[ Local SEO ]
Be the answer when someone nearby searches.
Local SEO and answer engine optimization (AEO) that put your business in the map results, the organic results, and AI answers.
Guidepost Digital runs local SEO for service businesses inside its monthly management plans, starting at $199 a month.
Found in the map results, the organic results, and AI answers.
One point of contact for your website and your search visibility.
Schema, citations, and reviews built to Google's guidelines.
[ Why It Matters ]
Three places answer a local search. Your business belongs in all three.
When someone near you searches for what you do, the answer comes from the map, the listings below it, or an AI assistant. Local SEO puts you in each, so the call, the lead, or the form submission comes to you.
[ Maps ]
The map results
The map shows a short list of businesses with reviews, directions, and a call button. Your Google Business Profile decides whether you are on it.
[ Search ]
The organic results
The results below the map link straight to business sites. A dedicated page for each service you offer decides which searches your site appears in.
[ AI ]
AI answers
Google, ChatGPT, and Copilot now answer many local questions directly. They draw on your site, your profile, and what others say about you.
[ How It Works ]
Your profile and your site. Read as one listing.
Google checks one against the other. When your categories, services, and business details match on both, each makes the other more credible.
Google Business Profile
Feeds the map results. Google weighs your categories, your listed services, your reviews, and how complete your profile is when it decides who appears.
See profile optimization
Your service pages
Feeds the organic results and most AI answers. Each service needs its own page, written and marked up so search engines can read exactly what you do.
Answer engine optimization
Helps AI assistants recommend you. Clear, consistent details about your business give ChatGPT and Google's AI answers something to cite when someone asks who to call.
See AI search optimization
[ What's Included ]
Built to Google's guidelines. Clear to search and AI.
Each method gives search engines and AI assistants a clearer, more consistent picture of your business.
Linked schema
Structured data that declares your business, each service, and your service area as connected entities.
A page for each service
Every service you want found gets its own focused page, instead of sharing one catch-all services page.
Answer-first pages
Each page answers its main question in the opening lines, where AI assistants most often quote from.
FAQ schema
Questions your buyers ask before they call, answered on the page and marked up with FAQPage schema.
Matching business details
Your name, address, and phone number match on your site, your profile, and your category's directories.
Detailed reviews
Review requests that ask customers to name the service and the result, plus a reply to every review.
Indexed where it counts
Your site verified in Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, with AI crawlers allowed to read it.
Fast and well structured
Quick mobile load times, a clean heading structure, and internal links that connect related services.
[ Our Standards ]
The work we do. The shortcuts we skip.
Shortcuts can lift a ranking for a while. When Google catches up, they can cost you the ranking and the profile with it.
What the work includes
Follows Google Search and Google Business Profile guidelines
Reports what did not work alongside what did
Runs month to month, with hours in every report
Builds every page around a service you offer
What the work leaves out
No purchased links or paid link networks
No fake, bought, or incentivized reviews
No near-duplicate city pages or keyword stuffing
No guaranteed rankings or first-page promises
[ Measurement ]
Four measures. Reported every month.
The same measures appear in every report, so you see the trend and not just the month.
Rankings
Where your priority search terms rank in the map results and the organic results, month over month.
Leads
Form submissions and calls from search, counted by your site's tracking and call tracking where set up.
Profile actions
Calls, direction requests, and website visits that come straight from your Google Business Profile.
AI visits
Visits to your site from ChatGPT, Copilot, and other AI assistants, reported monthly, even at zero.
[ What Happens Next ]
Start from a baseline. Adjust from the data.
Local SEO is never set up once and left alone. Each month's plan starts from the last month's results.
1
Baseline
Month one records where your search terms rank, what your profile and site say, and where your business details disagree across the web.
2
Foundation
Your profile, citations, schema, and service pages are fixed first, because rankings, reviews, and AI answers all build on those four pieces.
3
Report
Each month you see rankings, leads, profile actions, and AI visits, including what did not reach its goal and the reason it fell short.
4
Adjust
Work that moved your results gets more of the next month's hours. As you add services or areas, your pages and profile grow with them.
[ Pricing ]
Part of your plan. Not a separate retainer.
Local SEO runs on the monthly hours in your plan, so the tier you choose sets how much work goes in each month.
Essentials
$199 per month
For a focused offering with no active publishing. Two hours of site work a month, SEO and AI search monitoring, a monthly report, and a quarterly call.
Momentum
$299 per month
For growing businesses with several service pages. Three hours a month for ongoing SEO and AEO upkeep, keyword-led publishing, and a monthly performance call.
Growth
$499 per month
For businesses with multiple locations or content systems. Five hours a month for keyword-led content, conversion reviews, and an AI search visibility strategy.
Work beyond your plan hours is $129 an hour, billed in 15-minute increments.
[ Questions Answered ]
What owners ask before paying for local SEO.
How much should I pay for local SEO?
At Guidepost, local SEO runs inside a management plan at $199, $299, or $499 a month, for 2, 3, or 5 hours of work. Many SEO agencies do not publish a price at all. The right tier depends on how many services you want found and how much page work that takes.
Is local SEO worth it for a small service business?
It is when people search for what you do in your area, which is true for most service businesses. The map results and the first organic results are where a searcher who needs you today decides who to call. Your monthly report shows whether the work is moving your terms, so you are not paying on faith.
What does a local SEO company actually do?
A local SEO company makes your business easy for Google and AI assistants to find and trust. That means a complete Google Business Profile, matching business details across directories, a steady flow of detailed reviews, a page for each service, and schema that ties them together. A good one also reports every month on where your search terms rank and what search produced.
How long does local SEO take to work?
Profile and citation fixes can show in the map results within weeks. Service page rankings usually take months, and the pace depends on how many businesses compete for the term. Your report tracks the same terms every month, so you can see the trend from the first report on.
Does local SEO help my business show up in ChatGPT?
Yes, because AI assistants lean on many of the same signals. Business websites are one of the main sources they draw on for local answers, alongside directories and third-party mentions. A site with clear service pages, schema, and consistent details gives those assistants something reliable to cite. Your report tracks visits from AI assistants each month.
[ Related Services ]
Services that work alongside this one.
[ Chosen Before the Click ]
Google Business Profile Optimization
Categories, services, photos, and reviews set up right, then kept current as your business changes.
See profile optimization
[ Discovered in AI Search ]
AI Search Optimization
Get named when buyers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, or Google's AI answers who to call.
See AI search optimization
[ Improved Every Month ]
Monthly Website Management
Hosting, tracking, a monthly report, and hands-on hours that keep your site current. No long-term contract.
See management plans
[ Start Here ]
Tell us about your business. We'll take it from there.
Share a few details about your business and where your website stands today, even if that's nowhere yet.