The 19 Best Local SEO Companies of 2026

Editor’s note: This post was originally published in February 2024 and was updated in January 2026 for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Plenty of local businesses still depend on referrals and repeat customers to fuel growth. That foundation matters, but it leaves a major blind spot. Today, most new customers begin with a search, and without a strong local search presence, your business never enters the conversation.

Search behavior tells the real story. A well-optimized Google Business Profile can increase foot traffic by 70%, and those searchers are far more likely to become paying customers. Companies that appear in Google’s local map pack consistently generate more than twice the search traffic of those that do not.

So the real challenge is not deciding whether local SEO is necessary. It is choosing the right team to execute it effectively. With so many agencies positioning themselves as local SEO experts, the wrong decision can cost you months of effort and meaningful revenue.

To help cut through the noise, we evaluated and vetted the leading local SEO companies as we move into 2026. This guide is built to help you identify the agency that aligns with your goals, your market, and the level of growth you are aiming for.

Best Local SEO Companies

Listed below are the 19 best Local SEO providers in 2026:

• HigherVisibility – Best Overall
• Coalition Technologies
• RYNO Strategic Solutions
• Victorious
• Sterling Sky
• uSERP
• Thrive Internet Marketing Agency
• WebFX
• SmartSites
• Rankings.io
• FunnelBoost Media
• Intero Digital
• Salt.agency
• BrightLocal
• Searchbloom
• Ignite Visibility
• Straight North
• Reboot Online
• Break The Web

For more detailed information about the services each agency provides and what makes them great, continue on to their profile.

HigherVisibility- Best Overall

Best for: Local SEO for SMBs, ecommerce brands, and multi-location businesses. 

Headquarter: Memphis, Tennessee

Clients we’ve worked with: ScripHessco, Restoration Roofing, Quest Software, Lawn Doctor, Orangetheory Fitness, HatWorx and Fellow Products.  

Industries we serve: Ecommerce, home services, finance, automotive, franchise, legal, healthcare and real estate. 

Years in business: 17 years

Credentials:

• SEO Agency of the Year – US Agency Awards (2025)
• SEO Agency of the Year — Search Engine Land (2024, 2022, 2018) 
• Best B2B Search Marketing Initiative — Search Engine Land Awards (2024) 
• Best Local Search Marketing Initiative for PPC — Search Engine Land Awards (2024)
• Best Full-Service SEO & SEM Agency — Forbes Advisor (2024)
• #1 SEO Agency — BestSEOCompanies.com (2023)

Why HigherVisibility?

What separates us from other local SEO companies is how we think about growth. We start with outcomes, to know who you are trying to reach, how do they search and decide, and where is revenue being won or lost. 

That’s the foundation of our Targeted Growth System®, the operating framework behind every engagement. 

How the Targeted Growth System® Works

1. We understand who your target buyers are 

Who are they? What are the problems that trigger their searches, what makes them hesitate, and what gets them to convert? This shapes everything: the keywords we choose, the content we create, and the conversion paths we prioritize. 

2. Opportunity Mapping 

Instead of handing you a generic keyword list, we find high-intent gaps your competitors are missing, pages with unrealized conversion potential, and tap into your PPC data to know which keywords are performing so we can use them in your organic strategy. 

3. Connected Execution 

SEO, content, CRO, paid media, and analytics are planned together, not siloed. We create every piece of content with how to convert in mind. It’s why we optimize keywords that perform in PPC into organic SEO to see if we can see even better results. 

Lastly, we consider how AI improves search visibility. We optimize your site so search engines rank your pages for high-intent keywords and AI systems can extract, trust, and cite the most important parts of your content. 

We focus on: 

• How AI search engines interpret your brand as an entity, not just how often you’re mentioned. 
• Which competitors’ content gets pulled into AI responses, and why, 
• How to make your content the preferred source when AI systems choose what to cite. 

In other words, our local SEO services cover 

• On-page SEO  
• Off-page SEO and link acquisition 
• Google Business Profile optimization 
• Local map pack optimization 
• Localized content marketing 
• Local citation building and management 
• Hyperlocal targeting 
• AI search optimization

Coalition Technologies

Best for: Ecommerce and retail brands that need SEO and web development handled together. 

Headquarter: Culver City, California 

Clients: Pink Lily, Swimspot Trophy Outlet, Exquisite Dentistry, etc. 

Industries: Fashion, beauty, retail, cannabis, fitness, automotive. 

