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:

1. Business type: Storefront vs service-area
2. Location: Single or multiple
3. 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:

1. Google Business Profile
2. Apple Maps
3. Yelp, Bing Places, Facebook
4. Better Business Bureau, Foursquare, Nextdoor
5. 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• Incorrect or outdated data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