Local SEO Checklist (2026): 54 Checks for Local Businesses
54 checks for local businesses: the Google Business Profile, reviews against the map pack, service pages, listings, rankings across the service area and AI answers.
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- 28 min read
For businesses that serve a local area
54 points on how you show up nearby: your Google Business Profile, reviews, listings, local pages and rankings across your service area. Every point scored, every fix ranked, in one written report.
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Every audit is done by Szymon Kokot$2000 for the audit and the written report
54 points, each scored from 1 to 10
5–8 days to your written report
Your main location in full, any others spot-checked. Rankings are checked from set points across your service area, and dated.
7 points. The website basics a local business site needs.
11 points. The profile that decides whether you appear in the map results at all.
6 points. Your reviews compared with the businesses you compete with on the map, not with an abstract target.
9 points. Whether your site confirms your details, shows what you do and where, and ranks below the map.
4 points. Your details on Apple Maps, Bing, Facebook and the directories of your trade.
6 points. Where you actually appear when people nearby search, tied to a place and a date.
4 points. Links from real local and trade sources, recorded on the audit date.
3 points. Whether calling, booking or visiting is easy, and whether you can see where leads come from.
4 points. What Google's AI answers, Maps and assistants such as ChatGPT say when people ask about businesses like yours.
You get the invoice before the audit starts, and the report as soon as it's paid.
The process was organized, straightforward, and very easy to manage from our side.
Yes, if your customers are nearby: trades, clinics, salons, restaurants, shops, or local law and accounting firms, with or without a storefront. If you win most of your work well beyond your area, the Website SEO audit fits better.
The main location is audited in full and the others are spot-checked for the most common problems. The report says which locations were covered and how.
Read access to Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4, manager access to your Google Business Profile, and your correct business details. Access is only used to read: nothing is posted, changed or sent to your customers.
The invoice comes before the audit starts. The report is sent as soon as it's paid.
From the blog
54 checks for local businesses: the Google Business Profile, reviews against the map pack, service pages, listings, rankings across the service area and AI answers.
Why a local audit weighs the Business Profile, reviews and listings as heavily as the website, and how to tell whether your business needs one.
Why a local business can rank in the map pack while its website sits on page two, and the profile details that are easy to miss.