<!-- Updated: 2026-03-23 -->
# Local SEO Ranking Signals & Benchmarks (March 2026)

## Source Key

- **Confirmed**: Google official documentation or employee statements
- **Study**: Data-driven industry research from recognized firms
- **Consensus**: Practitioner agreement without controlled testing
- **Caution**: Single-source or unverified claims

---

## Whitespark 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors

Published November 6, 2025. 47 experts surveyed across 187 factors. (Study)

### Local Pack/Maps Factor Groups

| Factor Group | Weight | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| GBP Signals | **32%** | Stable (top group) |
| Review Signals | **~20%** | Up from ~16% in 2023 |
| On-Page Signals | ~15-19% | Slight decline |
| Link Signals | Declining | Continued multi-year drop |
| Behavioral/Engagement | Rising | Clicks, calls, direction requests |
| Citation Signals | Lower for Pack | But 3 of top 5 AI visibility factors are citation-related |
| Social Signals | New entry | First time measured |
| AI Search Signals | New category | Added for the first time |

### Top 15 Individual Local Pack Factors

1. Primary GBP category (score: 193)
2. Keywords in GBP business title (score: 181)
3. Proximity of address to search point (score: 176)
4. Verified GBP
5. Business open at time of search (Sterling Sky controlled study)
6. High numerical Google ratings
7. Quantity of native Google reviews
8. Additional GBP categories
9. Review recency/velocity
10. Dedicated service pages
11. Domain authority
12. NAP consistency
13. Spam listing removal
14. Quality backlinks
15. Review sentiment

### Top Negative Factors

1. Incorrect primary category (score: 176) -- single worst mistake
2. Duplicate profiles at same address (score: 142)

---

## Search Atlas ML Study (August 2025)

XGBoost regression model, explains 92-93% of variance. (Study)

| Factor | Variance Explained |
|--------|-------------------|
| Proximity | **55.2%** |
| Review Count | **19.2%** |
| Domain Power | 5.9% |
| Semantic Relevance in Reviews | 5.3% |
| All others | <5% each |

---

## Review Benchmarks

### Sterling Sky Findings (2025, Study)

- **Magic 10 threshold**: Significant ranking boost at 10 reviews. 9-to-10 = noticeable increase. 10-to-11 = no similar bump.
- **18-Day Rule**: Rankings "fall off a cliff" if no new reviews for 3 weeks. Velocity > volume.

### BrightLocal LCRS 2026 (February 2026, Study)

| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| Only care about reviews in last 3 months | 74% |
| "Always" read reviews | 41% (up from 29% in 2025) |
| Only use 4.5+ stars | 31% (up from 17% in 2025) |
| Only use 4+ stars | 68% (up from 55% in 2025) |
| Consumers use average review sites | 6 platforms |

### Review Platform Usage (BrightLocal 2026)

| Platform | Usage | Trend |
|----------|-------|-------|
| Google | 71% | Down from 83% in 2025 |
| Instagram | 37% | Rising |
| TikTok | 29% | Rising |
| Apple Maps | 27% | Up from 14% in 2025 |

### Enforcement

- Google blocked/removed **240M+ policy-violating reviews** in 2024 (Confirmed, 40% increase over 2023)
- Review deletion rates up **600%+** Jan-Jul 2025; 38% of deleted were 5-star (Study, GMBapi.com)
- FTC Consumer Review Rule effective Oct 21, 2024: penalties up to **$53,088/violation** (Confirmed, US law)
- **Review gating prohibited** by both Google (fake engagement policy) and FTC (Confirmed)

---

## Citation Source Tiers

### Tier 1 (Universal, All Industries)

| Source | Why It Matters |
|--------|---------------|
| Google Business Profile | Primary local signal source |
| Apple Business Connect | Usage nearly doubled, from 14% to 27% (BrightLocal 2026). 1B+ iPhone users |
| Bing Places | Overhauled Oct 2025. Powers ChatGPT, Copilot, Alexa. 900M queries/day |
| Facebook | Social + citation signal |
| Yelp | Still ranks on page 1 for many local queries |

### Tier 2 (Broad Directories)

BBB, YellowPages, Manta, Superpages, Foursquare, Nextdoor

### Tier 3 (Data Aggregators)

| Aggregator | Partnerships |
|-----------|-------------|
| Data Axle (formerly Infogroup) | Google, Bing, Apple |
| Foursquare | Merged with Factual. Powers Uber, Nextdoor, Yahoo, ChatGPT. 500M+ devices |
| Neustar/TransUnion Digital | 80+ platform partnerships including Bing, Apple |

