local-impact-auditor

LOCAL-IMPACT Auditor — Proprietary Scoring Framework

You are executing the LOCAL-IMPACT scoring framework — a 60-item assessment of local business presence, visibility, and competitiveness. This is the primary scoring framework for local SEO health.

Framework: LOCAL-IMPACT (Local Optimization, Consistency, Authority & Listing — Impact Performance Assessment & Competitive Tracking) Items: 60 | Scale: 0–3 per item | Max Raw: 180 | Normalized: 0–100 | Version: 2025.1

Prerequisites

Before scoring, confirm you have:

• [ ] Business name, website URL, target location
• [ ] Google Business Profile URL (or search business name + location on Google Maps)
• [ ] At least 3 competitor GBP URLs for comparison
• [ ] Access to or output from prior audit phases in {AUDIT_DIR}/

If missing, collect before proceeding. Read {AUDIT_DIR}/intake-data.md for all context.

Framework Reference

Load the complete rubric from references/local-impact-benchmark.md.

Scoring Dimensions

| Code | Dimension | Items | Max | Key Tools | |------|-----------|-------|-----|-----------| | L | Listing Quality | 10 | 30 | Google Maps, GBP dashboard, BrightLocal | | O | Online Reviews | 10 | 30 | BrightLocal, Podium, ReviewTrackers | | C | Citation Consistency | 10 | 30 | BrightLocal, Whitespark, Yext | | A | Authority Signals | 10 | 30 | Ahrefs, Majestic, Moz Link Explorer | | L2 | Local Content | 5 | 15 | Screaming Frog, GSC, site_crawler.py | | I | Integrated Visibility | 5 | 15 | Apple Maps, Bing Places, Otterly.ai | | P | Performance | 5 | 15 | PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, Lighthouse | | T | Tracking | 5 | 15 | GA4, GSC, CallRail, Hotjar |

Step 1: Research Phase — Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence Gathering

Dimension L — Listing Quality (GBP Completeness)

Primary tool: Google Business Profile dashboard or Google Maps listing 2025 GBP Completeness Checklist:

1. Business name (exact legal name, no keyword stuffing) — GSC brand signal
2. Primary category + all relevant secondary categories (2025: up to 10)
3. Description — 750 character max, keyword-rich first 250 chars
4. Service areas (if service-area business) vs. storefront address
5. Hours of operation including special/holiday hours
6. Phone number (local area code preferred over 1-800)
7. Website URL (tracking parameter: ?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gbp)
8. Products/Services with prices, descriptions (every service listed)
9. Photos: minimum 10 exterior + 10 interior + 5 team + 5 work examples (2025 benchmark: 50+ total)
10. GBP Posts: minimum 1 active post per week (offers, updates, events)
11. Q&A section: minimum 5 seeded Q&As with keyword-rich answers
12. Attributes: all applicable attributes checked (women-owned, veteran-owned, accessibility, etc.)
13. Messaging enabled (if applicable to business type)
14. Menu/Service menu (for restaurants/salons/etc.)

Benchmark thresholds:

• 100% complete: all 13 elements present → Score 3
• 8–12 elements: → Score 2
• 4–7 elements: → Score 1
• <4 elements: → Score 0

Dimension O — Online Reviews

Primary tools: BrightLocal Review Dashboard, Google Maps, Podium, ReviewTrackers 2025 Review Benchmarks (Local Pack Competitiveness): | Metric | Score 3 (Excellent) | Score 2 (Good) | Score 1 (Weak) | Score 0 (Absent) | |--------|--------------------|--------------|--------------|--------------------| | Google rating | ≥4.5 stars | 4.0–4.4 stars | 3.5–3.9 stars | <3.5 stars | | Google review count | ≥50 reviews | 25–49 reviews | 10–24 reviews | <10 reviews | | Review velocity | ≥4 new/month | 2–3 new/month | 1 new/month | <1 per month | | Response rate | ≥90% responded | 70–89% | 50–69% | <50% | | Response time | <24 hours | 24–72 hours | 3–7 days | >7 days | | Review platforms | 4+ platforms | 3 platforms | 2 platforms | 1 platform only |

Multi-platform check: Google, Yelp, Facebook, TripAdvisor, BBB, Houzz, Healthgrades, Avvo (per industry) AI visibility angle: Google AI Overviews pulls review ratings — businesses with <4.0 stars are rarely featured

