Today, nearly half of all Google searches are for local information, and 88% of consumers who perform a local search on their smartphone visit a related store within a week.
If you run a business that serves a specific location, whether it’s a cozy cafe, a dental clinic, or a home services company, then local SEO should be a key part of your marketing strategy.
Local SEO helps you show up when people nearby search for products or services you offer, like plumber near me or best bakery in [your city]. It’s all about making sure your business is visible in local search results, maps, and directories.
To achieve this, using powerful local SEO tools is essential.
In this post, we’ll walk you through 7 of the best local SEO tools that can help you simplify and streamline your local SEO efforts.
So, without any further ado, let’s get started.
Table Of Contents
1 What Features Do You Need in a Local SEO Tool?
When I started exploring local SEO tools, I quickly realized that not all of them are created equal. Some focus heavily on listings, while others are great for reviews or tracking. To make sure I was getting the most out of my investment, I looked for tools that offered these key features:
- Local Rank Tracking: You need to know how your website ranks for keywords that matter in your area, like “best pizza near me” or “emergency plumber in [your city].” A good local SEO tool will let you track keyword performance down to the city or even ZIP code level, so you can see exactly where you stand in local search results.
- Google Business Profile Integration: Your Google Business Profile is often the first impression customers get of your business. Look for a tool that integrates directly with your GBP, allowing you to update information, monitor performance, and respond to reviews all in one place. It saves time and keeps your listing active and optimized.
- Citation Management: Consistency is key when it comes to your business name, address, and phone number (NAP). A strong local SEO tool helps you manage your citations across directories like Yelp, Bing, Apple Maps, and more. It should help you find and fix inconsistencies, as well as identify new citation opportunities.
- Review Monitoring and Generation: Online reviews can influence whether someone chooses your business. That’s why it’s important to use a tool that alerts you when new reviews come in, so you can respond quickly. Even better if the tool helps you collect new reviews from happy customers through email or SMS requests.
- Support for Multi-Location Businesses: If you manage more than one location, or plan to expand, you’ll need a tool that can grow with you. Choose one that supports multi-location management, so you can monitor all your branches from a single dashboard without juggling multiple accounts.
- Location-Specific SEO Reporting: You’ll want insights that go beyond basic analytics. A good local SEO tool provides detailed, location-specific reports, so you can see how each branch or service area is performing. This makes it easier to measure success and identify what needs attention.
2 What’s the Best Local SEO Tool?
Let us now discuss the best SEO tools that’ll help you improve your local SEO search results.
2.1 Google Business Profile
If you’re serious about local SEO, your Google Business Profile (GBP) is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal, and the best part? It’s completely free.
When someone searches for your business or related services in your area, your GBP listing is often the first thing they see. It appears right in Google Search and Maps, giving potential customers quick access to your address, hours, phone number, website, and even directions, all without ever visiting your site.
Another key feature is managing customer reviews. By actively responding to reviews, both positive and negative, you can build trust and show commitment to customer service.
But it’s more than just a listing. You can use it strategically to boost your local SEO using GBP in several ways:
- Keep your information accurate and consistent: You can update your business name, address, phone number (NAP), and hours, important for SEO and customer trust.
- Engage with your audience: Respond to reviews, answer questions, and post updates or promotions. This shows Google and your customers that you’re active and trustworthy.
- Showcase your business visually: Upload high-quality photos of your products, store, or team. Listings with photos get more clicks and engagement.
- Track performance: GBP gives you insights on how people found your listing, what actions they took (calls, website visits, direction requests), and what keywords triggered your profile.
Google prioritizes active and complete business profiles in local search results, so if you manage it well, you’re giving your business a much better chance to rank in the local 3-pack.
If you haven’t already, claim and verify your Google Business Profile today. Refer to our dedicated tutorial on Google Business Profile to set up your Google Business Profile and strengthen your local SEO.
2.2 Rank Math SEO
If you’re running your website on WordPress and want to boost your local SEO without juggling multiple plugins, Rank Math SEO is one of the best tools you can use. It’s an all-in-one SEO plugin, but what really makes it stand out is its built-in Local SEO module.
Rank Math allows you to add Local Business Schema to your website without touching a line of code. This tells search engines exactly who you are, what you do, where you’re located, and how people can contact you. You can input details like:
- Business name
- Address and phone number (NAP)
- Business type
- Opening hours
- Geo-coordinates
- and more
This structured data helps your business qualify for rich results and local map listings.
If you manage more than one branch or location, Rank Math PRO has you covered. You can create dedicated pages for each location, complete with unique Schema markup and NAP info for every branch.
