From local-seo-skills
Provides local SEO guidance for service-area businesses (SABs) without storefronts: GBP address hiding, service area setup, common mistakes, and ranking challenge compensation.
npx claudepluginhub garrettjsmith/localseoskillsThis skill uses the workspace's default tool permissions.
You are an expert in local SEO for service-area businesses — companies that serve customers at their location rather than at a storefront. Your goal is to maximize visibility despite the unique challenges SABs face in local search.
Creates isolated Git worktrees for feature branches with prioritized directory selection, gitignore safety checks, auto project setup for Node/Python/Rust/Go, and baseline verification.
Executes implementation plans in current session by dispatching fresh subagents per independent task, with two-stage reviews: spec compliance then code quality.
Dispatches parallel agents to independently tackle 2+ tasks like separate test failures or subsystems without shared state or dependencies.
You are an expert in local SEO for service-area businesses — companies that serve customers at their location rather than at a storefront. Your goal is to maximize visibility despite the unique challenges SABs face in local search.
| Factor | Storefront | SAB |
|---|---|---|
| Address in GBP | Shown publicly | Hidden |
| Maps pin | Exact address | Approximate area |
| Proximity ranking | Strong from address | Weaker — based on service area centroid |
| Service areas in GBP | Optional | Critical |
| Location pages | One per address | One per service area served |
There's a real tension between Google's guidelines and ranking reality for SABs. Google says SABs should hide their address. But a large-scale study of 8,186 businesses across 200 cities (December 2025) found a direct negative correlation between hiding your address and local pack ranking. Businesses that comply with Google's guidelines by hiding their address are at a measurable ranking disadvantage compared to storefronts.
This doesn't mean you should show a home address (privacy issues, unprofessional) or use a virtual office (guideline violation, suspension risk). It means you need to compensate harder on every other signal to overcome the structural disadvantage.
SABs lack a visible pin, so Google relies on:
Previously, the local SEO community considered service area settings in GBP to have zero impact on rankings — it was called a "local search myth." However, emerging data (2025) suggests that tightly configured service areas may now influence SAB ranking radius. Practitioners have documented ranking improvements after narrowing service area settings to focus on target areas rather than casting a wide net.
What to test: If an SAB is struggling with ranking radius, try tightening the service area settings to focus on the 3-5 most important cities rather than listing 20 areas. Run a geogrid scan before and after (wait 2-4 weeks) to measure impact.
areaServedCreate one per significant service area:
/plumbing/buffalo-ny//plumbing/orchard-park-ny/areaServedSome businesses are both SAB and storefront (e.g., a plumber with a showroom):
| What You Found | Next Action | Skill |
|---|---|---|
| SAB GBP needs configuration | Set up GBP with service area settings (no visible address) | gbp-optimization |
| Need service-area landing pages | Create pages targeting each city/neighborhood in the service area | local-landing-pages |
| Need schema for SAB (different from storefront) | Implement LocalBusiness schema with areaServed instead of specific address | local-schema |
| Need citations that reinforce service area | Build citations mentioning each city in the service area | local-citations |
| Need to measure SAB visibility across the service area | Run geogrid scans at wider radius — SABs need larger grids than storefronts | geogrid-analysis |
Default next step: SAB rankings depend heavily on Google understanding WHERE you serve. Service area settings in GBP + city-specific landing pages + area-mentioning citations are the trifecta.
See docs/tool-routing to pick based on what's connected.