# What is local SEO?

Local SEO is the work of ranking a business in location-based search: the map pack, "near me" queries, and the local results Google shows when it decides a search has local intent. Its main inputs are the accuracy of a business profile, the consistency of its listings, and its review volume and rating.

Local ranking behaves differently from ordinary search because proximity is a factor nobody controls. A business three streets closer to the searcher starts ahead. What is controllable is everything else: whether the profile is complete, whether the category is right, whether the hours are current, and whether there are recent reviews.

Listing consistency is the least glamorous part and the one most often broken. When a business name, address or phone number differs between directories, each version is weaker evidence than one consistent record would have been.

## Questions

### Do reviews affect local search ranking?

Yes. Google names review count and score among the factors behind local ranking, alongside relevance, distance and prominence. Reviews are one of the few of those a business can actually move.

## Related terms

- [Listing management](https://www.rumore.ai/glossary/listing-management): Listing management is keeping a business's name, address, phone number, hours and category correct and identical everywhere they appear online. It covers the major directories and maps, the sites specific to a trade, and anywhere else a listing was created once and then forgotten.
- [Online reputation management](https://www.rumore.ai/glossary/online-reputation-management): Online reputation management is the practice of monitoring, influencing and responding to what people find when they look a business up. For a local business that means reviews, star ratings, business listings and public replies across Google, Trustpilot, Yelp, Tripadvisor and the sites specific to its trade.
- [Star rating](https://www.rumore.ai/glossary/star-rating): A star rating is the one-to-five average a review platform shows for a business. It is the single most visible number a potential customer sees, and because most platforms weight recent reviews more heavily, it reflects the last few months more than the whole history.

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