The Local SEO Audit Checklist

How to use this checklist: audit in the order below — the sections are sequenced so trust problems (wrong data, suspended profiles) get fixed before effort problems (links, content). Score each item ✅ pass / ⚠️ partial / ❌ fail, and treat any ❌ in Sections 1–3 as urgent: those are actively costing you customers today, not just rankings.

Section 1 — Google Business Profile

Foundation

• Profile claimed and under an account you control (not a former agency’s or employee’s) — check: Business Profile Manager → users/permissions
• Verified (checkmark present, no “finish verification” banners)
• No duplicate listings for the business — check: search your exact name + city in Maps; look for twins
• Business name matches real-world signage exactly — no keyword additions
• Primary category is the single most accurate fit — check: ask “what would a customer type to find exactly what we do?”
• Secondary categories only for substantial services actually offered
• Hours correct, including upcoming holiday/special hours
• Phone = the number customers should actually call (consistent with site + citations)
• Website link points to your real domain (not a vendor landing page)
• Service area (if SAB) reflects where you genuinely serve

Content & engagement

• ≥10 real photos (exterior findable from street, interior, team, work) added in the last 12 months
• Services list complete with plain-language descriptions
• Attributes filled accurately (accessibility, payment, amenities)
• Q&A seeded with your genuinely frequent questions and monitored
• Recent reviews have owner responses (see Section 3 cadence)
• Posting (if used) is current — or consciously abandoned, not limping

Section 2 — Citations & NAP

• Canonical NAP defined in writing (exact name, one phone, full address, URL form)
• Google, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Facebook all match the canonical NAP
• Data aggregator records checked and corrected (US: Data Axle, Acxiom, Foursquare)
• Industry directories you’re listed on match canonical NAP
• No tracking phone numbers anywhere in citations
• Old addresses/phones from moves or rebrands searched and corrected — check: search quoted old phone + old address
• Citation tracking sheet exists with last-verified dates (format: the citations guide)
• Duplicates requested for removal rather than edited into “second locations”

Section 3 — Reviews

• A compliant ask exists (no incentives, no gating) — check: read your own review-request message against Google’s policies
• Review volume trending (recent reviews exist this quarter)
• Owner response on 100% of negatives, within ~48h
• Owner response on a meaningful share of positives
• Responses use a name, not “The Management”
• Fake/policy-violating reviews reported and documented
• Recurring complaint themes logged as an operations to-do (not ignored)
• No review incentives, gating scripts, or kiosks anywhere in the business

Section 4 — Links & local authority

• Chamber of commerce / local association memberships current and linked
• Sponsors and community involvement you actually do are reflected with links
• Key industry directories (the ones customers use) list you
• Local media/partner relationships exist (or are honestly on the “not yet” list)
• No purchased links or link schemes in your history — if there are, don’t panic; stop and document
• Competitor link comparison done once (who links to them, not to you?) — check: any backlink tool’s free tier, or skip until you have the basics right

Section 5 — On-page essentials

• Homepage title states what + where (e.g., “Bob’s Plumbing | Plumber in East Austin, TX”)
• One H1 per page; headings describe real content
• NAP in footer of every page, matching canonical NAP exactly
• Service pages exist per major service, in customer language
• Location pages (if any) pass the doorway test — unique, real, worth reading (the test)
• Contact page has a working phone, email, and map
• Photos have honest alt text; pages have zero stock-photo pretending
• Internal links: no orphans; every page reachable ≤3 clicks from home

Section 6 — Technical health

• Site renders fully on a mid-range Android over 4G
• LCP ≤ ~2s on key pages; images compressed with width/height set
• HTTPS everywhere, no mixed-content warnings
• Google Search Console verified; no manual actions; indexing report clean
• Sitemap current, canonical-only URLs, real lastmod dates
• Redirects: 301s intact for any moved URLs, no chains, no loops
• robots.txt not blocking assets; staging not publicly indexed
• 404 page useful (links home + key services)

Section 7 — Schema

• LocalBusiness (or specific subtype) with correct NAP, hours, geo — on the site and valid — check: Rich Results Test
• Organization markup present
• Breadcrumbs marked up if the site has hierarchy
• No self-serving aggregateRating/review markup on your own business (why)
• No schema describing services or locations you don’t actually have

Section 8 — Measurement

• Profile analytics (calls, directions, website clicks) checked monthly and trended
• Visibility tracked grid-style for 3–5 commercial queries (method) — or consciously deferred until Sections 1–3 are ✅
• Organic sessions + conversion events visible per page
• One page per month summarizing: reviews added, profile actions, citations fixed, ranking shape — five minutes, retained
• Someone owns the checklist (a name, a calendar slot) — an audit nobody owns is a to-do list for nobody

Scoring: count the ❌s. Any ❌ in Sections 1–3 → fix this month (they cost customers today). Sections 4–8 → schedule over the quarter. Re-run the full checklist quarterly; for multi-location, duplicate per location on rotation (per-location workflow).

This checklist is maintained as part of the 2localseo guides — the depth behind each section lives in the linked pillar guides. Something missing that belongs here? Tell us — with credit, it goes in.