Service
Local SEO services that win Google and AI search
When someone nearby searches for what you sell, three businesses get the map pack and everyone else gets scraps. We do the work that puts you in that pack, and because AI assistants read the same signals, the same work gets you named in their answers too. Part of our full set of SEO services.
What is local SEO?
Local SEO is the work of making your business rank for searches with local intent ("plumber near me", "dentist in Ottawa") in Google's map pack, local organic results, and AI answers. It covers your Google Business Profile, directory listings, reviews, website content, and technical structure, so engines trust who you are and where you operate.
None of this is guesswork. Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors had 47 working local SEO experts score 187 ranking factors, and the order holds year over year: profile, reviews, website. We weight the work that way and tell you which lever we are pulling.
What does a local SEO company actually do?
A local SEO company optimizes your Google Business Profile, builds consistent listings, grows and answers your reviews, fixes your website's structure and location content, and reports what changed each month. The useful ones weight that work the way Whitespark's surveyed experts rank the signals: profile first, reviews second, website close behind.
Per Whitespark's 2026 survey, profile signals carry roughly 32% of map-pack weight and reviews about 20%: half the decision before Google looks at your website. That is why our engagements start with your profile and reviews, not a pile of blog posts.
| Signal group | Approx. share of weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Google Business Profile | ~32% | Primary category, services, hours, photos, posts |
| Reviews | ~20% | Volume, recency, ratings, and your replies |
| On-page website signals | ~15% | Location pages, service content, schema markup |
| Links, citations, behaviour | remainder | Local links, consistent listings, engagement |
Is ranking in Google's map pack worth it?
Yes. Industry click studies compiled by Search Engine Land put the local three-pack at roughly 44% of clicks on local results, more than classic organic and paid combined. If you sell to people nearby and you are not in the pack, the largest share of ready-to-buy clicks goes to someone else.
The pack is also the part of the page a customer can act on without reading: call, get directions, scan reviews. It is built from Google Business Profile data, not your website. Your profile earns the pack; your site earns the organic positions below it and feeds the AI answers.
Do directories and citations still matter for local SEO?
Yes, as a foundation, not a growth lever. Directory pages still make up 31% of local-intent organic results, about three of every top ten, per BrightLocal's listings visibility study. Wrong hours or an old address on them costs you trust and customers. Get the core listings identical everywhere, then move on.
Quality beats volume. Whitespark's panel is blunt about it: three editorial links from local news sites or chambers beat fifty generic directory links. We fix the short list that matters in Canada, make your name, address, and phone identical on each, then spend the rest where it compounds. Blasting into 300 directories is 2015 thinking, and you should be suspicious of anyone still selling it.
What's included in our local SEO service
Every engagement is scoped to what your market requires, but the core is consistent:
- Google Business Profile setup, categories, services, photos, and posting cadence
- Listing and citation cleanup across the Canadian directories that matter
- Review growth strategy and reply templates: asking the right customers at the right moment (see how to get more Google reviews)
- Location and service pages written to answer real buyer questions
- Schema markup so engines can parse your business facts
- Monthly reporting from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, and Bing Webmaster Tools
What does local SEO cost?
Our local SEO runs on one published monthly rate, month to month or on a 12-month term. The diagnosis that comes first, the Visibility Audit, costs nothing at all. Every number is on the pricing page, including the one-time setup fee that month-to-month carries and the 12-month term does not.
How is Viziblty different from other local SEO companies?
Two ways. First, we optimize for Google and AI assistants as one job, because they read the same signals; most agencies still treat AI as an add-on. Second, we prove the work with monthly reporting from Google's and Bing's own data, not a screenshot of one lucky ranking.
The clean structure that wins the map pack is what ChatGPT and Perplexity lean on when they name businesses, which is why that work lives in our AI search optimization service. The city-specific version of this page is local SEO for Ottawa businesses, and the Gatineau version is at SEO for Gatineau.
Find out where you stand before you spend a dollar.
Our free audit checks whether search engines and AI crawlers can even read your site, and what your profile and listings look like to them. No card, no call required.