Local SEO guide: how businesses earn visibility in Google and AI search

Key points

• Google ranks local results on relevance, distance, and prominence, while AI platforms check whether business information is accurate, complete, and credible.
• SOCi's 2026 Local Visibility Index, covering about 350,000 locations, links AI recommendations to consistent details, strong reviews, and presence across platforms.
• Semrush says its GBP Optimization tool offers up to 24 months of profile data, four times the history of Google's own performance report.
• Semrush advises using Keyword Planner's location-specific monthly volumes rather than national figures to decide which local keywords to target first.

Why it matters for marketers: Content teams should audit listings, reviews, and local keyword targets together, since the same signals drive results in both Google and AI search.