The BEST Local SEO Tools, Software & Providers

local viking GBM management tool
The BEST Local SEO & GMB Tools

As an SEO Agency with more than a decade of experience, we’ve now worked with 1000s of businesses and have tried nearly every tool on the marketing. In this post we’ll share the best local SEO and Google My Business (GMB) we’ve found and use on a daily basis.

If you want the TLDR, here’s the list and the key features we use in each one:

  1. LocalViking – a new-ish tool and by far the best GMB listing management tool. Our favorite features are the scheduled GMB posts feature and alert emails on changes and bad reviews
  2. Agency Analytics – hands down the best GMB reporting tool pulling data from GMB Insights
  3. SEO Builder – amazing citation building service with a super high indexation rate
  4. Loganix – similar to SEO builder, love their citation audit service
  5. Brightlocal – great hands on local SEO and has some awesome dashboards
  6. Callrail – the best call tracking and attribution tool, not cheap but awesome
  7. NAP Hunter – a free bookmarklet and easy way to do citation review and auditing work
  8. Semrush – we use Semrush for SEO auditing especially for big sites
  9. Accuranker – awesome rank tracking
  10. Web 20 Ranker – some excellent local SEO services that would sit more in the “grey” area if you get what I mean.
  11. Whitespark – a fantastic set of tools for citations and also some great free resources

Keep reading to find out the benefits of using local SEO tools and our honest reviews of the most useful local SEO & GMB tools and their essential features. Finding the perfect software or tool for your business won’t seem so intimidating or time-consuming once you have our article to guide you. 

Contents

Why Are Local SEO Tools Crucial for Your Business?

Before we get into the reviews, let’s first take a short detour and discuss how businesses benefit from a powerful local SEO strategy. 

We assume you’re already familiar with SEO to some extent, but in case you want to refresh your knowledge you can go over the SEO basics here. The difference between traditional SEO practices and local SEO is that while SEO tries to improve your website visibility on a global scale, local SEO focuses on searches in a certain territory and maximizes the chances of you connecting with them.

The main advantage of local SEO is that 80% of local searches convert to customers, making it one of the most effective methods of boosting foot traffic, sales, and revenue.

Generally, as local SEO is a subset of traditional SEO, both approaches use the same strategies (SERP features, organic listings, ads), although local searches have unique features that local SEO can take advantage of. 

When searching for a local business or service, what comes up in the results is something called the Local SEO 3-pack. This is a map with three businesses that fit your search query. Google generates this list of potential businesses using the information from Google My Business profiles, which is where local SEO tools work their magic in getting your business in one of those three slots.

Aside from managing GMB (Google My Business) profiles, local SEO focuses on local review sites, local keyword optimization, local directories, and filling important contact details.

The BEST Local Tools in Detail:

1. Local Viking

Local Viking GMB management tool

Local Viking is by far the best Google My Business management and monitoring tool we’ve found, so we highly recommend it. While it’s relatively new on the market, it has quickly gained popularity and manages over 50,000 listings globally. On top of that, Local Viking regularly adds new features, so you won’t be disappointed. 

The company started working in 2018, first as a GMB posting tool and later as a comprehensive GMB management software integrating GMB reviews, photos, attribute editing, and so much more. The main purpose of Local Viking is to help you increase visibility and revenue among locals who search for your type of product and services. 

All of the features and services that Local Viking offers can be divided into three main categories: posting, managing, and tracking services. 

While you’ll get unique and advanced features in each category, the main feature that sets Local Viking apart from the competition, and our favorite, is the GeoGrid rank tracker. Thanks to the tracker, which includes geospatial data, you can get really granular ranking info showed in a precise grid size over your location.

Key Features We Loved:

  • The ability to schedule GMB posts, both one-off and recurring;
  • The review, monitoring, and alerting feature;
  • The ability to lock changes made to GMB listings or revert changes thanks to the ART feature (Automated Reversion Technology), which prevents you from getting malicious GMB edits from those sneaky competitors;

Other Features Include:

  • The location content calendar where you can see and easily track all of your GMB content (even from multiple locations) in one dashboard;
  • The listing management tool, where you can track property insights and make quick changes to the location data from a single dashboard regardless of how many GMB properties you have; 
  • The ability to schedule bi-daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly keyword refreshes;
  • Maps and local rank tracking, where you can monitor how your location ranks in Google Maps and your listing in both maps and organic search results;
  • The ability to automatically embed latitude, longitude, keyword, and other data into your images before scheduling them directly from the dashboard; This feature prevents losing metadata, which frequently happens when using 3rd party photo tools.
  • The schedulable, white-label insight reports which are fully automated;
  • The free local SEO toolbox.