Years in business: 17 years

Credentials: 

• 2025 Clutch Best in Digital Marketing 
• Google Premier Partner 
• Shopify Plus Partner 
• BigCommerce Elite Partner 

Why Coalition Technologies? 

Coalition Technologies combines SEO with web design and development. For local businesses, this matters when your website is part of the problem in terms of slow load times, poor mobile experience, or confusing navigation that kills conversions before SEO can help. 

Their team handles technical fixes, site redesigns, and consistent optimization (if you have them on a retainer). They also offer PPC, email marketing, and social media management for businesses that want consolidated services. 

RYNO Strategic Solutions

Best for: Local SEO for home services businesses

Headquarter: Phoenix, Arizona

Clients: Arctic Air Conditioning, American Vintage Home, Penguin Air Plumbing & Electrical. 

Industries: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, electrical, garage doors, pest control. 

Years in business: 18 years 

Credentials:

• Winner of the Best in Client Service award at Yelp Annual Partner Awards (2023)
• Inc. 5000 Hall of Fame (2019)
• Google Premier Partner 
• ServiceTitan Certified Partner 

Why RYNO Strategic Solutions? 

RYNO only works with home services companies. That vertical focus means they understand contractor sales cycles, seasonal demand shifts, and how homeowners search when something breaks in their homes. 

Their proprietary platform, RYNOtrax 2.0, connects to ServiceTitan and 30+ marketing platforms. It pulls data from Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, Yelp, and your CRM into one dashboard, so you can see which campaigns led to actual engagement, not just clicks or calls. This way, you get to do more of what worked and less or what doesn’t work. 

In April 2025, they added AI-powered Call Intelligence, which analyzes recorded calls to flag missed booking opportunities and CSR performance issues.

Other Services: SEO, PPC, local services ads, GBP optimization, web design, video production, and call tracking and analytics. 

Victorious

Best for: Local businesses that need scalable local SEO across multiple markets. 

Headquarter: San Francisco, California

Clients: Wayfair, Topgolf, Pagerduty, Heap, FastSpring, Spotify, SalesForce, Yahoo! 

Industries: Legal, home services, hospitality, healthcare, retail

Years in business: 14 years

Credentials:

• Clutch Global Award: Local SEO (2025)
• US Search Awards Finalist: Best Local Campaign
• US Agency Awards: Best SEO Campaign (2024)
• US Agency Awards: SEO Agency of the Year (2023)
• US Search Awards: Best Large SEO Agency (2023). 

Why Victorious SEO? 

Victorious SEO runs local SEO campaigns for businesses operating in multiple markets. For each location, they handle local keyword research, GBP optimization, and geo-targeted content so individual locations rank in their specific service areas. 

Their approach treats each location as its own campaign while maintaining brand consistency across the portfolio. They also manage reputation monitoring and citation building at scale. 

For single-location businesses, they offer the same local SEO fundamentals (GBP optimization, local link building, and location page development). 

Other services include citation building, technical SEO, and content strategy. 

Sterling Sky

Best for: Local businesses that want a specialist agency focused entirely on local search. 

Headquarter: Uxbridge, Ontario, Canada (remote team serving US, Canada, UK, Australia) 

Clients: Visiting Angels, Bin There Dump That, Minars Dermatology, LawnSavers, Making You Smile Cosmetic Dental Studio (NYC). 

Industries: Home services, healthcare, legal, and franchises. 

Years in business: 8 years

Credentials:

• Moz Recommended SEO Company 
• Google Business Profile Product Experts. 

Why Sterling Sky? 

Sterling Sky focuses exclusively on local SEO and PPC. They once offered web design and broader digital marketing offerings, but decided to double-down on SEO and PPC. 

Their goal is to help small businesses rank higher in local search so they can get more leads, and hopefully, repeat customers. That’s why the first thing they do is to conduct a local SEO audit of your GBP and website. They also focus on what your goals are so they can decide if the team needs to focus on GBP optimization, fight spams, or correct technical issues on the website. 

Regardless of what the issue stalling your growth is, they find a strategy to fix them and improve your conversion tunnels. 

Other services they offer include GBP optimization, citation management, technical SEO for local and franchise SEO. 

uSERP

Best for: Businesses that have plateaued in local rankings and need authoritative backlinks to break through. 

Headquarter: Lone Tree, Colorado

Clients: Fusion Medical Staffing, monday.com, Robinhood, Crowdstrike, Freshworks

Industries: B2B, SaaS, fintech (though link building applies across industries)

Years in business: 7 years

Credentials:

• Clutch Top-Ranked Link Building Agency of the Year (2021–2025)

Why uSERP? 

uSERP specializes in link building. They help clients earn backlinks from high-authority websites through outreach, digital PR, and content placement. 

