates, service areas, and aggregate ratings gives AI systems machine-readable data they can confidently cite
5. Build presence on industry-specific directories: Perplexity in particular weights sector-specific platforms. A tradesperson on Checkatrade, a restaurant on TripAdvisor, or an accountant on their professional body directory carries more weight than generic listings
6. Encourage detailed reviews: Reviews mentioning specific services, outcomes, and staff names are more useful to AI systems than generic "great service" comments

Tracking your local SEO results

You cannot improve what you do not measure. The good news is that the most important tracking tools are free.

Free tools every local business should use

Key metrics to track monthly

• GBP profile views and search queries: Which terms are triggering your listing? Are views growing?
• Customer actions: Calls, direction requests, and website clicks from your profile. Direction requests are the highest-intent signal
• Review count and rating: Track month-on-month growth. Is your velocity consistent?
• Website traffic from local searches: Filter Search Console data by location-based queries
• Ranking positions: Track your target keywords. Pages ranking in positions 11-30 are "striking distance" opportunities where targeted work could push you onto page 1
• Conversions: Phone calls, form submissions, direction requests. These are what actually generate revenue

Common local SEO mistakes

These are the errors we see most often when auditing local SEO for UK small businesses:

DIY local SEO vs hiring a professional

Many of the tactics in this guide are things you can handle yourself, especially in the early stages. But there is a point where professional help makes sense. Here is a framework for deciding.

What to expect at different price points

UK local SEO pricing for small businesses typically breaks down like this:

• £300-500/month (freelancer): Basic GBP management, 5-10 directory listings, minimal content. Suitable for low-competition markets
• £500-1,500/month (experienced freelancer or small agency): Quarterly audits, 10-20 page optimisation, 2-4 content pieces monthly, review strategy. Good for established small businesses
• £1,500-3,000/month (agency): The sweet spot for most SMEs. Comprehensive keyword research, content strategy, technical SEO, link building, and detailed reporting

For a detailed breakdown of SEO pricing in the UK, including what you should expect to pay at each level, see our guide to SEO costs in the UK.

How long does local SEO take?

Set realistic expectations from the start:

• Quick wins (days to weeks): Claiming and optimising your Google Business Profile, adding schema markup, starting review requests
• Months 1-3: Foundation building. You will see increased impressions in Search Console, but limited ranking movement. This is normal
• Months 4-6: First significant improvements. Map Pack appearances, organic traffic increases, first conversions from search
• Months 6-12: Substantial results. Page 1 rankings, 50-200%+ traffic growth, consistent leads from search
• 12+ months: Compounding returns. Local SEO gets more cost-effective over time as your authority builds

Speed varies by industry. Trades (plumbers, electricians) tend to see the fastest results due to less competition and high customer intent. Professional services (solicitors, accountants) take longer due to more competitive markets and longer customer decision cycles.

Frequently asked questions