How to Analyze Your Local SEO Competitors (Step-by-Step)

Your competitors continue to rank in the local pack, while your business sits on page two. You’re not sure what they’re doing differently, and it’s frustrating. The good news? They’re leaving clues everywhere.

Their Google Business Profiles, reviews, citations, and content reveal exactly what’s working. The Ad Firm’s local SEO company can help you uncover these insights quickly, but understanding the process yourself is just as valuable.

In this guide, you’ll learn the steps on how to analyze your local SEO competitors. We’ll cover who you’re really competing against, what to examine, and how to turn that data into action.

Why Local SEO Competitor Analysis Matters for Your Business

Local SEO competitor analysis shows you what’s actually working in your market right now. Google’s local algorithm rewards businesses that demonstrate relevance, proximity, and prominence. Your competitors who rank in the map pack have figured out how to signal these factors effectively.

By studying their profiles, citations, reviews, and content, you can reverse-engineer their success and apply those lessons to your own strategy. This isn’t guesswork. It’s data-driven decision-making that saves you time and money.

Competitor analysis also reveals gaps you can exploit. Maybe your top competitor has hundreds of reviews but weak citation coverage. They may rank well for one service but ignore other keywords you could target. Understanding the competitive landscape helps you prioritize where to invest your efforts.

Instead of spreading resources thin across every possible tactic, you focus on the areas where you can gain ground quickly. That targeted approach leads to faster results and a stronger return on your local SEO investment.

How to Identify Your True Local SEO Competitors

Your local SEO competitors aren’t always the businesses you consider your direct competition. The companies ranking in the map pack for your target keywords are the ones you need to study.

Start by searching Google for your primary services plus your city name. Note which businesses appear in the local 3-pack and in the top organic results below it.

Here’s how to build your competitor list:

• Search 5 to 10 of your most important service keywords with local intent
• Record which businesses appear consistently in the map pack
• Note any businesses ranking in both the map pack and organic results
• Include competitors from nearby areas who show up in your searches
• Use tools like BrightLocal, Semrush, or Ahrefs to find competitors you may have missed

You might discover that your biggest map pack competitor is a business you’ve never heard of. That’s normal. Many top local SEO agencies in 2026 emphasize this point because local rankings often differ from those of traditional industry competitors.

Focus on the top 3 to 5 competitors who consistently appear for your most valuable keywords. These are the businesses whose strategies you’ll analyze. Trying to study every competitor wastes time and dilutes your focus. Quality insights from a few competitors beat shallow data from many.

6 Steps on How to Analyze Your Local SEO Competitors

Once you’ve identified your competitors, it’s time to dig into what makes them rank. This process involves examining six key areas of their local SEO presence. Each step reveals different insights that will shape your strategy moving forward.

Step 1: Audit Their Google Business Profile

Start with the most visible piece of their local SEO puzzle. Open each competitor’s Google Business Profile and examine their primary and secondary categories. Note whether they’ve selected categories that closely match the services they offer and how specific those choices are.

Look at their business description, service areas, and listed services. Check if they’ve added attributes like “women-owned” or “free estimates” that could influence clicks. Pay attention to how complete their profile appears compared to yours.

Review their photos and posts section. Businesses that regularly upload photos and publish Google Posts often see stronger engagement. Note the frequency and quality of their visual content. This tells you how actively they manage their profile.

Step 2: Analyze Their Reviews and Reputation

Reviews heavily influence local pack rankings and customer decisions. Count the number of Google reviews for each competitor and calculate their average rating. A business with 200 reviews at 4.7 stars sends stronger trust signals than one with 30 reviews at 5 stars.

Read their 20-30 most recent reviews, looking for patterns: Which services are mentioned most? What specific staff names appear? Which factors do customers mention most often: speed, price, or quality? What complaint themes emerge in negative reviews? This reveals what the business does well and what resonates with local customers.

Check how the business responds to reviews. Do they respond to every review, or only to negative ones? Personalized responses build trust and show engagement. Note their response time and tone. Businesses that actively manage reviews often outperform those that ignore them.

Step 3: Check Their Citation Presence and NAP Consistency

Citations are online mentions of your business name, address, and phone number. Your competitors likely appear on dozens of directories, industry sites, and local platforms. Use tools like Moz Local, BrightLocal, or Whitespark to see where they’re listed.

Compare their citation count to yours. If a competitor appears on 80 directories and you’re only on 30, that gap matters. More importantly, check if their NAP information is consistent across all listings. Inconsistent data confuses search engines and weakens local rankings.

