Local SEO Competition Analysis Guide

Tony Yan

·November 19, 2025

·12 min read

Are you losing customers to nearby rivals? Poor local search visibility can make your business invisible in local search results. This happens even though 8 out of 10 consumers search for local businesses weekly. Understanding your local seo competition is the first step to winning them back. This guide provides actionable strategies to improve your rankings.

A proper local seo competitive analysis transforms guesswork into a powerful local seo strategy. This local seo analysis is your foundation for growth, especially since 88% of local searchers visit a business within a day.

Identify Your Local SEO Competition

You cannot outrank rivals you do not know. The first step in your local seo analysis is identifying who you are up against. This process helps you build effective strategies to improve your visibility.

Define Your Core Services and Area

First, you must clearly define your business. List your most important services or products. Then, identify the specific city, neighborhood, or service area you target. This focus is crucial. For example, a plumber should use "emergency plumbing in downtown Boston" instead of just "plumber." This precision helps you find your true local seo competition.

Find Competitors in the Local Pack

Your most direct competitors often appear in the Google Local Pack. This is the map with three business listings at the top of local search results. You can find these competitors with a few simple steps:

List your main products and services.
Type these services into Google with your location (e.g., 'hair extensions los angeles').
Observe which businesses appear in the map pack.
Pay close attention to these businesses, as they are very prominent.

Tools can also help you track competitors in the local pack. GTrack, for instance, shows which businesses appear for your target keywords and locations. It provides the ranking positions of competitors and can monitor them for any changes in their local listings.

Discover Rivals in Organic Results

Some competitors rank well in the standard organic results below the Local Pack. You should analyze local seo competition in these spots too. SEO tools offer great ways to find these rivals.

Moz’s Domain Analysis tool shows top search competitors for your keywords.
SEMrush’s Organic Research report lists domains ranked by competition level.
SpyFu’s competitor analysis tool reveals domains competing for your keywords.

These tools provide data to build a strong local seo strategy.

Finalize Your Top Competitor List

You now have a list of competitors from the Local Pack and organic results. A complete local SEO competitive analysis of every rival is too much work. Instead, choose three to five of your top competitors. Focus on the businesses that consistently appear for your most important service and location keywords. This focused list will be the basis for the next steps.

Analyze Competitor Google Business Profiles

Your competitors' Google Business Profiles are a goldmine of information. These local listings are often the first interaction a customer has with a business. A thorough local seo analysis of these profiles reveals your rivals' strengths and weaknesses, giving you a clear path to outperform them.

Evaluate Business Categories and Name

First, look at your competitor's business name. Does it include keywords like "Plumbing Services" or "Boston Pizza"? This practice, known as keyword stuffing, violates Google's guidelines but can sometimes provide a temporary ranking boost. Note this, but do not copy it. A better long-term local seo strategy is to use your real business name consistently.

Next, examine their business categories. The primary category you choose for a Google Business Profile heavily influences its ranking. It tells Google what your business is, which helps it match you to the most relevant searches. You must select a primary category that accurately describes your core service.

You can also learn from their secondary categories. Investigating a competitor's categories can reveal opportunities you might be missing.

Pro Tip: To see a competitor's categories, find their business on Google Maps. Right-click on their business name and select "View Page Source." Then, search (Ctrl+F or Cmd+F) for their primary category (e.g., "Plumber"). The secondary categories will be listed right after it in the code.

Use these insights to refine your own category choices.

Add multiple categories to show up for related services.
Check your competitors' categories to find new ideas.
Make sure your website has pages that match every category you choose.
Remember, there is no penalty for using multiple relevant categories.

Scrutinize Review Strategy and Volume

Reviews are a powerful signal for trust and relevance. The quantity and quality of reviews directly impact rankings in the Local Pack. This makes analyzing your local seo competition's review profile essential.

The number of reviews is a major ranking factor. Data shows a clear correlation between review volume and a top position.

Ranking Position	Review Count Contribution (All Sectors)	Review Count Contribution (Food & Restaurants)
Positions 1-10	26%	13.9%
Positions 1-21	19.2%	13.7%

As you can see, review count contributes up to 26% for top-10 rankings across all sectors. While proximity is still the top factor, review signals become critical for reaching those elite spots. Look at your top competitors. How many reviews do they have? How frequently do they get new ones?

Next, figure out their strategies for getting positive customer reviews. You can then build a better system.

Deliver Exceptional Service: The foundation of getting positive customer reviews is providing an outstanding experience. Happy customers are more likely to share their opinions.
Ask for Reviews: Top competitors are not shy about asking. They might ask in person, through follow-up emails, or via text messages.
Simplify the Process: They make it easy for customers by providing a direct link to their review page.

You can also use other effective methods to generate reviews:

Train your team: Teach your staff why reviews are important and give them simple scripts to ask customers.
Use email and SMS: Send personalized, mobile-friendly requests a day or two after a service.
Showcase your best reviews: Use snippets of great reviews in your social media posts and on your website to encourage others.

