What does local marketing for a small business involve?
Local marketing is getting chosen by people within driving or walking distance: a complete map listing on Google, Apple and Bing, a steady flow of honest reviews, and a few real ties to the community around you. Most of it costs time, not money; Google's local ranking page says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
Why reviews and listings come first: BrightLocal's Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (vendor research, 1,002 US adults via SurveyMonkey, published 11 February 2026) found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses and the average person uses six review sites. Google remains the top source but fell from 83% to 71% of consumers, Apple Maps rose from 14% to 27%, and use of ChatGPT and other AI tools rose from 6% to 45%, making them the third most popular source of recommendations. One listing is no longer enough.
How do you set up and verify a Google Business Profile?
Add or claim your profile, then choose Get verified and use whichever method Google offers. The full click-by-click steps are in our guide to digital marketing for small business, so here are only the points from Google's verification help page (checked 5 Nov 2026) that trip people up:
- Phone or text: you must be able to answer the business line or receive texts. Interactive voice response (IVR) systems won't get the code.
- Video: if your business is eligible for video recording verification, Google recommends it.
- Postcard: most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. Don't edit your name, address or category while you wait, and don't request a second code, which cancels the first.
- Review time: after you finish, Google's review takes up to 5 business days, rarely longer.
Once live, fill in everything Google's ranking page lists: full address if customers visit, hours including special hours, category, and attributes such as parking or Wi-Fi. That page says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local results.
What are Google's local ranking factors?
Google names three: relevance, distance and prominence. Oddly, the same page introduces them as "relevance, distance, and popularity" and then explains the third as prominence; either way it means how well known you are. Here's what each one means and what you can change, from the page as it reads on 5 Nov 2026:
| Factor | What Google says | What you control |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well a profile matches the search; complete, detailed info helps | Primary category, services, description, attributes |
| Distance | How far you are from the searcher, or from where Google thinks they are | Almost nothing, beyond an accurate address or service area |
| Prominence | How well known you are, including how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have; more reviews and positive ratings can help | Reviews, local links and mentions, press |
Google's tips on the same page add four actions: verify, keep info up to date, respond to reviews, and add photos and videos. Distance is the factor you can't move, so put your effort into the other two.
How do you get reviews without breaking Google's rules or the FTC's?
Ask every customer the same way, offer nothing for it, and never filter who gets asked. Two sets of rules apply, and our guide to small business marketing ideas covers the review link and incentives. These are the parts small businesses miss:
Google's Maps contribution policy (checked 5 Nov 2026) says merchants may not discourage or prohibit negative reviews or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers. That rules out "review gating", where you text a survey first and send only happy customers to Google. Merchants also shouldn't require or pressure people to leave reviews while on the premises, ask for specific content, or set staff a target number of reviews. Reviews from employees, family or competitors count as a conflict of interest.
The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (16 CFR Part 465, from August 2024) makes it unlawful for a business to:
- write, create or sell reviews that misrepresent whether the reviewer exists or used the product (465.2);
- give anything of value in exchange for reviews expressing a particular sentiment, positive or negative (465.4);
- use unfounded legal threats, intimidation or knowingly false public accusations to stop or remove a review (465.7);
- buy or sell fake followers, views or likes it knew or should have known were fake, to misrepresent influence (465.8).
Reviews also need to be recent. In BrightLocal's survey, 74% care only about reviews from the last three months, 47% won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 37% weigh whether the owner replied. This is a summary, not legal advice.
How do you get on Apple Maps and Bing?
Apple's listings tool, Apple Business Connect, is now Apple Business. Apple's guide to adding a location (checked 5 Nov 2026) gives these steps, in a computer browser:
- Sign in to Apple Business and choose Brands, then Locations.
- Select Add Location, then Add single location, then Next, and enter your business name.
- Enter the address, and drag the map if the pin is over the wrong building.
- Add the display name, primary category, status (Open or Opening Soon, up to six months ahead), phone number and an optional website, which can be a Facebook, Instagram or TikTok page. Then set your hours.