Final Verdict

The software is a perfect solution for businesses of all types and sizes. Whether you’re an SEO expert who manages multiple businesses or an entrepreneur who has their business listed on GMB and simply wants to increase sales and revenue. 

Learn more at localviking.com

2. Agency Analytics

AgencyAnalytics white label client reporting

Previously known as “My SEO Tool”, AgencyAnalytics became a powerful tool for building great client relationships. The company focuses on automated reports, integrations with different platforms, white-labels, as well as SEO tools. 

We use Agency Analytics for client reporting because it can create some amazing reports and integrates with dozens of popular tools. Our local SEO reports typically include GMB Insights Reports, Review Reports, and Callrail conversion data.

Key Features We Loved: 

  • Automated Marketing Reports tool with the ability to schedule daily, weekly, and monthly marketing reports personalized with comments, so you can explain the meaning of your KPIs to your client. 
  • The ability to view insights and make marketing reports from more than 40 channels. Whether it’s from social media, PPC, email, call tracking, SEO tools, and other reviews, you can easily integrate all the analytic data to a single, intuitive interface.
  • The ability to fully customize your reports by creating a custom marketing dashboard. You can choose from a variety of widgets like bar-charts, line graphs, pie charts, tables, or statistic widgets for every metric.
  • The ability to give your client login info without editing permissions, so they can monitor and keep track of everything they want or need to. 
  • Make 100% white-labeled reports with your company’s colors, logos, and much more. 
  • SEO tools like Rank Tracker and Website Auditor.
  • The ability to create various staff accounts with different permissions, so they can monitor specific tasks. 

Final Verdict

Although Agency Analytics offers some great SEO tools, it stands out with its reporting tools. It’s the go-to service provider when you’re handling many aspects of the client’s SEO and marketing department. It will keep you from getting overwhelmed by the many different KPIs and present a clear picture of your efforts. Given that it’s one of the best local SEO tools on the market today, we highly recommend it.

Learn more at agencyanalytics.com

3. SEO Builder

SEOBuilder local SEO tool and service provider

Relatively new, the SEO Builder company began its journey as a Citations Builder tool and slowly emerged into a more comprehensive platform for essential SEO services. The main focus today is put on link building services. We use these guys for a lot of our citation work and they’re fantastic. 

As a small company, their motto is that every business is unique and deserves a personalized approach, which is what the SEO Builder offers. We believe these guys are perfect for anyone who wants to make the switch from in-house citations work to something more professional and effective. Using SEO Builder, you should expect to get a lot more citations and an incredibly high indexation rate. 

Key Features We Loved: 

  • Manual Citation Building Service that will get you citations on relevant, generic, niche-specific, and geo-specific sites. No automated tools are used when building the citations, which means real experts will be working on achieving your needs.
  • Indexing service where all the citations are run though an indexing tool, making each citation unique. 
  • 100% free Citation Audit that goes along with the detailed report of your order and login details for each citation. 
  • Cleanup Service for your citations, where the team manually resolves incorrect or duplicate citations
  • The ability to order up to 25 niche-specific citations, which will be run by a special in-house indexing tool.
  • Full control over the Guest Post Service, with you viewing and approving the website and the content with links before it gets published. 
  • GMB Post Service that will allow you to get it and forget it, as the team will do the keyword research, topic selection, content writing, and post publishing.

Final Verdict:

SEO Builder is an amazing platform for citations work and perfect for people who are outsourcing it for the first time. It’s simple, affordable, yet professional and effective. The team behind SEO Builder works manually on your citations, and you’ll be getting high-quality, relevant mentions. 

Learn more at SEO Builder

4. Loganix

Loganix local SEO tool and service provider

Loganix is yet another fantastic provider we use for citations work. The company has been around for a decade, and the team does an awesome job in delivering high-quality services that are basically a steal, considering its low prices. 

What first started as a citation service tool, with time grew into an all-inclusive SEO platform with all the essential SEO services that will help your business grow into a success story. 

The feature that stands out the most, is the awesome dirt cheap citations audit that’s well worth a look. In fact, for most marketers, the less than $10 audit, can be a great “foot in the door” strategy to start the conversation with potential clients and show them what you can do for them. 