Deconstruct Google Posts and Q&A Use

The Google Posts and Questions & Answers (Q&A) sections show how actively a business engages with its audience.

Check your competitor's Google Posts.

Frequency: How often do they post? Weekly posts signal to Google that the profile is active.
Content: Are they sharing offers, announcing events, or highlighting new products?
Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Do their posts include "Learn More," "Call Now," or "Order Online" buttons?

Next, review their Q&A section. This feature allows customers to ask questions directly on the profile. See if your competitors are using it effectively. Do they answer questions quickly? Have they pre-loaded their own common questions and answers? A neglected Q&A section is an opportunity for you to provide a better customer experience.

Review Photo and Video Content

Photos and videos do not directly influence rankings, but they significantly boost user engagement and can lead to more conversions. Regular media uploads also signal to Google that a business is active.

Look at your competitor's media. Ask yourself:

Quantity and Quality: Do they have many high-resolution photos and videos?
Content: Do the photos showcase their location, products, and team? Videos can offer virtual tours or customer testimonials.
Recency: Are they adding new photos and videos regularly?

High-quality media helps customers recognize a business, humanizes the staff, and builds credibility. It allows potential customers to "visit" your business virtually, making them more likely to contact you.

Assess Overall Profile Completeness

A complete and optimized Google Business Profile is fundamental for local search visibility. An incomplete profile can confuse users and hurt rankings. Use this checklist to conduct your local seo competitive analysis and see how your profile stacks up.

A complete profile should include:

Business Name: The exact, real-world name of the business.
Business Categories: An accurate primary category and several relevant secondary categories.
Address and Phone Number (NAP): Consistent information that matches their website.
Hours: Updated and accurate business hours, including special hours for holidays.
Website Link: A link to their website's homepage or a specific location page.
Products or Services: A detailed list of what they offer.
Business Description: A 750-character summary of what makes the business unique.
Regular Activity: Consistent Google Posts, responses to reviews, and answers in the Q&A section.

By reviewing these elements, you can spot gaps in your competitor's approach and find clear opportunities to improve your own profile.

Pinpoint Keyword and Content Gaps

Your competitors' Google Business Profiles show their public-facing tactics. Their websites reveal the engine driving their keyword rankings. A deep dive into their on-page SEO and content uncovers their digital blueprint. This local SEO analysis helps you find weaknesses and build a superior local SEO strategy.

Uncover Competitor Target Keywords

First, you need to know which keywords your competitors are targeting and winning. This process shows you the search terms that bring them valuable local customers. You can use several tools to uncover this information.

KWFinder is excellent for local keyword research. You can enter a competitor's domain to see the keywords they rank for. It also lets you filter by over 65,000 specific locations to get precise local search results.
SpyFu allows you to search for any competitor and download their SEO keywords. This gives you insight into what they rank for and their estimated click-through rates.
SEO.ai has a Competitor Keywords Tool. You enter a competitor's domain and choose a country to see the keywords they are ranking for in that region.

The main goal here is to run a keyword gap analysis. This process compares the keywords your site ranks for against the keywords your competitors rank for. It helps you find "quick-win" opportunities—valuable keywords they rank for that you are missing or keywords where they have a low ranking that you can easily target.

Analyze Local Landing Page Structure

A local landing page is designed for one purpose: conversion. Analyzing your competitor's landing pages shows you how they guide users from a click to a call. A strong local landing page often separates itself from the main website to eliminate distractions.

Look for these key components on your competitor's pages:

A Compelling Headline: Does the headline grab attention and address a customer's problem? For example, a sunroom builder might use a headline like, "Transform Your Home with a Stunning Light-Filled Indoor Space."
Prominent Contact Information: Is their phone number easy to find at the top of the page?
A Clear Call to Action (CTA): The CTA button should be visually distinct. It must tell the user exactly what to do, like "Request Brochure and Pricing" or "View Menus and Request Pricing Now."
Trust Signals: Look for customer testimonials that include names, photos, and star ratings. These build credibility.
Visual Elements: Do they use high-quality local images or before-and-after photos? Videos showing their service can also be very effective.
Embedded Google Map: A map makes it easy for users to find their location or understand their service area.

By checking for these elements, you can see how effective your competitor's landing page is and find ideas to improve your own.

Audit On-Page SEO Elements

On-page SEO elements are the signals that tell search engines what a page is about. A thorough local SEO competitive analysis requires you to inspect these technical details.

Start with the basics:

Title Tag: This is the page title you see in the browser tab and search results. It should be under 65 characters and include the main local keyword, like "Plumbing Services in Austin."
Meta Description: This is the short summary under the title in search results. It should be around 150-165 characters, include the keyword, and give users a reason to click.
Headers (H1, H2): The main headline on the page should be an H1 tag with the primary local keyword. Subheadings (H2, H3) should use secondary keywords to add context.
URL Structure: A clean URL like www.example.com/plumbing-services-austin is descriptive and helps both users and search engines.

