GET FOUND · LOCAL SEO

Local SEO that puts you in front of the people nearby.

When someone searches for a dentist, a therapist or an accountant nearby, Google usually shows a map with a handful of businesses above the ordinary results. Local SEO is the work of earning a place on that map and holding it. It's one of my Get Found services at CairnsCom, for practices and service businesses in the US, UK and Europe.

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Dallas, Texas and Valencia, Spain · Serving the US, UK, and EU

Last updated October 2026

What is local SEO?

Local SEO is how a business shows up when people search for what it does near where they are. Google says it ranks local results on three things: relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the person searching) and prominence (how well known you are, based partly on links and reviews). You cannot change distance. Everything else is work that can be done.

Source: Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google.

What does local SEO work cover?

Google Business Profile.

Verified, in the right categories, with services, hours, photos and a description that match what you actually do. Set up to Google's guidelines, so it does not get suspended.

Reviews.

A way to ask every happy patient or client, and a habit of replying to every review. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.

Listings that matter.

Bing Places, Apple Business Connect, your trade association and the directories your customers actually use. Your name, address and phone the same everywhere. No paid link farms.

Pages for each service.

One clear page per service, so Google can match you to what people search for. Location pages only where you really serve that area, not copies with the town name swapped.

Tracking.

Calls, direction requests and bookings from the profile, so you see what it brings in.

Who is local SEO for?

Practices and service businesses that win on reputation and on being close: dental and orthodontic practices, therapists and group practices, and professional firms. Single locations and multi-location groups.

How does local SEO work with me?

Diagnose, fix, then keep it going. I start by checking your profile, your reviews and your listings against your nearest competitors, and rank what is costing you most. Then I fix it in that order. After that, a small amount of steady work each month keeps you there: new reviews, new photos, one page or one listing at a time.

What does it look like for a real practice?

North Texas DBT Associates is a Dallas therapy practice I work with. It holds page one, at positions three to six, for its core Dallas DBT searches. The practice is found frequently through ChatGPT and other AI tools, and that plus Google search is how its leads now come in. Read the North Texas DBT case study.

Local SEO questions, answered plainly.

How long does local SEO take?

Fixing a broken or incomplete profile can change things within weeks. Building reviews and links to the point where you outrank an established competitor takes months, and depends on how hard your area is.

Do I need a physical office?

Not always. Google allows service-area businesses that go to their customers to hide their address. It does not allow a P.O. box, or a virtual office you do not work from. Source: Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google.

Is Psychology Today, Healthgrades or Yelp enough?

They help, but you do not own them and they do not replace your Google profile. Psychology Today or Google Business Profile has the longer answer.

How is this different from technical SEO?

Technical SEO makes your website something Google can crawl and trust. Local SEO is about your presence in the map results and across the listings people check. Most practices need both.

What does local SEO cost with CairnsCom?

Monthly local SEO work starts from $500 a month, or £400 a month for UK businesses, scaled to the work. A one-off fix can be a fixed price instead. I give you the exact figure after a short call, once I know what actually needs doing.

Find out why the practice down the road shows up first.

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Marketing, revenue, and systems consultancy for growing businesses.
Dallas, Texas and Valencia, Spain.
Serving the US, UK, and EU.

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