A customer says a competitor is all over Google. You search your trade and town and find yourself third on the map. Fine, you think. But you searched from your driveway, and your next customer is somewhere else.
What is a local search audit, and what does it compare?
A local search audit compares what a buyer sees when searching in your area, in Google Maps and in Google Search: you next to three local competitors. Some call it a local visibility audit. It finds gaps, not reasons. Google says it does its best to keep its search algorithm details confidential, and that there's no way to pay for a better local ranking.[1]
I'd run it before changing anything, as the measuring step ahead of a local SEO plan. You need a phone, a notebook and an afternoon. For everything that decides local results, see our local SEO checklist for home service companies.
Which eight phrases do you search, and from where?
Pick eight phrases a buyer would type, and search them from three spots in your service area.
Write each as a job plus a place, like 'walk-in shower installation Meridian'. Start with the jobs that pay best. Add a few phrases naming neighboring towns and one 'near me' search with no town.
The three spots are the middle of your area, its far edge and a neighboring town. Run all eight phrases from the first, then repeat your biggest jobs and the 'near me' search from the other two. Use your phone with location on,[2] and park first.
Google lists distance among the main factors in local results and defines it as "how far each business is from the customer who's searching."[1] So the same search can show a different list from a different spot. The eight phrases and three spots are my method, not Google's.
Search in a private window, such as Chrome's Incognito, where Chrome doesn't automatically sign you in to your Google Account.[3] Google says it estimates your location from your device, your internet address, saved home and work addresses and past activity.[2] The bottom of the results page shows how, so write that line down.[2] In Chrome, closing all Incognito windows between spots ends the session.[3]
What do you write down for each search?
Write down the date, the spot and who showed up, in order, leaving out ads:
- Maps, first three: name, stars, review count and how old the newest review is.
- Search, first three sites: the name, and whether it's a service page, a home page or a directory.
- Anything you can't see: write "not shown". Never guess.
After the first eight searches, count the names. The three that show up most in Maps are your rivals, whether or not you'd have picked them. Three is a fair number: most buyers look at three businesses or fewer, going by this survey:
75% of consumers pick a local business within 30 minutes; 72% compare three or fewer.
Source: BrightLocal consumer search behavior study · (opens in a new tab)
Write the three names at the top of a fresh page.
How do you compare your profile with the top three?
Compare the same six fields on your profile and on each rival's.
| Field | Write down | From Google's page |
|---|---|---|
| Categories | The main one, plus any others you can see | They affect local ranking. Use a few, not one per service.[4] |
| Services | The jobs each one lists | A listed service may be highlighted when someone searches for it.[5] |
| Service area | The towns named, or none | It shows customers where you can provide your services.[6] |
| Hours | Open now, Saturdays, holidays | Hours, special hours included, are among the info to complete.[1] |
| Photos | How many show real work | At least three photos of your services and three of your team.[7] |
| Description | What it says | Services, mission and history, with no links, prices or promotions.[8] |
Where your side is thin:
- Categories, hours and description: the 20-minute profile check.
- Service area: setting it and hiding your home address.
- Photos: how to photograph your jobs.
- Reviews: how to ask for Google reviews.
How do you check business listing consistency and your own site?
Compare your name, phone, website and any address on each listing with your Google profile, and mark each Match or Mismatch.
Google says profiles draw on several sources, including crawled web content such as your own site, licensed third-party data and what users add.[9]
Which business listings matter has the short list. Fix the mismatches you find before you claim a new listing or add a page. Worst first: a dead number, a broken website link, wrong hours.
Then look on your phone for a page per phrase that names the job and the place, and write "none" where there isn't one. Google says it can detect category information from your website,[8] so I'd note a missing page as a gap to look at, not as proof of why you rank. Whether a town deserves its own page is a separate call: when city pages help and when they become spam.
What do the Business Profile numbers tell you?
Google describes them as how people find and use your profile,[10] so they say little about searches where it didn't show.
Verified profiles show views, searches, directions, calls and website clicks, among others.[10]
Read them with care. The data covers organic search and Google Ads together, so if you run ads, the totals include them.[10]
The Searches list shows the terms people used to find you. Google says queries show up whenever your profile appears, so the list describes where you already show.[10] Use it as a source of phrases to test.
Copy last month's numbers onto the sheet, dated, beside your lead log.
What does the one-page gap sheet look like?
It has one row per gap: where you lose, the likely cause on your side, the first fix and the date.
A blank gap sheet for a kitchen and bath remodeler in Boise, Idaho
- Phrases: kitchen remodel Boise; bathroom remodel Boise; kitchen remodeler near me; tub to shower conversion Boise; walk-in shower installation Meridian; cabinet refacing Boise; bathroom remodeler Eagle; countertop replacement Nampa.
- Spots: the middle of Boise for all eight; Nampa (far edge) and Eagle (neighboring town) for the first three.
- Side by side: search results, profile fields and listings, for the remodeler and rivals A, B and C, the three names that show up most in Maps.
- Gap rows: left empty until the searches are done.
Illustrative example
Work the rows in this order: whatever makes a caller give up, then listing mismatches, then missing services and pages, then photos and reviews. Change one thing at a time and date it. Google says edits to business info can take up to three days to appear,[11] so repeat the searches after that.
What should you skip while you audit?
Skip three shortcuts that an audit makes tempting:
- Copying a rival's name. Google says your name should be your real-world name, and unnecessary information in it, such as a service or a location, isn't permitted and could get the profile suspended.[8]
- A profile for each town. Google says there should be one profile per business, and a service-area business gets one for its whole area.[8][6] Add the towns to your service area.
- A map grid first. Grid-style rank checks repeat one search from many points on a map. As I understand them, each run shows where a listing appeared at that moment, not why. Do the sheet first.
When is it worth handing the audit to someone else?
When the gaps outnumber your evenings, or sit on the technical side, which a search can't show.
Our local SEO audit reads your profile, listings, reviews and service pages. It also checks whether Google can crawl and index the pages, and puts the fixes in order of what they cost you. Its Maps check is one dated search for your trade and city, as our methodology page says, so your own eight phrases still add something.
On our pricing page, the Complete Visibility Report is the full report, with the evidence behind every finding. The Expert Action Plan ($149) adds a 30-minute consultation, for owners who'll make the fixes themselves. The Found Sprint ($1,500 fixed) has us do up to ten of those fixes.
To keep going yourself, our signal catalogue gives a free check for each local visibility signal. What AI assistants like ChatGPT say about you is a separate check, and how to run an AI search audit covers it. I'd do it second, with these eight phrases asked as questions.
Where this audit stops helping
It shows where you lose, not why a rival wins. Google names the main factors but keeps the algorithm details confidential,[1] so the exact reason a rival ranks above you stays a guess.
It's also a snapshot. Results change with the searcher's location, and Google's location page warns that its settings are being updated, so your screen may differ.[2] Every page cited here was checked on October 15, 2026. Date your sheet and repeat the searches in three months.