For local SEO, backlinks help you compete in markets where every business has an optimized Google Business Profile. Links from relevant local publications, industry sites, and news outlets signal authority to Google and can push rankings past competitors who’ve hit a ceiling. 

uSERP focuses on quality over volume. They analyze gaps in your backlinks, identify target publications, and handle outreach. They also offer on-page SEO support and content strategy to make sure the pages earning links are optimized to convert. 

Other services include digital PR, content strategy, on-page SEO, and backlink gap analysis. 

Thrive Internet Marketing Agency

Best for: Small to mid-sized businesses that need local SEO combined with reputation management. 

Headquarter: Arlington, Texas

Clients: About Roatan Real Estate, PARC Urology, Accurate Leak and Line, Berryman Products, Wiles Law. 

Industries: Healthcare, home services, legal, dental practices, painting contractors, real estate agencies, law firms

Years in business: 21 years 

Credentials:

• Top SEO Companies by Clutch (2024)
• Winner National Excellence United States (2024)
• Top 10 Agency by Influencer Marketing Hub (2024)
• Yext Certified Partner 
• Google Partner. 

Why Thrive Internet Marketing Agency? 

Thrive handles local SEO alongside reputation management. They help you monitor and respond to reviews across platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook, among others. 

This integration can help businesses where online reviews directly increase conversion rate (e.g. healthcare, home services, legal, where trust is a decisive factor in who they choose). 

Instead of managing SEO and reputation separately, Thrive’s team handles both. They help you build citations, optimize GBPs, and track review sentiment together to see if they need to change your social media or digital PR strategy. 

They also build geo-targeted local city pages for businesses that serve multiple areas but don’t have physical locations in each one. Other services include PPC, social media marketing, and web design.

WebFX

Best for: Multi-location businesses that want detailed revenue tracking and reporting. 

Headquarter: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Clients: O’Reilly Auto Parts, Hilton, Arrowquip, Bar’s Leaks, Jiffy Lube, Verizon, Subway, Wrangler, URAC. 

Industries: Automotive, healthcare, manufacturing, franchises

Years in business: 30 years

Credentials:

• 2025 Best SEO Innovation: OmniSEO®
• Top SEO Company in the USA by Clutch (2024)
• UpCity Excellence Award (2024)
• Google Agency Excellence Awards: Workplace Excellence Finalist (2024)
• Google Premier Partner
• Microsoft Advertising Partner 

Why WebFX? 

WebFX is one of the largest SEO agencies in the US, with about 1.200 team members. Their scale is a testament to their experience and what they have built. Part of what they’ve built is their proprietary tools for tracking ROI, the RevenueCloudFX, which connects marketing activity to actual revenue. 

For local SEO, they manage citations, GBP optimization, and location-based keyword targeting. Their reporting shows which locations are driving leads and which need attention. 

They also offer “OmniSEO,” which optimizes content for both traditional search and AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews. For businesses concerned about visibility in AI search results, this is relevant. Other services include local SEO, citation management, PPC, content marketing, web design, AI search optimization.

SmartSites

Best for: Local businesses that want to run PPC and SEO together with one agency. 

Headquarter: Paramus, New Jersey

Clients: Ancestral Supplements, Chicago Watermark, American Home Investment, New Jersey Meditation, Next Move Group.

Industries: Local retailers, healthcare, home services, e-commerce. 

Years in business: 15 years

Credentials:

• Honoree of the Inc. 5000 three years in a row
• Microsoft Advertising Select Partner (2024)
• Premier Google Partner (2024)
• Google Premier Partner 
• Facebook Marketing Partner. 

Why SmartSites? 

SmartSites runs paid search and SEO campaigns under one roof. For local businesses, this means they coordinate Google Ads geo-targeting with organic local SEO efforts, so your paid and organic strategies don’t compete against each other. 

Their PPC team focuses on lowering cost-per-lead while the SEO team handles site optimization, content, and link building. They share data between teams, and use paid search insights to inform organic keyword priorities. 

For local campaigns specifically, they handle GBP optimization, local content creation, and citation management. Other services include web design and social media advertising. 

Rankings.io

Best for: SEO and PPC for law firms, particularly personal injury, criminal defense, and family law practices. 

Headquarter: Marion, Illinois

Clients: Dolman Law Group, The Levin Firm, Emroch & Kilduff, Stewart J. Guss, Attorney at Law.

