SMB SEO

Local SEO for small businesses

Tools for Google Business Profile, citations, reviews and local rankings. We list 24, and 6 have a free plan.

Order: tools we’ve tested come first, by score, then the rest alphabetically. Payment never changes the order.

Prices checked between Oct 7, 2026 and Oct 13, 2026. How prices compare across categories

How to choose local SEO software

Updated Oct 12, 2026.

Start with your free Business Profile

Google Business Profile lets you manage how your business shows up on Google Maps and Search “at no charge” (Google Business Profile Help). Once it’s verified, its Performance page shows the searches people used to find you (Google Business Profile Help), and Profile Strength points out what your profile is missing (Google Business Profile Help). Our guide to what Business Profile does for free covers posts, review replies and the rest.

With one location, start there. Pay for a local SEO tool when you need something the profile doesn’t do, such as tracking where you rank across your area or keeping your details the same on other directories.

Price it at your number of locations

Some local tools charge for each location, and others include a set number of locations in each plan. Where a tool’s plans state it, its pricing page here works out the cost at 1, 5 and 10 locations, so you can compare tools at your size. Every price says whether it’s billed monthly or is the monthly cost of a yearly plan, and the day we checked it.

Can a tool get me higher on Google Maps?

Not by paying for it. Google says local results depend mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google” (Google Business Profile Help). A tool can show you where you rank and help with what Google says it weighs, such as accurate details and reviews. Google’s advice on hiring an SEO also says “No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google” (Google Search Central), so be wary of any tool or service that promises you a higher place on Google Maps.

Ask for reviews the way Google allows

Google’s content policy doesn’t allow a business to offer incentives for reviews, to discourage negative reviews, or to “selectively solicit positive reviews from customers”. It does allow asking for reviews “without offering incentives to do so or attempting to influence the rating or the contents of the review” (Google Maps content policy). If a review tool asks customers how things went before it sends them to Google, check whether it sends all of them on or only the happy ones. Google suggests sending customers its review link or QR code (Google Business Profile Help), and our review QR code maker turns the link into a printable sign.

Keep your profile in your own account

Google’s rules for anyone who manages a profile for someone else ask them, wherever possible, to encourage the business to own its profile and add them as a manager (Google Business Profile Help). A manager can edit your details, reply to reviews and post, but can’t add or remove users or delete the profile (Google Business Profile Help).

Sources for this guide

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