---
name: local-seo
description: "Audit a Google Business Profile, compare it to local competitors, and map Maps visibility around a location."
---

# OpenSEO Local SEO

## Goal

Work out why a business does or does not show up in Google Maps and the local pack near its customers, and what to fix first.

Use this when rankings depend on a physical location or service area. For national organic work, use `competitor-analysis` or `keyword-research`.

## Required inputs

- `projectId`
- The business: name, or a `cid`/`placeId` (most reliable)
- Its coordinate (latitude/longitude) — derive it from a `search_local_businesses` / `get_local_serp_results` row; only ask the user when derivation is ambiguous
- One to three keywords customers actually search (e.g. "emergency plumber", not the brand name)

## OpenSEO MCP tools

- `search_local_businesses`: nearby listings, filterable by `minRating`, `minReviews`, and `isClaimed` — use `isClaimed: false` to find unclaimed listings when prospecting. One call with the brand name as `query` and a wide radius returns category, rating, review count, claimed status, coordinates, and `cid` for every location of a chain — usually enough that per-location `get_business_profile` calls are unnecessary.
- `get_local_serp_results`: the Maps/Local Finder result set near a coordinate. The rows carry `cid` and `place_id` — collect them once and reuse them everywhere below.
- `get_business_profile`: the full profile for one business (hours, rating breakdown) when the `search_local_businesses` row isn't enough.
- `get_business_reviews`: reviews with ratings, text, and whether the owner replied. Queued: a `processing` response returns a `taskId` — call again with it after 30-60 seconds, at no extra cost.
- `get_local_rank_grid`: rank at every point of a grid around a coordinate, with each point's result count and #1 business. 3x3 is nine searches; only go to 5x5 when the service area is genuinely wide.
- `get_google_business_questions`: Q&A on the profile (accepts `cid`/`placeId`).
- `get_business_updates`: posts published on the profile, with dates.
- `list_business_categories`: valid category slugs for `search_local_businesses`.

## Workflow

1. Find the business. Given only a name or website, `search_local_businesses` (name as `query`, wide radius) locates the listing and yields its `cid` and coordinate. If it returns several locations, the business is a chain — see multi-location below.
2. Run `get_local_serp_results` for the main keyword near the business coordinate. Record the top 3-5 competitors' `cid`/`place_id` and the user's own row.
3. Compare the user's listing against the top two competitors: primary category, additional categories, review count, hours completeness, photo count, claimed status. `search_local_businesses` rows usually carry all of this; use `get_business_profile` for what they lack.
4. Sanity-check each listing's website link (`url`/`contact_url` in the rows): it should deep-link to that location's page on the project domain, not a homepage or a stale domain. For broader on-page work, hand off to `run_site_audit`.
5. Call `get_business_reviews` for the user and the strongest competitor. Look at review volume, recency, average rating, and how many reviews got an owner reply.
6. Run `get_local_rank_grid` for the main keyword. Use the grid to separate "ranks at the storefront only" from "ranks across the service area", and each point's `topResult` to name who wins where the target doesn't.
7. Add `get_google_business_questions` and `get_business_updates` when the profile basics are already competitive and the gap is engagement rather than setup.
8. Turn the evidence into a prioritized list. Category and claim problems outrank posting cadence every time.

### Multi-location businesses

Always build the profile snapshot table for the whole chain — one `search_local_businesses` call covers it. The per-location deep-dives (reviews, grid, posts, Q&A) are where cost scales:

- 5 locations or fewer: deep-dive them all.
- More than 5: present the snapshot table, then ask the user (AskUserQuestion) which 1-3 locations to deep-dive. Pick sensible defaults to recommend — e.g. the weakest profile in the densest market.

## Output format

Start with:

- Profile snapshot (category, rating, reviews, claimed) — one row per location for chains
- Where visibility drops off, per the grid
- The one fix to do this week

Then include:

| Signal | This business | Best competitor | Gap | Action |
| ------ | ------------- | --------------- | --- | ------ |

Cover: categories, reviews (count, recency, owner replies), hours and profile completeness, listing website links, Maps coverage from the grid, Q&A and posting hygiene.

## Guardrails

- Do not run a 5x5 grid, or grids for several keywords, without telling the user the cost first — every point is a paid SERP call.
- Match businesses by `cid` or `place_id` when you have one. Name matching collides with chains and similarly named businesses.
- A missing rank at a grid point means the business wasn't among the results returned there. Read it with that point's `resultsCount`: a full result set means outranked; a near-empty one means a sparse SERP, not proof of invisibility.
- Do not infer local-pack strength from national organic metrics.
- Never recommend review gating, fake reviews, or keyword-stuffed business names.
- A grid centered on the wrong place is worse than no grid — confirm the coordinate matches the storefront before spending grid credits.