Industries: Legal only

Years in business: 13 years 

Credentials:

• National Excellence United States Winner (2024)
• Best of Illinois UpCity (2023)
• Featured in RollingStone, Forbes, FastCompany, and Newsweek

Why Rankings.io? 

Rankings.io works exclusively with law firms. From 2013 to 2024, they focused only on personal injury SEO, one of the most competitive legal niches. In 2025, they expanded to serve criminal defense, family law, immigration, and other practice areas. 

Their team of 40+ specialists handles technical SEO, content creation, link building, and local optimization for legal clients. They build websites on WordPress that firms own outright, which makes it easy to customize. 

For local SEO specifically, they optimize GBP, build legal-specific citations, and create location pages targeting “(practice area) lawyer in (city)” searches. Other services include PPC for lawyers, local Service Ads, legal web design

FunnelBoost Media

Best for: Local businesses focused on lead generation over brand awareness. 

Headquarter: San Antonio, Texas

Clients: Cruising Kitchens, Audi North Park, Little Fin Therapies, Prestige Emergency Room, Javier Villarreal Law Firm.

Industries: Healthcare, legal, home services, fintech, 

Years in business: 13 years 

Credentials:

• Google Certified Partner
• BBB Accredited Business

Why FunnelBoost Media? 

FunnelBoost Media positions itself around lead generation rather than traffic or rankings. Their approach combines local SEO with conversion rate optimization, so the traffic you get actually turns into calls and leads. 

They handle keyword research, on-page optimization, citation management, and link building. But they also audit landing pages, test calls-to-action, and track which pages generate leads versus which just get visits. 

For businesses that already have decent traffic but struggle to convert visitors into customers, this focus on the full funnel is useful. 

They also offer generative engine optimization (GEO) for businesses that want visibility in AI-driven search results and voice search. Other services include conversion optimization, citation management, GEO/AI search optimization, and web design.

Intero Digital

Best for: Businesses that want both traditional SEO and AI/generative search optimization. 

Headquarter: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Clients: Mizuno, Arcadia Data, Blackbaud, Clark Land Services, Updox.

Industries: Ecommerce, B2B, B2C, legal, fintech, healthcare, and finance. 

Years in business: 30 years

Credentials:

• Top U.S. Digital Marketing Company by Clutch (2024)
• Top SEO Company by Clutch (2024)
• AVA Digital Awards Gold Winner (2024)
• Google Premier Partner 

Why Intero Digital? 

Intero Digital offers local, national, and ecommerce SEO. For local businesses, they optimize GBPs, build citations, and target geo-modified keywords (like “steak restaurants in Indianapolis”). 

What sets them apart is their proprietary InteroBOT technology, which uses predictive crawling to anticipate future rankings and identify optimization opportunities before competitors do. 

They’ve also developed Intero GRO, their generative engine optimization service for businesses that want to appear in AI-generated search results from ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and similar platforms.

Other services include technical SEO, content marketing, link building, and AI/generative search optimization.

Salt.agency

Best for: Enterprise and multi-location businesses that need technical SEO expertise alongside local optimization. 

Headquarter: Leeds, UK

Clients: TCGplayer, University of Leeds, Coralogix, Bikmo, Swaledale, The Spectator.

Industries: Retail, franchises, e-commerce, automotive, travel, healthcare

Years in business: 12 years

Credentials:

• 2025 Adweek’s Experiential Agency of the Year
• Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade (2022) 

Why Salt.agency? 

Salt.agency specializes in enterprise SEO with a strong focus on multi-location businesses. They work with retail chains and franchises that need local SEO strategies tailored to each store location while maintaining brand consistency across hundreds of sites.

Their proprietary tool, Mirador Local, simplifies GBP management at scale. It helps you handle updates, posts, images, and Q&A across multiple locations from one dashboard. 

Their approach combines technical SEO (site speed, crawlability, structured data) with local optimization for each physical location. For businesses operating in both online and offline environments, they focus on driving both web traffic and in-store footfall. Other services include enterprise local SEO, multi-location SEO, technical SEO, international SEO, and website migration. 

BrightLocal

Best for: Agencies and businesses that want local SEO software with optional managed services. 

Headquarter: Brighton, UK

Clients: Hilton, Krispy Kreme, iProspect, The Home Depot. 

Industries: Marketing, hospitality, education, retail, healthcare, automobile, and more. 

Years in business: 18 years 

Credentials: 4.8-stars on Capterra

G2 Leader Spring 2023

Why BrightLocal? 

