- Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot move your shop, so work on the other two.
- In local search you compete with the businesses near your customers, not the whole internet. The report compares you with them.
- Reviews, photos and a complete profile change faster than anything else. Start there.
What the local SEO checker looks at
The report reads what Google and your website show today and scores it out of 100 in six parts:
| Part of the report | Points | Checks |
|---|---|---|
| Search results | 20 | 16 |
| Your website | 26 | 19 |
| Google profile | 16 | 7 |
| Reviews | 18 | 4 |
| Photos | 10 | 3 |
| Nearby rank | 10 | 3 |
The part only a local check can do is the last one. The report searches your trade around your address, the way a neighbor would, and shows where you land and how your reviews, rating and photos compare with the typical business in that search.
| Part | Check | Points | What it looks for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reviews | How many reviews | 7 | How many Google reviews: 5, 25 and 100 are the steps |
| Reviews | Your rating | 5 | Your star rating, once you have 3 reviews: 4.7 and up for full points, 4.3 and 3.8 for some |
| Reviews | A recent review | 3 | How new your newest review is: within 30 days for full points, within 90 for some |
| Reviews | Reviews against nearby | 3 | Your review count against the typical business near you in your trade |
| Photos | How many photos | 5 | How many photos on the profile: 1, 5 and 10 are the steps |
| Photos | Photos of real work | 3 | Whether the photos we look at show real, finished work |
| Photos | Your name or truck in a photo | 2 | Whether your name, logo or truck shows in a photo |
| Nearby rank | Where you show up | 6 | Where you land when we search your trade near your address: top 3, top 10, or listed |
| Nearby rank | Rating against nearby | 2 | Your rating against the typical nearby business |
| Nearby rank | Photos against nearby | 2 | Your photo count against the typical nearby business |
A check the report cannot run is left out of the score instead of counted against you: a website host that blocks our checker, a step Google did not answer, fewer than three nearby businesses to compare. The report says which checks were skipped and why. If fewer than 50 points could be checked, it does not give a score at all.
How local search works for a trade business
When someone searches "roofer near me" or "house cleaning in Tempe", Google usually shows a map with a few businesses, then the regular results. Google says local results are mainly based on three things (Google's local ranking tips):
- Relevance: how well your profile matches the search. A specific category, your services, and a website that names your trade and towns.
- Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or the place they named.
- Prominence: how well known you are. Google names reviews, ratings and links among the signals.
The report's checks map onto these. The profile and website checks are relevance. Reviews, photos and the nearby comparison are prominence. Distance is the one you cannot change, which is why the comparison is with businesses near you.
Why the comparison is with businesses near you
A roofer with 40 reviews may be far ahead in one town and far behind in the next. A national average says nothing about either. So the report compares your review count, rating and photo count with the typical (median) business in the same nearby search, and scores you against that.
That also tells you what "enough" means where you work. If the typical nearby business has 60 reviews and you have 20, the gap is 40 reviews, and you know how many jobs it takes to close it at your usual rate of asking.
The local SEO fixes worth doing first
| Fix | Part of the report | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Pick the most specific category for your trade | Google profile | 5 minutes |
| Fill in hours, phone, website and a description that names your towns | Google profile | 20 minutes |
| Put the same name, phone and address on your website | Your website | 15 minutes |
| Ask every customer for a review, with a direct link | Reviews | A habit |
| Add photos of finished work and your truck every month | Photos | A habit |
| Page title and description with your trade and town | Search results | 15 minutes |
A free review link and QR code makes asking for reviews quicker, and the before-and-after photo maker turns two job photos into a post.
After the report
Every low score in the report comes with the fix, in plain words, in the order that tends to matter most. Many take an evening: the page title, the description, the phone link, the profile hours. Others are habits: reviews and photos.
If you would rather not do it by hand, Koira builds a fast contractor website with these basics in place, keeps your listings matching, and asks for reviews after every paid job. See what Koira does for contractor SEO.
Last checked October 9, 2026.