What is a local SEO audit?

The fuller answer

What does a local SEO audit cover? A practical audit covers these 11 points: - Google Business Profile completeness - Primary and secondary categories - Name, address and phone consistency - Duplicate listings - Major directory listings - Review count, recency and replies - Maps rank from several points - Location page quality - Local structured data - Mobile experience and speed - Local backlinks and mentions

How do you run a local SEO audit in 60 minutes? Work in this order, because each step feeds the next. - **Profile (10 min):** open the listing and compare it to the [completeness checker](/tools/google-business-profile-completeness-checker/) list. Note any empty fields. - **Consistency (10 min):** run the [location consistency checker](/tools/location-consistency-checker/) and search for duplicates with the [duplicate listing finder](/tools/find-duplicate-google-listings/). - **Reviews (10 min):** count reviews in the last 90 days and how many are unanswered. - **Rank (15 min):** check position from several points with the [Maps rank checker](/tools/local-rank-checker/). - **Website (15 min):** check the location page, mobile speed and [local business schema](/guides/local-business-schema/).

Which local SEO audit tool should you use? A tool saves the manual checking and scores the result. The free [local SEO audit](/local-seo-audit/) and the [Google Business Profile audit](/gmb-audit-tool/) cover the profile, rank and basics at no cost. Paid tools add scheduled re-audits and many locations; see [best local SEO tools](/guides/best-local-seo-tools/) for the options, ours included.

What is a Google Business Profile audit? It is the first section of a local SEO audit, narrowed to the listing itself: categories, attributes, services, photos, hours, posts and review replies. Google's own help pages say that complete, accurate information helps it match you to searches ([Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091)).

How do you score and use the results? Give each of the 11 points a simple score: fixed, partly done, or missing. Fix the "missing" items on the profile and consistency first, since they are fast and affect everything else. Re-run the audit every quarter, and after any change of address, phone or hours. For the long list of tasks, use the [local SEO checklist](/guides/local-seo-checklist/).

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