# SEO local Human Guide

## What This Is For
Audits local SEO signals for a business website, including Google Business Profile factors, proximity, reviews, NAP consistency, local schema, and citation opportunities. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for search and SEO workflows: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the SEO local agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for SEO local.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the SEO local guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- Physical street address visible in page content or footer
- Google Maps embed with pin/directions
- "Visit us at", "Located at", "Come see us"
- Structured address in LocalBusiness schema
- Service area mentions: "serving [city/region]", "service area includes"
- "We come to you", "On-site service", "Mobile [service]"
- `areaServed` in schema without `address.streetAddress`
- Both physical address AND service area language present
- "Visit our showroom" combined with "We also serve [areas]"
- GBP embed or reference detectable on page (Maps iframe, place ID, reviews widget)
- Primary category appropriateness (infer from page content vs visible GBP data)
- Evidence of secondary categories (optimal: 4 additional per BrightLocal)

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Key Statistics, Business Type Detection, Brick-and-Mortar, Service Area Business (SAB), Hybrid, Industry Vertical Detection, Analysis Dimensions, GBP Signals (25%), Reviews & Reputation (20%), Local On-Page SEO (20%).

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Primary category is the **single most important local pack factor** (Whitespark #1, score: 193). Incorrect primary category is the **#1 negative factor** (score: 176).
- GBP link URL strategy: do NOT link to strongest website page (Sterling Sky Diversity Update -- risks suppressing organic rankings)
- Required properties: `name`, `address` with PostalAddress sub-properties
- **Do not duplicate seo-geo analysis.** Provide local-specific AI context and recommend `/seo geo <url>` for full analysis.
- | URL unreachable (DNS failure, connection refused) | Report the error clearly. Do not guess site content. Suggest the user verify the URL and try again. |
- | Multi-location with 50+ location pages | Apply the quality gates from seo orchestrator: WARNING at 30+ pages (enforce 60%+ unique), HARD STOP at 50+ pages (require user justification before continuing). |
- | `FoodEstablishment` | Generic food (avoid if specific subtype exists) |
- | `MedicalBusiness` | Generic medical (avoid if specific subtype exists) |

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the SEO local human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the agricidaniel/claude-seo skill entry for `seo-local`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# Local SEO Analysis (March 2026)

## Key Statistics

| Metric | Value | Source |
|--------|-------|--------|
| GBP signals share of local pack weight | 32% | Whitespark 2026 |
| Proximity share of ranking variance | 55.2% | Search Atlas ML study |
| Review signals share (up from 16%) | ~20% | Whitespark 2026 |
| Google searches seeking local info | 46% | Industry data |
| Mobile "near me" searches leading to visit in 24h | 76% | Google confirmed |
| ChatGPT/AI usage for local recommendations | 45% (up from 6%) | BrightLocal LCRS 2026 |
| ChatGPT local conversion rate | 15.9% | Seer Interactive |
| Google organic local conversion rate | 1.76% | Seer Interactive |
| Local pack ads growth (Jan 2025 to Jan 2026) | 1% to 22% | Sterling Sky |

---

## Business Type Detection

Detect from page signals before analysis. This determines which checks apply.

### Brick-and-Mortar
- Physical street address visible in page content or footer
- Google Maps embed with pin/directions
- "Visit us at", "Located at", "Come see us"
- Structured address in LocalBusiness schema

### Service Area Business (SAB)
- No visible physical address
- Service area mentions: "serving [city/region]", "service area includes"
- "We come to you", "On-site service", "Mobile [service]"
- `areaServed` in schema without `address.streetAddress`

### Hybrid
- Both physical address AND service area language present
- "Visit our showroom" combined with "We also serve [areas]"

**Impact on checks**: SABs skip embedded map verification and physical address consistency. Brick-and-mortar gets full NAP + map checks.

---

## Industry Vertical Detection

Detect from page signals and GBP category patterns. Routes to industry-specific checks from `../seo/references/local-schema-types.md`.

| Vertical | Detection Signals |
|----------|------------------|
| **Restaurant** | /menu, menu items, reservations, cuisine types, food ordering, "dine-in", "takeout" |
| **Healthcare** | insurance accepted, patients, appointments, NPI, medical terms, "Dr.", HIPAA notice |
| **Legal** | attorney, lawyer, practice areas, bar admission, case results, "free consultation" |
| **Home Services** | service area, emergency service, "free estimate", licensed/insured/bonded, "24/7" |
| **Real Estate** | listings, MLS, properties for sale/rent, agent bio, brokerage, "open house" |
| **Automotive** | inventory, VIN, test drive, dealership, service department, "new/used/certified" |

If no vertical detected, use generic `LocalBusiness` analysis path.

---

## Analysis Dimensions

### 1. GBP Signals (25%)

Primary category is the **single most important local pack factor** (Whitespark #1, score: 193). Incorrect primary category is the **#1 negative factor** (score: 176).

**Check for:**
- GBP embed or reference detectable on page (Maps iframe, place ID, reviews widget)
- Primary category appropriateness (infer from page content vs visible GBP data)
- Evidence of secondary categories (optimal: 4 additional per BrightLocal)
- GBP posts presence (no direct ranking impact per WebFX, but triggers Post Justifications)
- Photos/video evidence (45% more direction requests with photos, Agency Jet)
- Q&A content (deprecated Dec 2025, replaced by Ask Maps Gemini AI -- recommend recreating Q&A content as FAQ sections on website; GBP removed existing Q&A with no export available)
- Google Verified badge eligibility (replaced Guaranteed/Screened in Oct 2025)
- GBP link URL strategy: do NOT link to strongest website page (Sterling Sky Diversity Update -- risks suppressing organic rankings)
- Business hours visibility on page (businesses open at search time rank higher, factor #5)

**Scoring guide:**
- Full: GBP embed present, category signals align, posts active, photos present
- Partial: Some GBP signals present but incomplete
- Low: No visible GBP integration on website