12 local SEO statistics for small businesses (2026)
Google is still where most people look for a local business, and the map results favour a complete Business Profile: 71% of consumers used Google for local recommendations in BrightLocal's 2026 survey, yet only 35% of small businesses had a Google Business Profile in its 2025 survey of owners. Experts rank the profile's primary category as the top factor for the map results.
Key takeaways
- Google is still the main place people look for a local business, though Apple Maps and AI tools are growing.
- Many small businesses still have no Google Business Profile or no website, which leaves room for any owner who sets both up properly.
- Local SEO experts rank the profile's primary category, distance to the searcher, the words in the business name, an address in the searched city and being open at the time of the search as the top five map factors.
- Google removes millions of fake profiles and edits a year, and the public suggests changes to listings all the time, so check yours often.
Where do customers look for a local business?
1. 71% of consumers used Google for local business recommendations, down from 83%
Google's share fell in BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults but stayed far ahead of every other source. Your Google Business Profile is still the first thing most customers see.1
2. 27% used Apple Maps, nearly double the 14% of 2025
iPhone users searching for a bar or a tour often never open Google. Claim your Apple Business Connect listing too and keep its hours the same as on Google.1
3. 54% visit a business's website after reading positive reviews
That is up from 32% when BrightLocal last asked in 2019. Reviews send people to your site, so the menu, prices and booking link need to be there when they arrive.1
How many small businesses have the basics? (2025)
4. Only 35% of small businesses had a Google Business Profile (2025)
From BrightLocal's 2025 survey of 778 US small business owners and managers. A complete profile still puts you ahead of most businesses in many areas.2
5. Only 40% of small businesses had their own website (2025)
The same survey. Customers who find you on the map and tap through to a website you don't have are customers you lose.2
6. 72% of small businesses said SEO has a medium or high impact on their business (2025)
Most owners believe search matters, yet many still lack the basics above. 54% of them manage their marketing on their own.2
What moves a business up the map results?
7. 47 local SEO experts scored 187 ranking factors, and the primary Business Profile category came first
This is Whitespark's 2026 survey of practitioners, an informed opinion, since Google does not publish its weights. Pick the category that says what you are, a seafood restaurant or a boat tour, before anything else.3
8. Being open at the time of the search ranked 5th for the map results
Whitespark added this factor for 2026 and it went straight into the top five. Wrong or missing hours can drop a restaurant from the local pack during the hours it is actually open.3
9. A high Google star rating ranked 6th, and the number of Google reviews with text 9th
Reviews count for ranking as well as for winning the customer. Check where you appear from different streets with the free local rank checker.3
How much does Google clean up listings?
10. Google removed over 13 million fake Business Profiles in 2025
Google's own 2025 figures. A verified profile with real photos and consistent details is harder to confuse with the fakes.4
11. Google blocked 79 million inaccurate or unverified edits to Business Profiles in 2025
Anyone can suggest a change to a listing, and many suggestions are wrong. Some still get through, so look at your own profile every few weeks.4
12. Google Maps users suggested 80 million updates to hours, contact details and more in 2025
Customers and strangers edit the facts on business listings all the time. The free Google Business Profile audit shows what your listing says today.4
How was this list made?
We list only figures from a named publisher whose survey or report we read on its own page on 5 November 2026. BrightLocal's 2026 figures come from 1,002 US adults and its 2025 figures from 778 US small business owners and managers; the 2025 headings say their year. Whitespark's ranking factors are the scores of 47 practitioners, not Google's own weights. Google's figures are from its 2025 Maps trust report, published in April 2026. Our own figures count what Google Maps listings showed; we did not survey anyone. Nothing here is estimated. For what to do next, see how to rank higher on Google Maps and local SEO vs organic SEO.
Questions
What percentage of people use Google to find local businesses?
71% of consumers used Google for local business recommendations in BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults, down from 83% the year before but still far ahead of any other source.
How many small businesses have a Google Business Profile?
In BrightLocal's 2025 survey of 778 US small business owners and managers, only 35% said they had one, and only 40% had their own website.
What is the most important local SEO ranking factor?
In Whitespark's 2026 survey of 47 local SEO experts, the primary Google Business Profile category ranked first for the map results, ahead of distance to the searcher and the words in the business name.
Do opening hours affect local rankings?
Experts think so. Being open at the time of the search ranked fifth of 187 factors for the map results in Whitespark's 2026 survey, so keep your hours and holiday hours correct.
Do reviews help local SEO?
Yes. Whitespark's experts ranked a high Google star rating sixth and the number of Google reviews with text ninth for the map results, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking.
From PlacePilot's data · Listings with no website
243 of 2,402 listings (10.1%) had no website link. Tour and activity companies were missing one about twice as often as restaurants, 13.8% against 6.7%.
PlacePilot's own count from the Google Maps listings of 2,402 restaurants, tour and activity companies and holiday stays in Greece and Croatia, read on 24 to 26 September 2026 during our research on businesses in tourist areas. These were the strongest places on our list, so busier, better-run businesses are over-represented, and a smaller town may show more gaps.
From PlacePilot's data · Listings showing a claim link
138 of the same listings (5.7%) showed Google's link inviting the owner to claim the business, and 8.1% of tour and activity companies did. If yours shows it, check that you can still sign in to your profile.
From the same 2,402 listings: we counted those whose page offered the claim link on the day we read it.
From PlacePilot's data · Listings with no opening hours
142 restaurants (8.8%) and 110 tour and activity companies (17.8%) showed no opening hours, so Google could not tell searchers whether they were open.
From the same listings. We leave out holiday stays here, because many hotels and rentals list check-in times instead of opening hours.
Sources
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 · read
- BrightLocal, SMB marketing in 2025: only 35% of SMBs have a Google Business Profile · read
- Whitespark, 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors · read
- Google, New ways we're protecting businesses on Maps (2025 Trust & Safety highlights) · read
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google · read
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