Next, you must investigate their use of local schema markup. This is a code vocabulary you add to your website to help search engines understand your information. Websites using schema markup can rank an average of four positions higher than those without it. When you analyze your local SEO competition, check if they are using local schema markup. You can use Google's Rich Results Test tool to see what schema is on their page. Look for:

LocalBusiness schema with details like name, address, phone number, and hours.
GeoCoordinates schema to pinpoint their exact location.
Review or aggregateRating schema to show off their star ratings.

If your competitors are not using this, implementing it on your own site can provide a significant advantage.

Assess Content Depth and Quality

Finally, you must assess the quality of your competitor's content. Are they just stuffing keywords, or are they providing real value to local customers? Your goal is to create content that is deeper, more relevant, and more helpful.

You can measure content quality using several metrics.

Metric Category	What to Look For
Qualitative Metrics	Is the content relevant to local needs? Does it show expertise and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T)? Is it well-structured and easy to read?
Quantitative Metrics	Tools can estimate metrics like organic traffic and the number of backlinks. High traffic and many backlinks signal valuable content.

Look for opportunities to create superior local content and keywords. Your competitors might have a generic "Services" page. You can beat them by creating hyper-local content. These are powerful strategies to connect with the community.

Create neighborhood-specific pages: Write a blog post about a project you completed in a specific neighborhood, mentioning local landmarks.
Form local partnerships: Collaborate with a complementary local business for a cross-promotion and write about it.
Run weather-triggered promotions: An Austin restaurant offered a discount on frozen drinks whenever the temperature hit 100°F. This timely, relevant offer drove huge engagement.

By creating unique and genuinely helpful local content, you establish your business as a trusted community resource, giving you an edge that your local seo competition cannot easily copy.

Conduct a Local SEO Competitive Analysis

You have analyzed your rivals' on-page efforts. Now, you must look at their off-page authority. A complete local SEO competitive analysis examines the signals that build trust with Google outside of their website. This local SEO analysis focuses on backlinks and citations. These elements are key to improving your own local search results.

How to Analyze Local SEO Competition

You can analyze local SEO competition by breaking it down into manageable steps. Your goal is to understand their off-page strategies. This involves looking at their local backlinks and their listings in local directories. This local SEO analysis reveals where they get their authority. You can then target the same sources to build your own profile.

Investigate Their Backlink Profile

Backlinks are links from other websites to your competitor's site. They act like votes of confidence. You can use tools like Ahrefs’ Free Backlink Checker or Moz Link Explorer to see who links to your rivals. Your task is to find opportunities to earn your own high-quality backlinks.

Look for links from relevant, trustworthy websites. A link from a local chamber of commerce is much more valuable than a link from an unrelated, spammy blog. Your goal is to build a profile of valuable local backlinks, not just a high quantity of them.

Audit Their Local Citation Profile

Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) in online local directories like Yelp or Yellow Pages. Consistency is critical. You can use tools like Moz Local or BrightLocal's Citation Tracker to audit your local seo competition. These tools show you where competitors are listed and reveal any inconsistencies in their data. Remember, 50 high-quality citations from relevant local directories consistently outperform 500 low-quality ones.

Perform a Complete Local SEO Analysis

A complete local SEO competitive analysis combines all your findings. You should have a clear picture of your rival's entire digital footprint. This includes:

Their Google Business Profile performance, including clicks and calls.
Their keyword rankings in specific neighborhoods.
The quality and sources of their backlinks.
Their presence and consistency across local directories.

Use these insights to build a prioritized local seo strategy. This data-driven plan will guide your efforts to outrank the competition.

You now know how to identify competitors and analyze their online presence. This local SEO analysis is not a one-time task. It is an ongoing process for sustained growth.

To stay competitive, you should perform this analysis regularly.

Conduct a full audit at least twice per year.

Consider a quarterly audit in highly competitive markets.

Use these insights to build your prioritized local SEO strategy. You have the knowledge to start outranking your local rivals today. 🚀

FAQ

How often should I analyze my local competitors?

You should perform a full analysis at least twice a year. Businesses in very competitive markets may need quarterly checks. This regular review helps you adapt your strategy and stay ahead of rivals.

What is the most important factor in local SEO?

Proximity is the top factor. Google wants to show users the closest relevant businesses. After proximity, your Google Business Profile signals and reviews heavily influence your ranking in the local pack.

Are backlinks as important for local SEO?

Yes, backlinks are very important for local SEO. Links from other local businesses or community websites signal trust to Google. These local links prove your business is a true part of the community.

What are local citations?

Local citations are online mentions of your business information. This includes your Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP). Consistent citations across directories like Yelp help search engines verify your business and improve your ranking.