Local SEO guide
Local SEO report: what to include, and what to leave out
Updated November 4, 2026
Most SEO reports are long, full of charts, and leave the owner asking the same question: is it working, and what happens next? A good local SEO report answers that in a page, with evidence underneath for anyone who wants to look.
Start with what changed
Open with three or four sentences in plain language: what improved, what dropped, and why. "Map visibility for roof repair rose from a third of Guelph to half, after the new service page and twelve new reviews. Kitchener is still weak." That's more useful than any chart.
The sections that matter
- Google Maps visibility across the service area, for each main search, compared with last time.
- Google search positions for key services in each city, with the page that ranks.
- Search Console clicks, impressions and the queries people actually used.
- Business Profile activity: calls, direction requests and website visits, where available.
- Reviews: new reviews, rating, and reply rate.
- AI visibility: whether AI assistants find, cite, mention or recommend the business for customer questions.
- Competitors: who gained ground, and where.
End with next steps
Every report should finish with a short, prioritized list of what to do next and why. Three to five actions is plenty. If the report doesn't change what anyone does, it isn't doing its job.
What to leave out
- Vanity metrics such as total keywords ranked in the top 100.
- National rankings for a business that serves one region.
- Pages of raw data without interpretation.
- Rankings checked from one location as if they represented the whole area.
How often
Monthly suits most local businesses: frequent enough to spot problems, slow enough for changes to show. Weekly checks are useful underneath, for catching sudden drops, but the report itself can stay monthly.
Questions
What should a local SEO report include?
Map visibility across your area, city-level search rankings, Search Console data, Business Profile activity, reviews, AI visibility, competitor changes, and a short list of next steps.
How often should I get a local SEO report?
Monthly for most businesses, with weekly monitoring underneath to catch sudden changes.
Why do map rankings in my report differ from what I see?
Google personalises results and ranks partly on distance. A good report checks from many points across your area as a neutral visitor, which is more representative than any one search.
Can I generate a local SEO report automatically?
Yes. SearchTerrain checks maps, search and AI visibility on a schedule and writes a one-page summary of what changed and what to do next.
SearchTerrain
Track it every week, not once
SearchTerrain checks where you rank on Google Maps across your service area, in search results and in AI answers, then tells you what to work on next. Plans from $99 a month. Free for the first 7 days.