How can I Track Local Rankings Using SEO Tools?

Local SEO tools can really make a difference for your business. From automating review management to dominating local search results, the right tools can help your business grow in the long run.

Take KuchyneValent, for example. This local kitchen and furniture manufacturer was making just $100,000 a year through offline sales and wanted to boost their local leads and revenue.

In 2017, they decided to invest in SEO to drive more organic traffic to their website, using tools like keyword analysis and audits.

With Semrush in their toolbox, they grew their annual revenue to over $400,000. Plus, KuchyneValent has continued to see strong organic traffic since focusing on SEO.

In this article, we’ll go over the five best local SEO tools for small businesses and agencies. Let’s dive in!

What Features Do You Need in a Local SEO Tool?

Picking the right local SEO tool is key to improving your local search results and attracting more customers.

When choosing a tool, look for these important features:

• Listing and Citation Management: Make sure your business information (Name, Address, Phone number) is accurate and consistent across online directories, local platforms, and review sites. This helps build trust with search engines and boosts your local ranking.
• Review Management: Keep track of, respond to, and analyze customer reviews. Positive reviews can improve your reputation and bring in new customers, while addressing negative ones shows professionalism and helps build trust.
• Keyword Research: Find the right keywords with local search intent so you can target the right audience.
• Competitor Analysis: Check out what your competitors are doing with their SEO, so you can find ways to improve your own strategy.
• Rank Tracking and Reporting: Monitor how your local rankings are doing for target keywords. This helps you measure the success of your SEO efforts and make adjustments as needed.

What’s the Best Local SEO Tool?

Here’s a quick rundown of some great local SEO tools:

Tool	Best For	Stand-Out Feature	Pricing
Google Business Profile	Optimizing your business on Google search	Easy listing management	Free
Semrush Local	Managing your online presence across all platforms	Map Rank Tracker (heatmap)	Starts at $20/month per location; free plan available
BrightLocal	Building and managing citations	Citation Builder	Starts at $39/month; 14-day free trial
SE Ranking	Tracking and analyzing local rankings	Position tracking for target keywords	Starts at $62/month; 14-day free trial
Localo	Creating a free website and monitoring SEO	Free AI-powered website builder	Starts at $29/month per location; free plan available

Each tool has its own unique features, so choose one based on your needs and budget!

1. Google Business Profile

Best for optimizing your presence on Google search

Price: Free

Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business or GBP) is a free tool that helps local businesses get discovered on Google Search and Google Maps. It’s a must-have for any local business or agency, and many other local SEO tools use Google Business Profile as the foundation for their features.

Let’s dive into its top features:

Listing Management

Claim and verify your business listing, then add key details like your address, hours, phone number, and website. Managing this information ensures potential customers can easily find what they need, leading them to your business or website.

Online Storefront

Google Business Profile lets you create an attractive online storefront for your business. Upload high-quality photos and videos of your products, services, team, and space. You can even create 360° virtual tours to give customers a sneak peek of your location.

For restaurants and cafes, there’s a “Menu” tab so potential customers can view your menu before they visit.

Reviews

Google Business Profile lets you engage with customers by responding to their reviews—both good and bad. This shows you value feedback and care about your customers’ experience. You can also answer questions through the Q&A section, which helps build trust with potential customers.

Engaging with your audience this way can strengthen relationships and boost customer loyalty.

Updates

Use the “Updates” section to keep your customers informed. Post about events at your business or announce new offerings.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• A great way to connect with customers looking for local businesses.
• Lets you add all your business details and images for easy contact and product viewing.

Cons:

• Listings can be competitive, especially in busy areas, so SEO investment is still needed.
• If you don’t monitor reviews, customer satisfaction might slip.

Pricing: Free

2. Semrush Local

Best for managing your online presence across all platforms

Price: Starts at $20+ per month, per location; limited free plan available

Semrush Local is a dedicated SEO tool designed to help local businesses and agencies attract new customers and keep existing ones. It gives you the data you need to improve your online presence and grow your business.

Here are the key tools included in Semrush Local:

Listing Management

With Semrush’s Listing Management tool, you can easily update and publish your business details across more than 150 directories like Google, Facebook, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. Simply add your business name, address, phone number, images, and videos into Semrush, and it will automatically update your listings for you.

The tool also helps you audit your online presence, showing you areas where you need to improve, such as missing or incorrect addresses and phone numbers.

Map Rank Tracker

The Map Rank Tracker tool lets you track your Google Maps rankings and compare them with your competitors. You can enter your business location and select keywords customers might use to find you. The heatmap report will show if your competitors rank higher in specific areas—or if you do!

This insight helps you adjust your local SEO strategy and boost your visibility. You can also customize the map grid and target keywords to suit your needs.

