What local SEO actually is
Local SEO is the work you do to make your business show up in Google searches that have a location attached, whether the person types it ("electrician Wellington") or Google infers it from where they are ("electrician near me"). It is different from regular SEO, which is about ranking blog posts and website pages in the standard blue-link results. Local SEO is about getting into the map pack and showing up when someone in your area is ready to buy or book.
For a builder, gym, dentist, real estate agent, or salon, local search is where the customers are. Someone searching for a local service is not doing research. They are looking to pick someone. That makes local SEO one of the few marketing channels where you are reaching people at exactly the moment they are ready to act.
Regular SEO and local SEO are not in competition. A website that ranks well helps. But for most local businesses, getting the local basics right comes first, because that is what gets you in front of people before they even look at your website.
The local map pack
When someone searches for a local business or service, Google often shows a block of three results at the top of the page, each with a map pin, a star rating, and a phone number. That is the local map pack, sometimes called the three-pack. It gets more attention than the links below it, and it shows up on mobile before anything else.
Google has published the three factors it uses to decide which businesses appear in the map pack and in what order. They are:
- Relevance. How well your business matches what the person searched for. A gym that lists fitness classes, personal training, and group sessions clearly in its profile is more relevant to more searches than one that just says "gym".
- Distance. How close your business is to the person searching, or to the location they mentioned. You cannot change where you are, but you can make sure Google knows your exact service area.
- Prominence. How well known and well regarded your business is, based on reviews, links, and how complete and active your profile is. This is the factor you have the most control over.
Those three factors are from Google directly, not guesswork. Everything in local SEO maps back to improving one or more of them.
Your Google Business Profile is the biggest lever
Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that controls how your business appears on Google Search and Google Maps. It is the single most important thing in local SEO. If you have not claimed yours, that is the first step. Search your business name while logged into Google and follow the prompts to claim and verify it.
Once you have it, fill out every field. This is not optional detail. A half-empty profile gives Google less to work with, which means fewer searches where you show up.
Business name, address, phone
Use the exact legal name of your business, your actual street address (or service area if you go to customers), and a local phone number. These details need to be identical everywhere they appear online.
Categories
Pick the primary category that best describes what you do, then add secondary categories for everything else relevant. A plumber who also does gas fitting and drainage should list all three. Categories directly affect which searches you show up in.
Business hours
Keep your hours current, including public holidays. A dentist or salon with wrong hours frustrates customers and signals to Google that the profile is not maintained.
Photos
Add real photos of your work, your team, and your premises. A contractor showing before-and-after job photos, a real estate agent showing sold properties, a gym showing the floor and equipment. Photos make people more likely to click and they signal to Google that you are active.
Services and description
Use the services section to list every specific thing you do. A salon should list cuts, colour, blowouts, and treatments separately, not just "hair services". Write your description in plain language, say what you do, who you do it for, and where.
Posts and updates
Google lets you post updates, offers, and news directly on your profile. A weekly post, even just a short one about a job you finished or a question you get asked a lot, keeps the profile active and that is visible to Google.
Reviews feed your ranking too
Reviews affect your local ranking through the prominence factor, and they affect whether customers choose you once they see you. Both matter.
The BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2024 found that 75% of consumers always or regularly read online reviews before choosing a local business, and 88% would use a business that replies to all of its reviews, compared with 47% for one that never replies. So your review count, your rating, and the fact that you reply all do real commercial work.
Getting reviews consistently is straightforward: ask every happy customer, by name, right after you have done good work, with a direct link that puts them straight onto the review box. Replying to every review, good and bad, takes less than a minute each and it is the detail that future customers notice.
There is a full guide on exactly how to do this at how to get more Google reviews for your NZ business, including the messages to copy, the rules to know, and what to do with a bad review.
Be consistent everywhere (NAP)
NAP stands for name, address, and phone number. Google cross-references your business details across the web, and inconsistencies confuse it. If your business is "Tauranga Plumbing Ltd" on Google, "Tauranga Plumbing" on your Facebook page, and "TBL Plumbing" on a local directory, that looks like three different businesses. It weakens your prominence signal.
Go through every place your business is listed and make the name, address, and phone number character-for-character identical. That includes:
- Your own website, especially the footer and contact page
- Facebook and Instagram business pages
- Yellow Pages NZ (yellow.co.nz)
- Neighbourly
- Any trade-specific directories (Master Builders, Registered Master Electricians, Realestate.co.nz, Localist)
- Any news mentions or local chamber pages where your business appears
This is unglamorous work. It also pays off steadily over time because it removes a source of confusion that holds many local businesses back.
Show up in AI search too
Google, ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI tools are increasingly the first place people go to find local recommendations. Someone might ask ChatGPT "who is the best electrician in Christchurch" or ask Google's AI Overview for dentist recommendations near them. These tools pull from publicly available information, and the same things that help your local SEO help here too.
If your Business Profile is complete, your website clearly states what you do and where, you have a solid flow of good reviews, and you have a page that answers common questions directly, you are in good shape for AI recommendation. The tools look for businesses that are clearly described, well regarded, and active. A FAQ page on your website, even a short one, helps because it gives AI tools clear, citable answers to pass on to their users.
You do not need to do anything exotic to show up in AI search. Do the local SEO basics well and the AI channels follow.
Do this in the next week
Claim and complete your Google Business Profile
Go to business.google.com, claim your listing if you have not, and fill in every field: name, address, phone, hours, categories, services, description, and at least five photos. Do not leave anything blank.
Get your review link and start asking
Find the "Ask for reviews" option in your profile, copy the link, and send it to the last ten customers you did good work for. Text them by name, keep it short, and include the link. This alone often produces several reviews in the first week.
Check your NAP on the top three places
Make sure your name, address, and phone are identical on your Google Business Profile, your Facebook business page, and your own website. Fix any differences you find.
Reply to every review you already have
Go through your existing reviews and reply to all of them. Keep it short and specific. This switches on the 88% effect immediately, for free, and it takes one sitting.
Why take this from me
I run AukCliff, an outdoor and wildlife photography retail brand doing around seven figures a year, on AI systems I built and operate myself, and I built Lessona, an AI tool for teachers that is live with paying subscribers. I have spent ten years delivering real projects and have used AI as a daily operator since 2022. Getting found is not theory to me. It is how my own businesses grow.
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