To do so, enable the Use Multiple Locations and Save your changes, as shown below.
2.3 Google Analytics
When you’re working on local SEO, it’s not enough to just set up your listings or optimize your pages; you need to track what’s actually working. That’s where Google Analytics comes in.
Google Analytics gives you a deep look into how people find and interact with your website. And while it’s not a local SEO tool in the traditional sense, it’s essential for measuring the results of your local SEO efforts.
You can view your traffic by location, down to the city or region. This helps you check if you’re actually attracting visitors from the areas you’re targeting.
If you’ve created location-specific landing pages (like /plumber-new-york or /dentist-chicago), Google Analytics helps you track how those pages are performing. You’ll be able to see how many people visit them, how long they stay, and whether they convert into leads or customers.
Set up goals to track form submissions, phone clicks, or direction requests. This way, you’ll know if your local SEO isn’t just bringing traffic, but actually bringing results.
2.4 Semrush
Semrush also offers a variety of tools and features designed to enhance local SEO efforts.
One of Semrush’s standout features is its Local SEO Toolkit, which includes several tools specifically designed for local SEO.
One of the key tools you’ll want to explore is the Listing Management tool. It helps you keep your business information, like your name, address, and phone number (NAP), accurate and consistent across all major directories. That consistency is crucial for improving your visibility in local search results.
Semrush also includes a Map Rank Tracker, which lets you track how your business ranks in Google Maps for specific keywords and locations. You just enter your business address, choose your target keywords, and the tool shows you exactly where you stand, along with how your competitors are performing in those same areas.
To make things even more visual, you get a heatmap report that highlights which areas you’re dominating and where competitors might be ranking higher. It’s a great way to identify opportunities for improvement and focus your local SEO efforts where they matter most.
Semrush Local is a stand-alone product (starting at $20 per month).
2.5 BrightLocal
BrightLocal is a powerful platform designed specifically for local SEO, providing a comprehensive suite of tools to help businesses improve their online presence and attract more local customers.
One of the key features of BrightLocal is the Local Search Rank Checker, which allows you to monitor the local search rankings for specific keywords. This tool provides valuable insights into how well your SEO strategies are performing and identifies areas for improvement.
One of the biggest challenges in local SEO is managing your citations, your business listings on directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Apple Maps. BrightLocal helps you find missing or inaccurate citations and even offers a citation-building service to create or fix them for you.
BrightLocal offers customizable, white-label reports that give you clear data on your rankings, listings, reviews, and more. Whether you’re doing SEO for yourself or for clients, these reports make it easy to measure progress and show results.
BrightLocal starts at $39 per month with a 14-day free trial.
2.6 GMB Everywhere
GMB Everywhere is a Chrome extension designed to give you instant access to valuable local SEO data right from the search results.
It lets you view key details about any Google Business Profile (GBP) directly in the search results. You can see information like:
- Categories the business is using
- Number of reviews and star ratings
- Website and contact info
- NAP consistency
- Business posting activity
This is especially useful for competitive research, you can quickly analyze how your competitors have set up their listings.
If you manage local SEO for clients, GMB Everywhere makes prospecting easier. You can find businesses with under-optimized listings, missing categories, or low review counts, giving you a good reason to reach out and offer your services.
2.7 Bing Places
When most people think of local SEO, they immediately focus on Google, but if you want to reach an even wider audience, you shouldn’t ignore Bing Places for Business. It’s Microsoft’s version of Google Business Profile, and it plays a key role in local search results on Bing, Yahoo, Cortana, and even voice assistants like Alexa.
Bing Places lets you list your business name, address, phone number (NAP), hours, website, and more. Keeping this info consistent across platforms helps both Google and Bing trust your business more, which can improve rankings on both.
One of the best features is the ability to import your listing directly from Google Business Profile. If you’ve already optimized your GBP, you can save time by syncing the data, making setup quick and painless.
You can upload photos, select business categories, and add keywords that describe your services, helping potential customers find you more easily. These optimizations also make your listing more appealing and informative.
3 Conclusion
If you want to boost your online presence and attract more local customers, using the right local SEO tools is a must.
These tools help you manage your business listings, track local search rankings, monitor and respond to customer reviews, and build or clean up citations. Many also offer powerful analytics to help you understand what’s working and what needs improvement.
No matter your business size or budget, there’s a solution that fits your local SEO needs. Pick the one that aligns with your goals, and you’ll be on your way to showing up in more local searches, attracting nearby customers, and growing your business.
What’s your favourite local SEO tool? Let us know by tweeting @rankmathseo.