Dimension C — Citation Consistency

Primary tools: BrightLocal Citation Audit, Whitespark Citation Finder, Yext Knowledge Network NAP Consistency Check:

• Name: Exact match across all directories (no abbreviations, no "LLC" variations)
• Address: Street number, street name, suite formatting consistent (Ste vs Suite vs #)
• Phone: Same format (+1-XXX-XXX-XXXX vs (XXX) XXX-XXXX — pick one)

Tier 1 Citations (must be present): Data Axle (formerly Infogroup), Neustar/Localeze, Acxiom, Foursquare — these feed hundreds of downstream directories

Tier 2 Citations (local pack important): Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, BBB, Apple Maps, Bing Places, Foursquare, Yellow Pages, MapQuest

Inconsistency threshold: >3 NAP inconsistencies across top 50 citations → Score 0–1

Dimension A — Authority Signals

Primary tools: Ahrefs Site Explorer, Majestic (Trust Flow / Citation Flow), Moz Domain Authority Local Authority Benchmarks: | Signal | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 | Score 0 | |--------|---------|---------|---------|---------| | Domain Rating (Ahrefs DR) | >30 | 15–30 | 5–14 | <5 | | Local referring domains | >25 local RDs | 10–25 | 3–9 | <3 | | Chamber of Commerce link | Present | — | — | Absent | | BBB accreditation | Accredited | Listed | — | Not listed | | .edu / .gov links | Any present | — | — | None | | Industry association links | 3+ | 1–2 | — | None |

Local link types to check: Chamber of Commerce, local newspaper mentions, city/county business directories, industry associations, local sponsorships

Dimension L2 — Local Content Quality

Primary tools: Screaming Frog, {DATA_DIR}/crawl/ (site_crawler.py output), GSC Content Thresholds:

• Service pages: ≥800 words, unique content per service, service-area keywords integrated
• Location pages (multi-location): ≥600 words, unique to each location (not templated)
• Blog/local content: Regular publishing (min 2×/month), community-relevant topics
• Schema: LocalBusiness + Service + FAQPage + Review schema on key pages
• Internal linking: Service pages linked from homepage + location pages

Dimension I — Integrated Visibility

Tools: Apple Maps Connect, Bing Places for Business, Otterly.ai (AI mention tracking) 2025 Visibility Checklist:

• [ ] Apple Maps claimed and verified (Siri voice search source)
• [ ] Bing Places verified (powers Copilot local results)
• [ ] Google Maps embed on contact/location page
• [ ] Voice search readiness: FAQ content with conversational phrasing
• [ ] AI Overview presence: Test "near me" queries in Google — does business appear?
• [ ] ChatGPT / Perplexity citation: Search business name in AI assistants
• [ ] Social media profiles: Facebook, Instagram linked + active (within 30 days)

Dimension P — Performance

Primary tools: Google PageSpeed Insights (pagespeed.web.dev), GTmetrix, Chrome DevTools Lighthouse 2025 Core Web Vitals Thresholds: | Metric | Score 3 | Score 2 | Score 1 | Score 0 | |--------|---------|---------|---------|---------| | LCP (Largest Contentful Paint) | <1.8s | 1.8–2.5s | 2.5–4.0s | >4.0s | | INP (Interaction to Next Paint) | <100ms | 100–200ms | 200–500ms | >500ms | | CLS (Cumulative Layout Shift) | <0.05 | 0.05–0.10 | 0.10–0.25 | >0.25 | | Mobile PageSpeed score | >90 | 70–90 | 50–69 | <50 | | TTFB (Time to First Byte) | <400ms | 400–800ms | 800–1800ms | >1800ms |

Note: INP replaced FID as a Core Web Vital in March 2024.

Dimension T — Tracking Setup

Primary tools: GA4, Google Search Console, CallRail/WhatConverts (call tracking) Tracking Checklist:

• [ ] GA4 installed + configured (goals, conversions set up)
• [ ] GSC verified + sitemap submitted + no coverage errors
• [ ] Call tracking active (CallRail, WhatConverts, or similar)
• [ ] GBP Insights reviewed monthly (calls, directions, website clicks)
• [ ] Conversion tracking: form su