Strong local citation management sets top-ranking businesses apart. Note which directories your competitors prioritize. Industry-specific platforms often carry more weight than general directories. Compile a list of missing citations and flag any inconsistencies in your own listings.

Step 4: Evaluate Their Local Keyword Strategy

Visit your competitors’ websites and examine their page titles, headers, and content. Identify which keywords they target on their homepage, service pages, and location pages. Look for patterns in how they incorporate city names and service terms.

Use SEO tools to pull their ranking keywords. Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz all offer competitor keyword analysis features. Filter for keywords with local intent and note which terms drive their organic traffic. You’ll likely discover keywords you haven’t targeted yet.

Pay attention to the long-tail variations they rank for. A competitor might dominate “plumber in Austin” but also rank for “emergency pipe repair near downtown Austin.” These specific phrases often convert better and face less competition. Add valuable keyword opportunities to your own targeting list.

Step 5: Examine Their Backlink Profile

Backlinks remain a powerful ranking factor for local SEO. Use Ahrefs, Moz, or Semrush to pull your competitors’ backlink profiles. Focus on links from local sources like news sites, chambers of commerce, business associations, and community organizations.

Analyze anchor text and linking pages to identify tactics—’sponsored by [business]’ anchors indicate event sponsorships, byline links from news sites show PR success, business association directory links reveal memberships. These link-building tactics reveal strategies you can replicate. Note any high-authority local domains linking to them.

Compare their domain authority and total backlink count to yours. A significant gap indicates you need to prioritize link building. More importantly, identify specific link opportunities. If a competitor has a link from your local chamber of commerce, that’s a link you should pursue, too.

Step 6: Review Their Local Content and On-Page SEO

Examine the structure and depth of your competitors’ websites. Check if they have dedicated pages for each service and location they target. Businesses with individual city pages often outrank those with a single “service areas” page.

Analyze their on-page SEO elements. Look at title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, and internal linking. Note whether they use schema markup for local business information. These technical details influence how search engines understand and rank their content.

Read their blog or resources section if available. Local content such as neighborhood guides, community event coverage, and industry news builds relevance. Competitors investing in local content marketing signal that it’s working for their rankings. Consider which content gaps you could fill better than they do.

What to Do with the Data You’ve Gathered

Competitor insights only create results when translated into concrete action. Here’s how to turn research into a competitive plan

Identify Gaps and Quick Wins

Compare your findings side by side with your own local SEO presence. Look for areas where competitors clearly outperform you. They may have twice your reviews, stronger citation coverage, or more complete Google Business Profiles. These gaps show you exactly where you’re falling behind.

Quick wins are fixes you can implement within days. Updating your GBP categories, adding missing photos, or claiming unclaimed citations fall into this category. Knocking out these low-effort improvements gives you momentum. They also close obvious gaps that may be costing you rankings.

Prioritize High-Impact Opportunities

Not every gap deserves equal attention. Focus first on the factors that most influence rankings in your market. If every top competitor has 150+ reviews and you have 40, review generation should be a top priority. If they all have location-specific pages and you don’t, that’s a high-priority content project.

Weigh effort against potential impact. Building 50 new citations takes time, but moves the needle. Rewriting a single meta description takes minutes but barely registers. Invest your resources where they’ll have the greatest impact on your competitive position. Let the data guide your decisions, not assumptions.

Build Your Competitive Action Plan

Organize your priorities into a timeline with specific tasks and deadlines. Break larger projects into smaller steps you can tackle weekly. Assign responsibility for each item if you have a team. A structured plan keeps you accountable and prevents overwhelm.

A trusted digital marketing agency can significantly accelerate this process. They bring experience, tools, and bandwidth you may not have in-house. Whether you execute the plan yourself or bring in help, documentation matters. Write down what you’ll do, when you’ll do it, and how you’ll measure success.

Track Progress and Adjust Over Time

Local SEO changes constantly. Competitors improve their strategies. Google updates its algorithm. New businesses enter your market. Schedule monthly check-ins to review your rankings, track competitor movements, and assess what’s working.

Use rank tracking tools to monitor your position for target keywords over time. Revisit your competitor analysis quarterly to identify emerging threats and opportunities. The businesses that win at local SEO treat it as an ongoing process, not a one-time project. Stay consistent, stay curious, and keep refining your approach.

Call Us For Help

Local SEO competitor analysis takes time, tools, and expertise. If you’d rather focus on running your business while professionals handle the research and execution, The Ad Firm is here to help. Our team specializes in local SEO strategies that deliver measurable results for businesses like yours.

We’ll analyze your competitors, identify your biggest opportunities, and build a plan that puts you ahead.

Contact The Ad Firm today to schedule a consultation and start outranking your local competition.