BrightLocal is primarily a software platform, not an agency. Their tools handle local rank tracking, citation audits, review monitoring, and GBP management. Over 10,000 agencies use BrightLocal to manage local SEO for their clients. 

However, they also offer fully managed local SEO services for businesses that don’t want to do it themselves. Their team handles GBP optimization, weekly Google Posts, citation building, and technical SEO fixes. 

The managed service costs more than the software alone but removes the execution burden. Their clients have seen an average 124% increase in organic revenue according to BrightLocal’s data.Other services include local SEO software, citation building, review management, and managed local SEO services.

Search Bloom 

Best for: Local businesses and franchises that need strong technical SEO foundations 

Headquarter: Draper, Utah 

Clients: Bill.com, Divvy, Suse, Rancher, Nuvi, Nordstrom, Shirtspace. 

Industries: home services, retail, automotive, franchises

Years in business: 12 years 

Credentials: 

• Top SEO Companies by Clutch (2024)
• Top SEO Consultants by Clutch (2024)
• Top Utah SEO Companies by Clutch (2024)

Why Searchbloom? 

Searchbloom uses what they call the A.R.T. model (Authority, Relevance, and Technology) to structure local SEO campaigns. 

Their strength is technical SEO for local businesses: page speed optimization, structured data markup, schema implementation, and core web vitals. For businesses whose websites have back-end issues hurting their local rankings, this technical focus matters. 

They also handle citation building, GBP optimization, and content creation. Their “Authority Scorecard” audits your current SEO health and creates a prioritized roadmap for improvement. 

For multi-location and franchise businesses, they run campaigns across all locations while customizing targeting for each market. Other services include technical SEO, multi-location SEO, franchise SEO, PPC management, and Content marketing. 

Ignite Visibility

Best for: Multi-location businesses that need local SEO combined with broader digital marketing. 

Headquarter: San Diego, California

Clients: Experian, Church’s Texas Chicken, Jazzercise, The Knot, TBC Corporation, Batteries Plus. 

Industries: home services, healthcare, franchises, education, e-commerce 

Years in business: 13 years 

Credentials:

• Top SEO Company by Clutch (2024)
• Microsoft Advertising Elite Partner (2024)
• Named the #1 paid media company in the USA by The Manifest
• Microsoft Advertising Elite Partner

Why Ignite Visibility? 

Ignite Visibility handles local SEO as part of a broader digital marketing approach. For multi-location businesses, they create hyperlocal SEO strategies targeting “near me” searches in each service area. 

In 2025, they worked with a Seattle home cleaning service to improve visibility in a market crowded with low-cost competitors. Their approach combined local SEO with location-based paid media targeting to capture high-intent customers. 

Beyond local SEO, they offer paid media, social media marketing, email marketing, and digital PR. For businesses that want one agency handling multiple channels with a local focus, this consolidation is useful. 

They also offer generative engine optimization for businesses concerned about visibility in AI-powered search results. Other services include multi-location SEO, PPC, social media marketing, email marketing, digital PR and generative engine optimization.

Straight North

Best for: B2B and B2C companies that want local SEO combined with lead tracking and creative services. 

Headquarter: Chicago, Illinois

Clients: Affy Tapple, Clover, DFIN, University of Wisconsin, The Joint Commission, Sourgum Waste, Fiserv. 

Industries: Education, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, and more.

Years in business: 28 years 

Credentials:

• Nominated as the Digital Agency of the Year at the 2025 Prolific North Champions Awards 
• A+ rating from Better Business Bureau. 

Why Straight North? 

Straight North runs local SEO campaigns for small and medium-sized businesses, brick-and-mortar stores, and multi-location companies. Their approach covers keyword strategy, content creation, technical SEO, GBP optimization, citation building, and link acquisition. 

Beyond SEO, they offer creative services like video production, photography, brochure design, and print collateral. For businesses that need marketing materials alongside digital visibility, this bundled offering is useful. Other services include national SEO, PPC, web design, and other creative services

Reboot Online

Best for: UK-based businesses and international brands that need local SEO combined with digital PR. 

Headquarter: London, UK

Clients: Adobe, Just Eat, Confused.com, Viator, USwitch, OnBuy.com 

Industries: Financial services, ecommerce, education, travel, and more

Years in business: 14 years 

Credentials:

• European Search Awards Winner (2024)
• UK Company Culture Awards Winner (2024)
• Global Content Awards Winner (2023)

Why Reboot Online? 