- Verify. If you haven't verified your organisation, you send it to Apple for review. If the place already exists on Maps, phone verification may be offered: Apple calls the number it has on record and you enter a four-digit code.
If someone else already manages the location, you'll see a note saying it is already managed. You can request a transfer with documents such as a business licence or utility bill, and Apple says that review can take up to five business days.
Bing Places for Business lives at bing.com/forbusiness, but its help pages didn't load for us (5 Nov 2026). A Microsoft Q&A moderator answer from November 2025 describes an Import from Google option under Add a business, taking up to two days, so if your Google profile is verified, that's the shortest route. Treat it as a forum answer, not official documentation.
Which community tactics work, and how do you start?
Pick tactics that produce reviews, local links or mentions, since those feed the prominence factor above. Each one below has a first step you can do this week.
| Tactic | First step | What it can feed |
|---|---|---|
| Partner with a neighbouring business | Email one non-competing shop that serves the same customers and offer to swap counter cards or a joint offer | Referrals, a link from their site |
| Sponsor a local team or event | Ask the club what a sponsorship includes; ask for a link on their sponsors page | A local link, name on kit or programme |
| Free workshop or clinic | Book a room at the library or community centre for one evening, on a topic you answer daily | New contacts, photos for your profile |
| Join the chamber of commerce or main-street group | Go to one mixer as a guest before paying dues | Directory listing, referrals |
| Local press | Send the local paper or newsletter one short story: an anniversary, a hire, a charity drive | Mentions and links |
If you sell to other local businesses rather than consumers, the same thinking applies to outreach: Siela's Lead Finder suggests roles, industries, company sizes and locations from your website, so you can keep it to your own area. More on low-effort channels is in marketing when you hate marketing.
What to do this week
Audit your three listings
Search your name on Google Maps, Apple Maps and Bing. Note which exist, who manages them, and whether hours and phone match.
Claim or fix them
Start verification on Google, add or transfer your Apple location, and try Bing's import from Google.
Ask every customer for a review
One message, sent to everyone, with no reward and no filter. Reply to every review within a week.
Send one partner email
Use the template above with one neighbouring business.
AI assistants now recommend local businesses too; our free monthly AI visibility check shows how to see whether they mention you.
Frequently asked questions
How can a small business market itself locally for free?
Claim and complete listings on Google Business Profile, Apple Business and Bing Places, ask every customer for an honest review, and reply to reviews. Then add one community tie a month, such as a partner business, a sponsored team or a free workshop. Google says you can't pay for a better local ranking.
How long does Google Business Profile verification take?
It depends on the method Google offers. Postcard codes mostly arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. After you complete any method, Google says its review takes up to 5 business days, occasionally longer. Avoid editing your name, address or category while a postcard is on its way.
Is it legal to ask customers for Google reviews?
Yes, asking is fine. What breaks the rules is asking only happy customers, offering a reward, pressuring people in store, or posting reviews from staff or family. Google's Maps policy bans those, and the FTC's 2024 review rule bans fake reviews and rewards tied to a positive or negative sentiment. This is general information, not legal advice.
Do I need to be on Apple Maps and Bing as well as Google?
It helps. BrightLocal's 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults found Apple Maps use for reviews rose from 14% to 27% in a year, and the average consumer checked six review sites. Apple lets you add or transfer a location yourself, and a Microsoft forum moderator describes an option to import a Bing listing from Google.
How many reviews does a local business need?
There's no official number. In BrightLocal's 2026 vendor survey, 47% of consumers said they won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews, and 74% care only about reviews from the last three months. A steady flow of new reviews matters more than a one-off push.
Sources
- Google: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Google: Verify your business on Google (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Google: Maps user contributed content policy (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- eCFR: 16 CFR Part 465, Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Apple: Add a single location in Apple Business (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Microsoft Q&A: Bing Places manual verification (Nov 2025) (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- BrightLocal: Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (checked 5 Nov 2026)
- Apple: Apple Business Connect User Guide (now Apple Business) (checked 5 Nov 2026)