How much does local SEO cost for a restaurant, café or tour?
Doing local SEO yourself costs only your time: a Google Business Profile is free and Google takes no money for rankings. Tools that track and manage your listings cost $20 to $65 a month for one location, paid monthly, and in Ahrefs' 2024 poll of SEO providers, local SEO averaged up to about $1,557 a month.
Key takeaways
- Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking, so what you spend pays for work on your listing, reviews and website.
- For one location, Moz Local's Lite plan was $199 a year and BrightLocal's Track plan $369 a year when we read them on 31 October 2026.
- In Ahrefs' poll of 439 SEO providers, updated August 2024, agencies averaged $1,819 a month for local SEO and freelancers about $1,150.
- Google's own advice to a small local business is that it can probably do much of the work itself.
What are you paying for when you pay for local SEO?
- Your Google Business Profile
- The listing that puts you on Google Maps and in the map results. Adding or claiming it costs nothing.
- Software
- Tools that track where you rank, keep your name, address and phone the same across directories, and ask customers for reviews. They charge a monthly fee per location.
- Someone else's time
- An agency, freelancer or consultant doing the work on a monthly retainer, by the hour or as one project.
- Your own time
- Keeping hours and photos current, answering reviews and fixing wrong details. Someone has to do this every month, whoever you pay.
| Do it yourself | Hire an agency or freelancer | |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay each month | Nothing, or a tool from $20 a month for one location | A retainer: local SEO averaged up to about $1,557 a month in Ahrefs' 2024 poll |
| What you still do yourself | All of it: the profile, reviews, listings and website | Send them news, photos and menu changes, and approve what they publish |
| Who holds the logins | You | Keep the Google profile and Search Console in your own account and add them as users |
| How you know it works | Your own rank checks on the searches you care about | Their reports: ask up front how they measure success |
Source7
Can you pay Google to rank higher on Google Maps?
No. Google's help page says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. It ranks the map results on relevance, distance and prominence, and prominence counts how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have. What lifts the free results is in our guide to ranking higher on Google Maps.1
How much do local SEO tools cost per month?
BrightLocal prices by location. For one location, Track (rank tracking, audits, citation checks) was $41 a month paid monthly or $369 a year; Manage, which adds syncing your details to directories, $54 a month or $485 a year; Grow, which adds review requests and replies, $65 a month or $584 a year. You can check where you rank for free first with our local rank checker.4
What does listing management cost per location?
Moz Local's Lite plan was $20 a month paid monthly or $199 a year, Preferred $30 a month or $299 a year, and Elite $40 a month or $399 a year. Each physical location needs its own subscription, so a café with three branches pays three times. Most of what these tools sync is your name, address and phone, which you can also keep the same by hand; the glossary explains NAP consistency.5
What did SEO agencies and freelancers charge for local SEO in 2024?
Ahrefs polled 439 SEO providers and updated its findings in August 2024. Local SEO averaged $1,557 a month: $1,819 from agencies and about $1,150 from freelancers. The most common hourly rate for local SEO was $75 to $100, and 78.2% of providers charged a monthly retainer. Ahrefs worked out its averages from the top of each price band respondents picked, so read them as a ceiling more than a typical bill.7
What does a done-for-you local SEO service cost?
Whitespark, which also sells local SEO software, listed its done-for-you SEO service at $499 to $1,999 a month and one-off listing packages at $20 to $999. A one-off package suits a restaurant whose address or phone is wrong on old directory sites; a monthly service suits a business with several locations and no one to keep them current.6
Do you need to hire someone for local SEO?
Google says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself, and points owners to its free SEO starter guide first. If you hire, it suggests asking for examples of past work, how they measure success and what they will change on your site. It also warns that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google, and that during an audit an SEO should get only read access to your Search Console.3
What should a restaurant, café or tour spend on local SEO?
Start with the free work: a complete profile (our Google Business Profile audit lists the gaps), a steady flow of new reviews and the same name, address and phone everywhere. Pay for a tool once you want weekly rank tracking or run more than one location. Pay for help when nobody on the team has the hours, and keep the logins in your name. See what we do for restaurants and for tours.
How much does PlacePilot cost?
PlacePilot's Owner plan is $24.99 a month for one business. It includes the website, Google and AI search reports, and Autopilot's weekly checks of the site and how you show up, with a progress note each month. Building the website is free with an account; you choose a plan when you publish it.8
Questions
How much does local SEO cost per month?
Between nothing and a few thousand dollars. Doing it yourself costs your time; tools cost $20 to $65 a month for one location on Moz Local and BrightLocal, paid monthly; and in Ahrefs' 2024 poll, SEO providers charged up to about $1,557 a month on average for local SEO.
Can I do local SEO myself?
Yes. Google says a small local business can probably do much of the work itself. The core of it is a complete, verified Google Business Profile, regular reviews, and the same business details on your website and every directory.
How much does a local SEO freelancer charge per hour?
The most common rate for local SEO in Ahrefs' poll, updated August 2024, was $75 to $100 an hour. Freelancers on a monthly retainer averaged about $1,150 a month for local work.
Does Google charge for a Business Profile?
No. Adding or claiming a Business Profile is free, and Google says no one can pay it for a better local ranking.
Can an agency guarantee my business ranks first on Google Maps?
No. Google's guide to hiring an SEO says no one can guarantee a #1 ranking, and to find someone else if they promise one.
Do local SEO tools charge per location?
Usually. BrightLocal's prices rise with the number of locations, and Moz Local needs a separate subscription for each physical location.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google · read
- Google Business Profile Help, Add or claim your Business Profile · read
- Google Search Central, Do you need an SEO? · read
- BrightLocal, Pricing · read
- Moz, Moz Local pricing · read
- Whitespark, Pricing · read
- Ahrefs, SEO pricing: how much does SEO cost? 439 people polled · read
- PlacePilot, Pricing · read
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