Key Features We Loved:

  • Fully managed Local SEO Ranking Solution that’s meant to put your mind at ease with its all-inclusive offer. The solution is a one-click option that can replace all other tools and services, as it covers all local ranking factors.
  • The ability to personalize the chosen service by picking only the tools that fit your current business needs. You can decide on a personalized strategy by choosing from citations (audit, cleanup, building), on-site optimization, link building, copywriting, and more.
  • Getting an account manager assigned to work specifically with you, which you can always reach by phone or email. 
  • Local Citation Building service that offers quick results – five days or less.
  • Fully customizable reseller packages and an Agency Partner Program, which means you’ll get special discounts on Loganix services. 
  • Affiliate program which allows you to get a commission on any new customers you refer to Loganix.

Final Verdict:

Because Loganix offers a wide range of services, depending on your business needs, you can always choose between going with their full range of services or simply choose the ones you currently need. As a company with a long history and well-known reputation, there’s no hesitation that regardless of what you choose, it will be handled professionally.

Learn more at loganix.com

5. BrightLocal 

BrightLocal software tool GMB listings

Similar to WhiteSpark, BrightLocal has been around for a long time, and we’ve used them extensively in the past. The tagline “Local Marketing Made Simple” makes BrightLocal what it is – a user-friendly marketing platform that helps marketers deliver better results to clients, even if they’re not SEO experts. 

BrightLocal offers both a software tool to manage and monitor GMB listings as well as a citation building service. In fact, they have three types of services: local SEO tools, aggregator submissions, and citation building services. Whether you need to boost local rankings, increase online visibility, build citations, or increase online reputation, Brightlocal might be just the right platform for you.

Key Feature We Loved:

One feature we love here is the ability to compare citations and local ranking factors against competitors, find the gaps, and fix them.

Other Features Include: 

  • The Local Search Rank Checker, through which you can track Google and Bing rankings, organic rankings, Google Maps rankings, as well as keyword search volume. 
  • The ability to easily track local citations, spot NAP issues, and find duplicate listings, and identify new citation sites.
  • Automated local search and GMB audit from which you’ll get a full report in a matter of minutes, saving you many hours of manual work.
  • The lead generation widget, which you can fully customize and easily implement on your site that will allow you to run free local search audits on potential clients (especially beneficial to marketers and SEO experts looking to attract new clients and expand their agency).
  • The Yext Replacement Service that gives you an opportunity to make an easy switch from Yext to BrightLocal and puts you in full control over your listings.
  • The ability to distribute business data to thousands of directories, apps, and mapping services, thanks to the data aggregators. 
  • The 14-day free trial that doesn’t require you to subscribe in advance.

Another reason why BrightLocal is trusted by many businesses all around the world is that it offers four different package solutions tailored to fit the need of different business profiles. For example, you can choose from the Agency, Enterprise, Multi-location, and Small Business solutions.

Final Verdict

If you prefer to work with longstanding, reputable companies that have an amazing client history, BrightLocal would be a good match. It’s the perfect tool when you want to find out where you stand among your direct competitor and find which factor can help you beat them.  

Learn more at BrightLocal

6. CallRail

CallRail forum and call tracking

CallRail is a big company that specializes in delivering in-depth insights on quality inbound leads from places often overlooked by other platforms, like calls, forms, chat, and more. It’s an indispensable tool for call tracking and lead attribution, as well as form tracking, which is why we use it extensively. 

Aside from being highly specialized and unique, one of the most appealing features of CallRail is that it integrates directly with Google Analytics. CallRail presents all of their findings and reports in Google Analytics together with the other KPIs crucial for your business. This way, the tool saves you time and gives you a clear view of your overall performance and goal reach. 

Key Features We Loved:

  • The ability to get an automated, detailed analysis of your conversations with the Conversation Intelligence engine. You’ll get instant call categorization and scores which helps you determine who’s a real lead.
  • The Form Tracking tool that will help you identify which channels, campaigns, ads, and keywords are bringing in form submissions.
  • The ability to reveal which marketing campaigns generate phone calls, as well as gather useful data from your callers.
  • Specialized solutions tailored to various different industries: agencies, healthcare, legal, automotive, and home services.

Another great aspect of using CallRail is that it comes with a bundle of resources you can use to help you better understand your analyses and grow your business. The resources include a blog, e-books, guides, on-demand webinars, case studies, partner directories, and integrations. 

Final Verdict

CallRail is a highly specialized service provider that offers some unique features. If you need a tool to track calls, forms, and chats, then CallRail is the right option for you. It’s a great way to see some additional insights that can show you where your money and time are best spent.