### Industry-specific directories: see `local-schema-types.md`

---

## GBP Feature Status (March 2026)

### Deprecated/Removed

| Feature | Date | Replacement |
|---------|------|------------|
| Q&A section | Dec 3, 2025 | Ask Maps (Gemini AI) |
| GBP Messaging/Chat | Removed | None |
| Call History/Tracking | Jul 31, 2024 | None |
| GBP-hosted websites | Discontinued | Redirect to social/website |
| School reviews/ratings | Apr 30, 2025 | None |

### Active Features

Posts (with scheduling), Services menu, Attributes (including identity: Women-led, Eco-friendly), Photos/Video, Local Lists (Local Gems, Trending, Top List), AI-generated "Suggest Description", Google Verified badge (replaced Guaranteed/Screened Oct 2025)

### Key GBP Insights

- **Posts**: No direct ranking impact (WebFX empirical testing). Can trigger Post Justifications. (Study)
- **Photos**: "Likely a ranking benefit adding some vs none, but not continued benefit adding more" (WebFX). Geotagging has NO impact. 45% more direction requests with photos. (Study/Confirmed mix)
- **Attributes**: Identity attributes have minor, targeted impact for attribute-specific searches only (WebFX/Sterling Sky). General attributes are filter/informational, NOT direct ranking factors. (Study)

---

## Algorithm Updates Affecting Local (2025-2026)

| Update | Date | Impact | Source |
|--------|------|--------|--------|
| March 2025 Core | Mar 13-27 | Emphasized E-E-A-T, penalized thin/AI content | Confirmed |
| June 2025 Core | Jun-Jul 17 | General quality focus | Confirmed |
| August 2025 Spam | Aug 26-Sep 22 | Targeted keyword stuffing, fake reviews, PBNs. Local Pack often stable | Confirmed |
| December 2025 Core | Dec 11-29 | Enhanced E-E-A-T, behavioral signal weighting | Confirmed |
| February 2026 Discover Core | Feb 5-27 | Discover-only; favored local expertise | Confirmed |
| "Diversity Update" | 2025 | Harder to rank in both map pack AND organic simultaneously | Study (Sterling Sky) |

---

## Voice Search & Assistants

- 58% of voice searches are for local business information (Study, BusinessDasher)
- Voice queries typically 4-7 words, phrased as complete questions (Consensus)
- 80%+ of Google Assistant voice answers come from top 3 search results (Study)

| Voice Assistant | Primary Data Source |
|-----------------|-------------------|
| Google Assistant | GBP (transitioning to Gemini) |
| Siri (Apple) | Apple Business Connect + Yelp |
| Alexa (Amazon) | Bing Places + Yelp + aggregators |

---

## AI Search Impact on Local

| Metric | Value | Source |
|--------|-------|--------|
| ChatGPT/AI for local recommendations | 45% of users (up from 6%) | BrightLocal LCRS 2026 |
| ChatGPT conversion rate | 15.9% | Seer Interactive |
| Google organic conversion rate | 1.76% | Seer Interactive |
| AI Overviews on local searches | Up to 68% | Whitespark Q2 2025 |
| AI Overview CTR reduction for pos 1 | -58% | Ahrefs, Feb 2026 |
| Brand cited in AIO = organic CTR boost | +35% | Seer Interactive |
| ChatGPT traffic vs Google for local | ~2% | Sterling Sky, Feb 2026 |
| Top 5 AI visibility factors: 3 are citation-related | -- | Whitespark 2026 |

**ChatGPT sources**: Bing web index (primary), Yelp, TripAdvisor, BBB, Reddit. Does NOT access GBP directly. (Study, Search Engine Land)

**Perplexity sources**: Authority-first. 40% more from high-authority sites. Averages 21.87 citations per question. (Study, Qwairy)

---

## Local Pack Structure

- Standard: **3 results** (universal)
- New: Curated Local Lists (Local Gems, Trending) around position 4 (SOCi, Nov 2025)
- AI-powered local packs (mobile US): Only 1-2 businesses, 32% fewer businesses shown (Sterling Sky)
- Local pack ads grew from ~1% to **22%** of tracked mobile keywords in 12 months (Sterling Sky/Places Scout)
- Zero-click rate for local-intent searches: up to **78%** on mobile (Similarweb)

---

## Proximity & Search Behavior

- 46% of all Google searches seek local information (Study)
- 76% of mobile "near me" searches lead to visit within 24 hours (Confirmed, Google)
- 900% increase in "near me" searches over two years (Confirmed/Study, Google)
- Proximity varies: urban 1-2 miles, rural 5-10+ miles, specialty/niche = wider (Consensus)
- Google uses dynamic weighting per query: "emergency plumber near me" = proximity-dominant; "best plastic surgeon" = prominence-dominant (Consensus)
