The Modern Local SEO Playbook: How to Still Get Found in Google Maps & Local Search In 2025 & Beyond

Currently we’re more than halfway through 2025 and the SEO game has changed significantly! Local SEO isn’t just about showing up in Google Maps and “near me” keyword searches, it’s about staying visible since AI has now transformed the search experience significantly. Luckily, local search hasn’t been impacted nearly as much as contextual searches so many of the same rules still apply, however there some things to be aware of.

If you’re a business owner who wants to maintain your existing position while also attracting more local leads, increasing traffic, to ultimately increase sales, this easy to follow guide can be your new playbook.

Keep reading to see everything you need to know about what still works, what’s changing, and how to stay ahead.

Why Local SEO Still Works (Even in the Age of AI)

76% of people who search for a business “near me” on Google, visit or contact a local business within 24 hours. This still makes local visibility one of the fastest paths to new customers.
AI is reducing clicks to be sure. However, local intent searches like still drive phone calls, foot traffic, and leads. For example, these types of searches: “plumber near me”, “massage therapy near me”, “best dry cleaner in phoenix”, and so on.
Most AI overviews still point to local businesses with optimized profiles, great reviews, and strong websites. Interestingly, the AI overviews get many of their signals from classic, well done SEO strategies.

Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization

Google has not abandoned Maps or Google Business Profiles and they still present the best opportunity for click-throughs to your website and actions that lead to new business coming in. The following are still areas you want to pay attention to in order to maintain and have a strong online presence with your profile.

Be sure you choose the correct Primary Category.
Fill out every section and make sure it’s 100% accurate (hours, services, products, etc.) Even small mistakes will affect your ranking negatively.
Add high-quality photos & videos. This can be of your business, staff, and products. The higher quality the better.
Post updates weekly at a minimum. Things like offers, events, new products & services, results images, satisfied client selfies. This guide from Google is a good starting point to understand the spirit and intent adding content to your profile.
Use your GBP Q&A section proactively. You don’t have to wait for the public to ask questions. Most people leave this to the public, but you don’t have to nor should you. You can ask and answer them yourself and gain the exact same benefits.
Ensure your website URL, name, business name, phone, and address are accurate on your profile and stay up to date.

📌 Your GBP is often the first impression you make, so make sure it’s thorough and gives a solid impression of your business.

Citations & NAP Consistency

Remember, the primary feature of Google Business Profiles is in fact the Maps feature. This is likely why AI had not replaced local search yet as the whole point of this feature is to find local businesses near the visitor and how to get to their location. Often times these searches are done with smart phones. Then when a visitor decides they want to do business with a particular company, they will often tap Get Directions, connect to their vehicles navigation and proceed to the business using the turn by turn directions supplied by Google Maps.

This is super local which means your contact information must be up to date and in sync across your entire web presence so Google knows you have a legitimate business consumers can find and go to physically. Here’s what you need to pay attention to in order to ensure your NAP info is where it needs to be…

What is NAP? NAP = Name, Address, Phone – simple!
Make sure your NAP is consistent across the web, including but not limited to the following common citation sources
Yelp
Facebook
Twitter / X
NextDoor
Angi
Local & popular business directories
Anywhere your business is listed online (citations)

If you are even in doubt about where you should be placing your citations, there’s a real easy trick you can do to know for sure. Simply find the URL of your strongest competitors, the ones that are ranking in the 3 pack of any local search (The 3 pack is the first 3 results shown in the Google Maps results when performing a local search). Then enter the URL of your competitors (one at a time) into Google search, not AI mode. Then look at the results. You should see the website come up first, them possibly some of the pages. But after that, pay attention to the sites that show up after that. Those are the citations that links back to the main business website.

You will probably see Facebook pages, Angi, directories, and more. These are the sites that Google values most and are subsequently the same sites you should prioritize getting citations placed with. Doing this will level the playing field on citations between you and your strongest competitors.

Of course make sure those citations are consistent as mentioned above!

Bottom Line: AI and search engines still use citation consistency to confirm your legitimacy and will reward you for it.

Reviews Are A Top Level Signal!

The businesses that do best with their profiles are getting great reviews, and getting them often. Not only that.. businesses that respond to their reviews quickly shows a response time in the profile and makes a difference. Even the bad reviews! This tells Google that this is an active business and is attentive to their customers needs.

If you think about it, this is an organic signal that a business is doing well and treats their customers well, so of course Google is going to favor these businesses.

Another thing to consider is that many businesses that have a lot of reviews ask for them! There’s no shame in doing this and you should be doing it yourself, except for Yelp, they seem to have a problem with that for some reason. You should ask every new client that had a great experience for a review. You can even reach out to existing ones for reviews as well. You want to try and get 4 or more per month at a minimum of you can.

Having a review link or QR code on your phone is a great way to get more reviews. Your Google profile should have a link for you.

PRO TIP: Do not ever “Review Gate”! This is when you first ask to leave a review with a software tool that has a feature where you can first get their opinion, and if it’s bad, the app sends them to a form instead sending them to leave a review. This is against Google’s policy and most other review platforms as well. We have free software that helps you get reviews but doesn’t gate, tap here to learn more.

Have A Website Optimized For Local Searches

You’re much more likely to get ranked in Google maps if you have a website. This is a signal to them of an active and legitimate business. You can’t list a social media profile like your Facebook page as a website either. Additionally, a website is a piece of digital real estate that you control 100% and can use any way you see fit!

You will need to do keyword research for local searches for what you sell. If you’re not sure and don’t want to pay for an expensive SEO tool, you can use Google’s auto suggest to see what people are actively typing in to find local businesses like yours. Just go to Google, and start typing in a phrase like “Pest Control Near Me” and you will see a list of suggested keywords.

You’ll want to target keywords with navigational and commercial intent. Things like: “Emergency Plumbers Near Me”, or “HVAC Technicians In Phoenix AZ”. Having a page with the name of the city your business is located in the url, title, meta descriptions, and H1, and in the content can help you rank higher for those searches getting you more leads.

If you don’t have a website, you should get one soon, even if you just have a simple landing page with your business information to get started. If you do have one, it never hurts to take a quick look and make sure the SEO is up to date for local searches.

Summary

While these are just the basics in Local SEO Strategy, they are still highly since currently AI hasn’t really infiltrated these searches too much. They still look the same as always, maybe with just a bit more ads included above the fold now.

Remember, to compete and rank better for local searches you want to make sure…

Your Google Business Profile is optimized and updated frequently
Your NAP information is consistent with your Website and all other citations that reference your website
Make sure you’re asking for reviews! Using a tools are a good idea as long as you don’t “gate” the requests
Have a great website with proper SEO geared to local searches

Make sure you do at least these things and your local search rankings will improve in Maps.