Review Management

Semrush Local’s Review Management tool helps you manage your online reputation by making it easy to respond to reviews on multiple platforms (Google, Facebook, Yelp, and more) all in one place. You can engage with customers, improve relationships, and build loyalty.

It also provides valuable data insights like:

• Reply rate: Helps ensure you respond to every review.
• Brand perception: A summary of your historical ratings to identify strengths and weaknesses.
• Reputation progress: Tracks your reviews, ratings, and overall reputation trends over time.

Additional SEO Tools

Semrush Local is a standalone product that starts at $20 per month. It includes tools like Listing Management, Map Rank Tracker, and Review Monitoring. You can purchase it without a full Semrush subscription.

However, if you want to expand your SEO efforts, Semrush offers more advanced tools through their paid subscriptions, starting at $139.95 per month. These include features like keyword research, website audits, and competitor analysis.

For example:

• Position Tracking lets you track your website’s search rankings and monitor keyword positions to find new ways to rank higher on Google.
• On-Page SEO Checker helps you identify weaknesses on your website and gives you personalized suggestions for improvement.
• Keyword Magic Tool helps you find keywords for your Google Business Profile and website to improve your rankings.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Easily publish your business details across 150+ directories.
• Manage and respond to reviews across multiple platforms in one place.

Cons:

• Semrush Local is affordable, but a full Semrush subscription can be pricey for beginners.

Pricing:

• Free: Audit up to five locations per day, see your status in top directories, and check your average rating for all reviews.
• Basic Plan: $20 per month, per location. Includes tools like Listing Management and Review Management.
• Premium Plan: $40 per month, per location. Includes Google Maps Rank Tracker, Competitor Analysis, and AI-powered review responses.

3. BrightLocal

Best for managing and building citations

Price: Starts at $39 per month with a 14-day free trial

BrightLocal is an all-in-one platform for local SEO that helps you manage and grow your online presence. It lets you track your business across search engines and maps, improve your reputation with review management, and gain useful insights to boost your local SEO strategy.

Citation Tracker

BrightLocal’s Citation Tracker tool helps you find your business information on key local directories like Yelp, Foursquare, and more. Citations are online listings that show important details about your business, like your address and contact info. They’re crucial for local SEO because they help your business show up higher in local search results on Google Maps and other search engines.

With Citation Tracker, you can:

• See your listed citations: Review all the directories where your business info is found.
• Identify missing citations: Find directories where your business isn’t listed and claim your spot.
• Fix inaccuracies: Get alerts about any incorrect or inconsistent information across your citations, ensuring everything’s accurate online.

The report also shows you which directories need updating or where action is required.

Citation Builder

The Citation Builder tool lets you submit your business details to hundreds of top local directories and review sites like Apple Maps and Tripadvisor. This comes with a one-time fee, starting at $2 per site or directory.

Also Read: What are the Most Common Local SEO Mistakes to Avoid?

Reputation Management

BrightLocal’s Reputation Management tool helps you keep track of your reviews across various platforms in one place, including Google Maps, TripAdvisor, Yelp, and more. You can see your total number of reviews and your average star rating, giving you an idea of overall customer satisfaction.

It also allows you to display reviews on your website using a customizable widget, either as a list or a carousel, to show off customer feedback.

Google Business Profile (GBP) Audit

BrightLocal helps you audit your Google Business Profile to make sure your business info—like contact details, hours, and images—is accurate and up-to-date. You can even get detailed audits for each of your target keywords to see how well they rank.

The GBP Audit also lets you compare your business to competitors, showing things like:

• Competitor rankings for your target keywords
• The number of citations they have
• Total review count and ratings
• Number of photos
• Business category

White-Label Reporting

If you run an agency, you’ll appreciate BrightLocal’s white-label reports. You can customize the reports with your branding, and even set up automatic monthly reports for your clients.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• A full set of tools to manage your local SEO.
• BrightLocal Academy offers free local SEO courses to help you learn.

Cons:

• The variety of tools may feel overwhelming for beginners in local SEO.

Pricing

BrightLocal offers three pricing plans, all with a 14-day free trial:

• Track: $39 per month for one location. Includes Local Rank Tracker, Citation Tracker, and GBP Audit.
• Manage: $49 per month for one location. Includes everything in Track, plus syncing business data across Google, Bing, Facebook, and Apple, and bulk posting to multiple profiles.
• Grow: $59 per month for one location. Includes everything in Manage, plus Reputation Management.

4. SE Ranking

Best for tracking and analyzing your local rankings

Price: Starts at $62 per month with a limited 14-day free trial

SE Ranking’s Local Marketing Tool helps you track your search performance and find new ways to improve your online visibility.

