of consumers read reviews for local businesses.
of consumers won't use a business that has fewer than 20 reviews.
of consumers only care about reviews written in the last three months.
Those three numbers come from BrightLocal's 2026 survey of consumers, and they describe how people choose a local business. In short, people read your reviews, count them, and care most about the recent ones. To a homeowner comparing two plumbers, eleven reviews from 2023 look a lot weaker than sixty from this summer.
How does Google decide who shows up on Maps?
Google says local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity" (Google Business Profile help). Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched. Distance is how far you are from them. The third factor, which Google's page also calls prominence, is how well known you are, and Google says that includes things like links to your site and the number of reviews you have.
You can't move your business closer to every customer. You can make your profile the most complete and accurate match for what people search, and you can build the reviews, links, and mentions that make you look established.
What we do every month
Your Google Business Profile
We get the categories right, list every service you offer, set a service area you can actually reach, write a plain description, and keep hours and holiday hours accurate. We add real photos from your jobs, post updates (seasonal ones work well, like storm prep before hurricane or winter season and AC tune-ups before summer), and reply to reviews if you add review management.
Your listings everywhere else
Your business name, phone number, and website need to match everywhere they appear: Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, Yelp, Facebook, Nextdoor, the BBB, Angi, and your local chamber. Mismatched listings confuse search engines and the AI tools that read them. We find the mismatches and fix them.
Local pages on your website
We write a page for each main service and each area you serve, with real local detail instead of a city name pasted into a template. If you don't have a website worth building on, we can build one.
Tracking
Every month you get a traffic and conversion report in plain English: where you rank for your main searches in your main towns, how many people found you on Google and visited your site, how many of them called, booked, or filled out a form, and what changed. Once a quarter, a competitor snapshot shows who you're up against and how fast they're moving.
What breaks Google's rules?
A lot of local SEO advice gets businesses suspended. Google's guidelines for business profiles are clear on a few points that matter for most local businesses:
- Your business name has to be your real name. "Smith Plumbing" is fine. "Smith Plumbing Denver Emergency Plumber 24/7" breaks the rules and can get your profile suspended.
- If customers don't come to you, Google says to hide your address and set a service area instead.
- Your service area shouldn't reach farther than about two hours of driving from your base.
- Use as few categories as possible. Pick the one that best describes your main business, then add only the ones that truly apply.
We stick to those rules, because a profile suspended in your busy season costs far more than a slower climb.
How this connects to AI search
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews lean on the same signals: consistent listings, reviews, and clear pages about what you do and where. Most of the work above helps with AI answers too. The extra steps for AI tools are on the AI search optimization page, and the Google Business Profile checklist for HVAC and plumbing companies walks through the profile itself.
Then answer the phone
More calls from Maps are only worth it if someone picks up. That's why Kedvezo pairs local SEO with the AI receptionist. Pricing is one flat monthly number, quoted on a 15-minute call. See pricing.