Learn more at callrail.com

7. N.A.P Hunter by Local SEO Guide

N.A.P Hunter free citation searcher

Unlike all the other services and platforms we’ve presented so far, NAP Hunter is a free tool that makes it easier to do citation research and cleanup work. Plus, it’s super easy to use. 

The tool is developed by Local SEO Guide, which is a company that specializes in local SEO services. It works as an extension to Google Chrome and once you install it N.A.P Hunter will perform searches for various combinations of a business’ name, address, and phone number. It will open tabs with citation sites that you can browse. 

N.A.P Hunter is perfect for SEO experts who are overwhelmed by the workload they have to do for their clients and are looking for something simple that can speed up the process of searching for wild N.A.P data. The fact that’s completely free of charge makes this tool a must-have. 

Local SEO Guide has an amazing team that offers several local SEO tools for FREE. So, once you’re on the site, feel free to also check out:

  • The free Business Listing Scan
  • The Local Keyword Generator Tool
  • The Text-Only Google Cache Checker
  • The Automated Google Lighthouse Reporting
  • The RICE Model Forecasting for SEO
  • The Automate Knowledge Graph & GMB Image Change Alerts

Final Verdict:

Unlike the other platforms, N.A.P Hunter is a single tool that’s completely FREE. It does just one thing – hunts down citations, which saves a lot of time when doing manual work. It’s great when you’re doing your citations in-house and you’re looking for something simple to help you out. 

Learn more at localseoguide.com

8. Semrush

Semrush marketing platform & local SEO tool

Semrush is not strictly a local SEO tool but an all-inclusive platform that provides services for SEO, advertising, content, and SMM. Basically, Semrush is a go-to provider that allows you to outsource your whole marketing department. However, there are many reasons why we included Semrush in our best local SEO, Google Maps & GMB SEO tools list. The most notable being Semrush’s audit feature, which is probably the best on the market and is the feature we like the most. 

The company is also recognized as the best SEO suite and has received numerous rewards in the industry, such as the US Search Awards 2019, MENA Search Awards 2019, and SEMY Awards 2019.

Key Services We Loved:

  • Organic Research 
  • Organic Traffic Insights
  • Keyword Research
  • Backlink Building and Analytics
  • Rank Tracking
  • Site Audit
  • On-Page SEO Checker
  • Search Engine Sensor

Semrush can help you take control over your online presence with their Listing Management tool, developed in collaboration with Yext. Within the tool, you can also manage your GMB profile completely by uploading pictures, updating your address and opening hours, and even creating posts. You can also create social media content in SEMrush’s Social Media Poster in GMB so your site back while the tool automatically publishes each post at just the right time. 

Our favorite, the Site Audit tool can help you track your website’s health and optimize it for mobile, and increase your indexing. 

Final Verdict:

Semrush is a widely popular all-inclusive marketing platform that can handle everything you though at it. It’s a little bit more expensive, but it’s a good option for large companies and enterprises. We included in our list because of its amazing Site Audit tool, which we believe it’s indispensable for mobile optimizing.  

Learn more at semrush.com

9. Accuranker

AccuRanker rank tracker local SEO tool

Every tool has its particular strengths and Accuranker’s is probably the fact that it’s one of the best rank trackers for local SEO work as it has local tracking capabilities. Accuranker can track competitors, track SERP features, and do a bunch of other useful SEO things.

Accuranker has been around since 2013, founded as a Software as a Service (SaaS) company for fast keyword rank tracking. It quickly became an indispensable tool for many SEO agencies and businesses because it’s efficient, simple, and affordable. 

Accuranker provides insightful, in-depth analytics of various key rank metrics. Here are some of the features of this rank tracker:

  • On-demand updates, meaning you can refresh and update the data anytime you need, so you can stay on top of any sudden changes. This can help you get a better understanding of your ranking fluctuations and make smarter local SEO strategy.
  • The ability to understand what exactly drives the most traffic to your site by examining SERP History.
  • The ability to organize, filter, and customize how you want to see your data, so you can be sure you never miss something important. 
  • You can add an unlimited number of domains and users, which is especially beneficial for bigger businesses with larger marketing teams.
  • Tagging and Landing Pages feature through which you can organize large keyword data.  
  • 3rd party integration support, which means you can do everything in one dashboard and pull from multiple sources. 
  • Free help guides and walkthroughs through all the features for new customers and beginners. 
  • The ability to get discounts and 20% recurring commissions through AccuRanker’s Affiliate Program.

