The Local SEO Audit Checklist: 23 Points to Review Monthly

GBP Profile Audit (10 points)

1. NAP accuracy. Search your business name and verify that the name, address, and phone number showing on Google match what's on your website and across your other listings. Even small inconsistencies (suite number, abbreviated street name) matter.
2. Business hours. Check your regular hours, and add any upcoming holiday hours. Google tracks this and may show "hours might differ" if you haven't updated holiday schedules.
3. Primary category. Is your primary category still the best match for your top service? Google adds new, more specific categories periodically. Search for your main keyword and see what category your top-ranking competitors are using.
4. Photos. Upload at least a few new photos this month. Fresh photos signal an active listing. Focus on real shots of your business, team, and work - not stock photos.
5. Google Posts. Post at least once per week. This shows Google and potential customers that your business is active. Posts with a call-to-action tend to get more engagement.
6. Q&A section. Check for any unanswered customer questions. Unanswered Q&As look bad and are a wasted opportunity. You can also proactively add your most frequently asked questions here.
7. Reviews. Respond to every review, positive and negative. According to Google's own guidelines, responding to reviews shows that you value your customers and their feedback. Aim for within 48 hours.
8. Attributes. Google regularly adds new attributes (e.g., "wheelchair accessible," "women-owned," "appointment required"). Check if any new ones apply to your business.
9. Products/Services. Are your listed products and services current? Update pricing, add new offerings, remove discontinued items.
10. Business description. Has anything about your business changed that should be reflected in your description? Keep it factual and include your key services and service area.

Website Local SEO Audit (8 points)

11. Title tags. Your homepage and key service pages should include your city and primary service in the title tag. Example: "Emergency Plumber in Austin, TX | Company Name."
12. LocalBusiness schema. Verify your structured data using Google's Rich Results Test (search.google.com/test/rich-results). Your schema should include your NAP, business type, operating hours, and geo-coordinates.
13. Mobile experience. Open your site on an actual phone, not just browser dev tools. Fill out a form, tap the phone number, check that nothing is cut off or hard to read.
14. Page speed. Run your key pages through PageSpeed Insights. Core Web Vitals (LCP, FID, CLS) are a confirmed ranking signal. Fix anything flagged as red.
15. Local content. Is your content referencing your actual service area? Pages that mention specific neighborhoods, local landmarks, or area-specific details tend to perform better than generic pages.
16. Internal linking. If you have multiple location pages, make sure they're linked from your main navigation or footer. Every location page should be accessible within 2-3 clicks from the homepage.
17. Click-to-call. Test that your phone number link actually initiates a phone call on mobile. Broken click-to-call is more common than you'd think.
18. Google Analytics check. Is tracking working? Check that you're receiving data from organic local searches. Look at your top landing pages and make sure location pages are capturing traffic.

Off-Site Audit (5 points)

19. Citation consistency. Spot-check your NAP on your most important directories (Yelp, Facebook, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yellow Pages, BBB). Any inconsistency can confuse search engines.
20. New backlinks. Check Google Search Console for any new links. If you got a good local link (e.g., from a local news article or community organization), that's worth noting.
21. Social profiles. Make sure your business info is correct on Facebook, LinkedIn, and any industry-specific platforms. These serve as supporting citations.
22. Competitor check. Pick your top 2-3 local competitors and look at their GBP listings. Have they made any changes? More photos? New posts? A spike in reviews? Knowing what your competition is doing helps you stay ahead.
23. Review generation progress. Track how many new reviews you received this month versus last month. If the number is trending down, revisit your review generation process.

Time Estimate

This full audit should take about 45-60 minutes for a single location. If you manage multiple locations, plan for an extra 20-30 minutes per additional location, since a lot of the website-level checks only need to happen once.

The point of a monthly cadence is to catch small problems before they turn into bigger ones. A wrong phone number that stays wrong for three months is worse than one you fix the same week it changes.