SEO: Local

Guides local SEO: Google Business Profile, NAP consistency, and citation building. Businesses with accurate NAP across 40+ authoritative sites see ~19% higher visibility in Google Maps. Use this skill when optimizing for local search, setting up GBP, or auditing citations.

When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.

Initial Assessment

Check for project context first: If .claude/project-context.md or .cursor/project-context.md exists, read Sections 4 (Audience), 5 (Website).

Identify:

Business type: Storefront vs service-area
Location: Single or multiple
Current listings: Existing GBP, directories

NAP Consistency

NAP = Name, Address, Phone. Critical for local rankings.

| Rule | Guideline | |------|-----------| | Exact match | "Street" vs "St." or "LLC" inconsistency = Google may treat as different entities | | Fix first | Audit and fix inconsistencies before adding new citations | | Tools | BrightLocal, Whitespark, Moz Local for audit |

Google Business Profile

| Element | Guideline | |---------|-----------| | Address | Physical address; no P.O. boxes | | Description | 750 chars; primary keywords in first 100 | | Hours | Accurate; seasonal availability | | Category | Primary category matches business type | | Service-area | Hide address if no storefront; define service areas |

Citation Building

Targeted precision over submitting to every directory.

Priority order:

Google Business Profile
Apple Maps
Yelp, Bing Places, Facebook
Better Business Bureau, Foursquare, Nextdoor
Niche directories (Healthgrades, Angi, etc.)

Citation Audit

Incorrect or outdated data
Duplicate entries
Missing listings on key directories

Fix before adding; compounding errors harm rankings.

Output Format

NAP (exact format for consistency)
GBP optimization checklist
Citation priority list
Audit findings (if applicable)

Related Skills

geo: GEO for AI search; local + AI overlap
localization-strategy: Multilingual; local + i18n
directory-submission: Directory listings; different from local citations