Final Verdict:

Accuranker effectively provides what the name suggests- accurate rank tracking. We love it and believe it’s a great choice for anyone that needs a rank tracking tool because it has one of the fastest, most precise, and affordable software that can track competitors, track SERP features, and other local SEO indicators. 

Learn more at accuranker.com

10. Web20ranker

Web2.0ranker white label SEO company

Web20ranker is a white label SEO company founded by SEO and local SEO aficionados who believe in leveraging processes, standard operating procedures, and automation to deliver the best results possible for your business. The company started by offering white label SEO and link building services, and not much later included a GMB Optimization line which became one of the most successful white label local maps services that built the company’s reputation. 

Today, Web20ranker provides a bunch of different, advanced local SEO services such as GMB stacking. They also offer monthly management services as well as some great Google Data Studio report setup services. 

Visiting their website can seem a little overwhelming as they have a lot of services, although everything is well organized and you can even shop for services by category: DFY SEO, GMB SEO, Citations, Links, Branding, and even Press Services. 

Key Features We Loved:

  • Advanced level campaigns for GMB and local SEO that are hard to find with other providers.
  • Accelerated GMB bundles with a variety of add-ons, clean-up, and social optimization, that you can choose from and decide which services you like, so you can create your own package. 
  • Authority Map Stack which includes MREID, CID linking, local press release, and GMB place embeds.
  • Building Co-Citation and Co-Occurrence strategies.
  • Complete citation clean up service with a free manual audit. 
  • Data Aggregator Listings in the USA and Canada, so you can get your company’s info distributed in over 1000 online business directories. 
  • The ability to get country-specific citations. You can choose from a variety of unique content topics, authority links, and brand mentions. 

On top of all this, Web20ranker offers free training resources and client acquisition training, so you can be more involved and better understand GMB and local SEO needs.

Final Verdict:

Beginners and smaller businesses might be content with the more basic SEO services, but large companies and professional SEO agencies looking for advanced local SEO tools should turn to Web20ranker. The company offers a bunch of management services that are unique and hard to find at other service providers. 

Learn more at web20ranker.com

11. Whitespark

Whitespark local SEO service provider

Whitespark is one of the original providers of local SEO tools and services with a bunch of free tools and fantastic services too, which can quickly become indispensable for your business. The company has been around for more than 15 years, building its reputation as one of the best service and tool providers for citation building, citation audit and clean-up, and rank tracking tools.

One of the reasons why we love Whitespark is that it’s user-friendly and affordable. While companies like Yext charge around $500 for less than 50 listings, you can get the same deal for half that price on Whitespark, and you’ll even own your listings permanently. This makes Whitespark a great tool for small businesses, as well as large companies. 

Key Features We Loved:

  • The GMB review link generator;
  • The review PDF/printout generator (this is really good for offline businesses);
  • The citation finder which has a free option;
  • Some of the paid services are great at cleaning up citation disasters and uncoupling from services like Yext.

Other Features Include:

  • The competitor tracking feature where you can add your top competitors to keep a close eye on how they’re performing for the same target keywords, as well as run comparison reports to better understand your position.
  • The ability to track your rankings on Youtube and other social media accounts. 
  • The ability to make deep keyword comparisons, so you can be first in line when some keyword gains momentum.
  • The Reputation Builder through which you can capture more feedback and engage more customers.
  • The Review Checker, which is another amazing tool that can help you manage your reviews and clearly see where you’re doing good and where you need to improve. 
  • The ability to find, fix, and enhance your listings on the most influential sites in the U.S.

Final Verdict

Whitespark is one of the best service providers for citation building, citation audit, and clean-up. Regardless of whether you’re a one-person professional, SEO agency, or a business looking to outsource their local SEO strategy, Whitespark will no doubt become a valuable service. It’s an excellent option for smaller companies and new-comers in the industry as it’s affordable and user-friendly.  

Learn more at whitespark.ca

Conclusion

Hopefully, this guide helped you find the best tools and solutions for all of your local SEO and GMB needs. 

As you can see, different tools and service providers specialize in different aspects of SEO or local SEO. You should carefully examine what fits your current needs best and how you can combine some of the tools to get a full service that will guarantee results. 

Do you need help with citation work, N.A.P clean up, or a more comprehensive GMB management platform? Each and every one of the tools we’ve reviewed does their work professionally and efficiently, but varies in functionality and price. Don’t be afraid to contact the teams behind each service and ask for a free consultation to be able to make a better decision. 

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