Business Listing Manager

Simply enter your business details—like name, contact info, hours, and description—and SE Ranking will automatically update your Google Business Profile with the changes.

Local Rankings

To track your local rankings, just set up your business locations and target keywords. You’ll get a detailed report on how your business ranks locally for each keyword.

Local Marketing Audit

With the Local Marketing Audit, you can see how well your business is optimized for local search. You’ll get an overall score of your local SEO performance and a breakdown of issues that might be affecting your rankings. The report is divided into “passed checks,” “notices,” “warnings,” and “errors,” showing the impact of each problem.

The tool also gives you helpful suggestions to improve things like your Google Business Profile, business listings, and customer reviews. For example, if your address is wrong, it will suggest correcting it, or if your business isn’t listed on important directories, it’ll recommend adding it.

Google Business Profile Audit

SE Ranking shows how people interact with your Google Business Profile, such as how often they view photos, use Maps, request directions, or call your business. It also tracks the number of searches and website visits you’re getting.

Business Listings Overview

This feature helps you see which local directories list your business and which ones don’t. It ensures your business details are accurate across the web and helps you find new listing opportunities.

Also Read: What is the Best Tool for Local Keyword Research?

Reviews

Track customer reviews across platforms like Google, Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor. You can even reply to Google and Facebook reviews directly from the SE Ranking dashboard.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• The Local Marketing Audit gives a full performance review and suggests ways to improve your rankings.
• You can reply to Google Maps and Facebook reviews all from one dashboard.

Cons:

• SE Ranking’s core features are available with the free trial, but the SE Local features aren’t included.

Pricing

To use SE Local Marketing, you’ll need an SE Ranking subscription:

• Essential: $55 per month. Best for small businesses. Track rankings for 750 target keywords.
• Pro: $109 per month. Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses and agencies. Track rankings for 2,000 target keywords.
• Business: $239 per month. Best for enterprises, large agencies, and e-commerce websites. Track rankings for 5,000 target keywords.

All plans come with a 14-day free trial.

SE Local Marketing add-on pricing:

• 1 location: $7 per month
• 5 locations: $29 per month
• 10 locations: $48 per month
• 50 locations: $181 per month

5. Localo

Best for building a free website for your business and monitoring your SEO

Price: Starts at $29+ per month, per location; limited free plan available

Localo is a local SEO platform that helps you track and improve your online presence. It offers features like monitoring your Google Business Profile (GBP) ranking, building a free AI-powered website, and managing customer reviews.

GBP Monitoring

Localo helps you keep track of your Google Business Profile’s performance. Here’s what it offers:

• Track weekly local rankings: Automatically monitor how your business ranks for relevant keywords in local search results. You’ll see your progress over time and spot areas for improvement.
• Check your rankings: Get a quick snapshot of your visibility on Google Maps for specific keywords.
• Get actionable insights: Localo’s algorithm analyzes your ranking data and provides personalized suggestions to boost your GBP and local SEO performance.

Local Rank Checker

With Localo’s Local Rank Checker, you can check your Google Business Profile visibility for free.

Start by confirming your language and location, then add one keyword at a time to check your rankings. The Local Rank Checker will display your rankings on the map, showing how well your business performs at different distances.

Citation Management

Localo shows you which online directories list your business and checks if your details are correct. You can also compare your directory presence with competitors, find places they’re listed that you’re not, and add your business to those directories for better visibility.

Website Builder

Localo offers a free website builder powered by AI. You can easily create a website by connecting your Google Business Profile, and Localo will pull in your business details—like photos and customer reviews—to help you get started.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

• Free Local Rank Checker
• Free website builder and hosting

Cons:

• No free trial, so you can’t test the premium features before paying

Pricing

Localo offers three plans:

• Free: $0 for one business profile. Monitor your Google rankings and build a free AI-powered website.
• Growth: $29 per month for one location. Includes a Google Business Profile audit and the ability to respond to reviews.
• Agency: $99 per month for the first four locations. Includes lead generation tools on your Localo-built website and white-labeled local SEO reports.

Also Read: What are Some Free SEO Tools for Local Businesses?

Our Top Picks for the Best Local SEO Tools

To improve your local SEO, we recommend using a combination of two tools:

1. Google Business Profile (GBP): This is a must-have for local SEO. Make sure to claim and optimize your GBP so your business information is accurate and consistent across Google Maps.
2. Semrush Local: Semrush provides key local SEO tools. With Listing Management, you can respond to reviews from platforms like GBP, Facebook, and Yelp all in one place. The Map Rank Tracker helps you track your performance on a local level. A full Semrush subscription also includes a keyword research tool to help you find the best keywords for your business.