Reboot Online combines technical SEO with digital PR to build local visibility. Their team of 80+ specialists handles GBP optimization, citation building, technical audits, and content optimization. 

Their digital PR team earns coverage in mainstream press and industry publications, which builds backlinks and brand recognition simultaneously. For local businesses in competitive markets, this PR component can accelerate results. 

They have a team that understands over nine languages, which makes them suitable for international brands that want to target multiple local markets. Other services include local SEO, technical SEO, digital PR, content marketing, and paid media.

Break The Web

Best for: DTC and B2C brands with in-house marketing teams that need local SEO support. 

Headquarter: New York City, New York

Clients: Vim & Vigr, Bond Vet, Peach & Lily, Badass Beard Care, Marmoset, Bowery Farming. 

Industries: Health and wellness, pets and animals, beauty and cosmetics, DTC ecommerce

Years in business: 16 years

Credentials:

• US Search Awards: Best Use of Search – B2C (SEO). 

Why Break The Web? 

Break The Web works primarily with in-house marketing teams at DTC and B2C brands. Rather than replacing your team, they provide SEO expertise and execution support alongside your existing marketers.

For local SEO, they handle GBP optimization, business listings syndication, review management systems, and location-based content strategies. They also use technical SEO audits to identify issues affecting local rankings. Other services include content marketing, digital PR, and AI/generative engine optimization.

Why You Need to Hire a Local SEO Specialist for Your Business 

Here are a few reasons why it’s better to hire a local SEO agency than learn SEO on your own: 

• Agencies can easily know what’s wrong with your website and fix it faster: There are times a webpage will show 404 errors. Or you’ll check your Google Analytics and see declining traffic or high bounce rate. 

Local SEO agencies like HigherVisibility know how to optimize your Google Business Profile and website to perform online. But more than this, they also understand technical SEO and can resolve technical issues affecting your website’s performance. This might be difficult to do without a local SEO specialist. 

• Unique strategies for unique circumstances: Unlike some generic SEO agencies, local SEO companies understand that every business is different. It’s why we can engage in a nationwide PR outreach for our client, Fellow Product, and limit our PR outreach to local news outlets for another client whose business operates within their small community. 

Local SEO specialists can craft strategies that align with your local consumer behavior and preferences. This helps your business connect with the community without spending marketing budgets on leads outside your target market. 

• Insight into the local market: Every market is nuanced, so look for agencies who have worked with businesses in your local market. They’ll know what encourages the consumers to buy and will be able to create content that attracts them. 
• They optimize for schema markup, write conversational copy, and are familiar with how AI chat bots source and display content. 

• Optimized local listings: Local SEO specialists focus on optimizing your presence across local directories and Google Business Profile listings. These efforts will help you rank for relevant queries on Google, AI chat bots, and the map pack. In other words, you’ll increase brand awareness and get more consumers through SEO.
• Responsive to local trends and changes: Local SEO agencies are more attuned to shifts in local search trends, algorithms, and community preferences. This way, they can quickly adapt strategies to make sure your business stays ahead of the competition. 

Read more: SEO Agency vs. In House – which is better? 

How to Choose the Right Local SEO Agency

Start with your goals. Are you struggling to rank at all? Having technical issues? Getting traffic but no conversions? Different problems require different expertise. A technical SEO specialist won’t help if your real issue is content. An agency focused on link building won’t fix a broken Google Business Profile. 

Ask for case studies in your industry. An agency that’s worked with businesses like yours will be able to provide solutions that have worked before than one learning your space from scratch. 

Check how they report results. Ask to see sample reports. Do they show rankings, traffic, and leads? Or just activity metrics like “pages optimized” and “links built”? The best agencies tie their work to business outcomes you care about, and that’s our winning model at HigherVisibility.

Ask about their process for Google Business Profile. Specifically: 

• How do they optimize and manage your profile? 
• How do they handle reviews? 
• How do they deal with spam competitors in the map pack? 

Ask about AI search optimization. With Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity changing how people find information, ask: 

• How do they optimize content for AI retrieval? 
• Can they track your visibility in AI-generated answers? 
• How do they approach entity and knowledge graph optimization? 

Understand their pricing structure. Cheap SEO is rarely good SEO. But expensive doesn’t guarantee quality either. So you need to understand the potential labor cost and the results you should expect within what timeframe.

Lastly, avoid agencies that guarantee rankings. No one controls Google’s algorithm. Agencies that promise “#1 rankings in 30 days” are either lying or using tactics that will get you penalized. 

Further reading: How to Choose an SEO Agency That Aligns with Your Goalss.