Profile
Google Business Profile, set up right
- Correct primary and secondary categories
- Address hidden for service-area businesses
- Real service area, real hours, real photos
- 4 posts a month
Search · Local SEO
Local SEO for contractors and service-area businesses
The short answer
What local SEO means for a business that drives to the job
Local SEO is the work that puts your company in Google's map pack and "near me" results across the towns you serve. For a roofer, HVAC company or remodeler in any town, it comes down to three things: a Google Business Profile set up by Google's rules, a steady flow of recent reviews you reply to, and a website with a real page for each service and area.
Most service-area businesses don't have a storefront, and Google treats them differently. Its Business Profile guidelines say a business that travels to customers should hide its address, keep one profile for its base, and set a service area that "shouldn't extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time" from where it's based. Getting that wrong is one of the most common reasons a profile gets suspended or never shows.
Why reviews matter now
What customers check before they call
41% always read reviews
Up from 29% a year earlier. BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey, February 2026, 1,002 US adults.
74% want recent reviews
They look for reviews written in the last three months. Same survey.
80% favor businesses that reply
They're more likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews. Same survey.
45% ask AI for local picks
Use ChatGPT or other AI tools for local recommendations, up from 6% in 2025. Same survey. See AI search.
The lesson for a trades company is simple: a pile of old five-star reviews is worth less than a steady trickle of new ones with a real reply under each. We never buy, gate or reward reviews; the FTC's 2024 rule bans fake reviews, and Google removes them.
What you get
Local SEO in the Care + Search plan
Reviews
Every review answered
- Reply drafts for every review, which you approve
- A one-tap review-request flow comes with a Growth Site
- Negative reviews flagged to you with a suggested reply
Website
Pages that back up the profile
- One page per service you sell
- Area pages only where you really work and have something real to say
- Name, address and phone the same everywhere
Listings
The other maps
- Bing Places and Apple Business Connect, as a one-time Business Profile Setup (see pricing)
- Main citations checked so the details match
- Your business details marked up in schema
Use this yourself
Three profile checks to run today
The full, sourced checklist is in our Google Business Profile guide. If you only have five minutes, check these three first.
- Your business name matches your truck and invoices, with no added keywords.
- Your street address is hidden if customers don't come to you, and your service area lists the places you really serve.
- Your newest reviews each have a reply from you.
Prices
Local SEO prices
Local work is part of Care + Search. Search Pro adds more content and local link earning for crowded trades. Not sure where you stand? Start with the Deep Audit.
Care + Search
Care plus steady search work every month.
$490/month
- Everything in Care
- 2 SEO articles and 4 Business Profile posts a month
- Review-response drafts
- Monthly long-query mining and AI-answer scorecard
- 2 hours of improvements and a monthly report
- First month free with any build
- 3-month minimum, then month-to-month
Search Pro
For businesses competing hard in search.
$1,250/month
- Everything in Care + Search, 4 articles a month
- White-hat link earning and digital PR
- Conversion tests and competitor tracking
- AI-crawler and AI-referral analytics
- Quarterly roadmap call
- 3-month minimum, then month-to-month
Deep Audit
A person reviews up to 25 of your pages and gives you a prioritized fix list.
$490
- Up to 25 URLs: technical, schema, Core Web Vitals, content, local and AI visibility
- 3-competitor scorecard
- 30-minute call
- Credited in full to any build within 60 days
Business Profile Setup
Your listings on Google, Bing and Apple, set up correctly.
$450
- Google Business Profile, only if eligible
- Bing Places
- Apple Business Connect
- Top citations
Process
The first 90 days
Week 1: audit the profile
Name, categories, address setting, service area, duplicates and suspension risks, checked against Google's guidelines.
Weeks 2–3: fix and connect
Profile corrected, website pages linked, and Bing and Apple listings claimed if you add the profile setup.
Month 2 on: steady work
Posts, review replies, new service content and map-pack tracking for your main searches in each county you serve. Facebook and other profiles are a separate plan: social media management.
Each month: report
Map-pack positions, profile calls and direction requests, new reviews and the work done.
FAQ
Local SEO questions
I work from home. Can I still have a Google Business Profile?
Yes, as a service-area business, if you travel to customers. Google says to hide the home address and set a service area. A rented mailing address you don't work from isn't eligible.
Should I make a profile for every city I serve?
No. Google allows one profile per business. You list the cities or counties as your service area, and you back them up with real pages on your website for the areas where you do a lot of work.
Can you get bad reviews removed?
Only Google can remove a review, and only when it breaks Google's policies, such as spam or a review from someone who was never a customer. We can flag those for you. For honest negative reviews, a calm, specific reply usually helps more than removal would.
Do city pages still work?
Pages that just swap the city name are thin content, and Google treats them as low value. A city page earns its place with something real: jobs done there, local permit notes, photos, the crew that covers it. We only build them where you can supply that.
How soon will I show in the map pack?
We can't promise a date or a position. Fixes to a broken or suspended profile can show within weeks; climbing past established competitors takes months of reviews and content. The monthly report shows where you stand each month.
Next step
See how search engines read your site today.
The X-ray shows Google's own scores for your site in about a minute. A scoping call turns them into a plan.