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Local SEO audit: 30 things to check before hiring an agency

Most local SEO problems are diagnosable in two hours by anyone willing to follow a checklist. Before you spend $1,500–$5,000/month on an agency, run this audit yourself. You'll either find the gaps and fix the easy ones in a weekend, or confirm that you actually need help — and have a much better conversation with whoever you hire.

April 30, 2026 · 13 min read · Local SEO

Local SEO is one of those domains where the agency-vs-DIY question matters a lot. The fundamentals are public, the tools are accessible, and a determined operator can run 80% of what an agency would do. The remaining 20% — building city-page content, writing the schema, fixing technical issues, monitoring rankings — is where agencies actually earn their keep. But you can't make that decision until you know what's broken.

This is the audit we run on every Revenue Recovery engagement. Six categories, 30 specific check-points. Score yourself honestly. Anything below 24/30 means there's meaningful work — either to do yourself or to outsource.

How to run this audit

You'll need:

Score each item: ✓ if it's done correctly, ✗ if it's not, ? if you're unsure (treat ? as ✗ for the score). Tally at the end.

Section A — Google Business Profile (10 items)

Google Business Profile basics

Foundational signals — fix these first
  1. Primary category matches the most-searched query for your trade (e.g., "Plumber" not "Construction Company"). See the GBP checklist for trade-specific recommendations.
  2. 5–9 secondary categories filled in, covering your real service mix.
  3. 15–30 specific services listed with descriptions. Generic 3-line lists don't count.
  4. Service area defined as 10–20 actual cities or zip codes (not 50+).
  5. Address hidden if service-area business, or correctly displayed if storefront.
  6. Hours accurate, including special holiday hours.
  7. 10+ recent photos uploaded — real (not stock), of your work, trucks, team.
  8. Description uses all 750 characters, mentions services, area, and a differentiator.
  9. Q&A section has at least 5 owner-seeded common questions answered.
  10. Posts within the last 7 days (weekly cadence is the bar).

Section B — Reviews (5 items)

Reviews — the prominence multiplier

The single biggest competitive lever you control
  1. 50+ total Google reviews with a 4.6+ average rating.
  2. 1+ new review per week over the last 12 weeks (velocity matters more than total).
  3. Review request system in place — automated SMS within 24 hours of every completed job. See the review generation system post.
  4. Owner replies to every review within 48 hours, including 1–2 star reviews.
  5. Reviews mentioning specific services (drain cleaning, AC repair, etc.) appear in the recent set — not just generic "great job."

Section C — Citations & backlinks (4 items)

Citations and backlinks

Trust signals beyond reviews
  1. NAP consistency across the top 20 directories (Yelp, Bing Places, Apple Maps, BBB, Yellow Pages, Angi, etc.) — same business name, address, phone everywhere. Audit with BrightLocal, Whitespark, or Yext.
  2. Listed on industry-specific directories (Houzz for home services, Angi/HomeAdvisor for trades, manufacturer dealer locators).
  3. 5+ local backlinks from chamber of commerce, trade associations, suppliers, partner businesses, or local news.
  4. No fake or paid link networks in the backlink profile. Run a free check on Ahrefs or Moz.

Section D — On-site signals (6 items)

On-site SEO and content

What's on your website matters
  1. Dedicated service pages — one per major service (AC repair, AC installation, etc.), not one generic services page. See the service page template.
  2. City + service landing pages for the top 3–5 cities you serve, with unique content (not template-spun).
  3. LocalBusiness schema markup on the homepage with NAP, hours, services, areas served.
  4. Service schema and FAQ schema on each service page.
  5. Reviews embedded on the homepage with Review schema markup.
  6. Internal linking between related service pages and city pages — not orphaned single pages.

Section E — Mobile & technical (3 items)

Mobile experience and Core Web Vitals

~70% of local-service searches are mobile
  1. Mobile PageSpeed Insights score of 80+ on the homepage and top 3 service pages. (Check at pagespeed.web.dev.)
  2. Largest Contentful Paint under 2.5 seconds on mobile.
  3. Click-to-call phone number visible above the fold on every service page on mobile (not buried in a footer).

Section F — Tracking & reporting (2 items)

Tracking

If you can't measure it, you can't improve it
  1. Google Analytics 4 installed with conversion tracking on form submits and click-to-call events.
  2. Local rank tracking running monthly across a grid of points in your service area for 10–15 priority queries (Local Falcon, BrightLocal, GeoRanker).

How to score yourself

Total ✓ count out of 30:

What's worth doing yourself vs hiring out

DIY easily (most operators can do these in a weekend)

Worth hiring help for (real specialty work)

Red flags when evaluating an agency

If you decide to hire help after this audit, watch for these warnings:

1. They don't ask to see your audit results. Anyone who pitches without first asking what you've already diagnosed is selling a generic package, not a fix for your specific gaps.

2. They guarantee specific rankings. No one can guarantee map-pack #1 — Google's algorithm doesn't allow it. Anyone who promises specific positions is either lying or ignorant.

3. They want to "rebuild your website" before doing local SEO. Sometimes a rebuild is genuinely needed. Most of the time, it's an upsell that delays the real work by 3–6 months.

4. They use private blog networks or paid links. Both will get you penalized. Ask explicitly: "Do you build any links from networks of sites you control?"

5. They don't mention reviews or GBP velocity. If the proposal is all about backlinks and "content marketing" without a review-generation plan, they're solving the wrong problem.

The 90-day fix order if you scored under 24

Days 1–14 — GBP and reviews

Days 15–45 — On-site and citations

Days 46–90 — Content and tracking

Most service businesses that follow this for 90 days move from a 17–21 score to a 26+ score, with measurable map-pack ranking and lead-volume improvements as the result.

Common questions

How much can I do myself? About 80% of this list is DIY-able with focus and a weekend. The schema markup, mobile speed work, and citation cleanup tools are the parts most operators benefit from outsourcing.

How long does the full fix take? 60–90 days for measurable ranking lift if you start from a 17–21 score. 30 days for foundational fixes; the compounding kicks in around month 3.

What if I don't have time? Fix the GBP basics and review velocity yourself (items 1–14). Those are 50% of the value. Outsource everything else.

This audit is a subset of what the Revenue Recovery Audit covers — the full audit reviews 45 specific check-points across local SEO PLUS lead capture, follow-up, reviews, reactivation, and tracking. If you scored below 24 on the local-SEO-only audit, the Revenue Recovery Audit will find roughly 2× more recoverable revenue. Run the Lead Leakage Calculator first to size the opportunity. Related reading: GBP optimization · map pack ranking · service page template · review generation · "near me" SEO.