Benchmarking Local SEO Performance: Visibility Metrics, Share of Voice, and Ranking Comparisons

Benchmarking is the practice of measuring your local SEO performance against defined standards—your own historical performance, competitor performance, and industry averages. Without benchmarks, you cannot answer the fundamental question: "Are we winning or losing in local search?"

SoV measures what percentage of Local Pack visibility across your target keywords belongs to your business vs. competitors:

Calculation: Track your Pack appearances across all keyword-location combinations, then calculate the percentage of total available Pack slots (3 per SERP) that your business occupies.

Example: Tracking 20 keywords from 10 locations = 200 SERPs = 600 total Pack slots. If you appear 90 times, your SoV = 15%. If your top competitor appears 120 times, their SoV = 20%.

Tracking: Use LocalSERPChecker.app for initial measurement, then automated tools for ongoing monitoring. Report SoV monthly and trend it against historical data.

Calculate your average position across all tracked keyword-location combinations where you appear in the Pack:

• Average across all keywords from all locations
• Average per keyword (shows which services you're strongest/weakest for)
• Average per location area (shows geographic strengths/weaknesses)

A composite metric combining Pack presence and position:

• Position 1: 3 points
• Position 2: 2 points
• Position 3: 1 point
• Not in Pack: 0 points

Sum points across all keyword-location combinations for a single visibility score. Track monthly against competitors.

Compare against competitors:

• Total review count — where you stand in the market
• Average rating — businesses in the Pack average 4.2 stars with 60+ reviews
• Review velocity — new reviews per month vs. competitor rate
• Response rate — percentage of reviews with owner responses

• NAP consistency score — percentage of citations with accurate data
• Citation coverage — Tier 1 and Tier 2 directory presence
• Domain authority — relative website authority vs. competitors
• Local backlink count — locally relevant referring domains

1. Select your benchmark set — 20-30 keywords × 5-10 locations = your tracking universe
2. Measure current state — record all metrics listed above for you and top 3 competitors
3. Document the date — benchmarks are point-in-time measurements
4. Repeat monthly — build trend data for meaningful comparison

For each metric, know where you stand relative to your identified competitors:

| Metric | Your Business | Competitor A | Competitor B | Industry Avg | |--------|--------------|-------------|-------------|-------------| | Pack SoV | 15% | 20% | 12% | 10% | | Avg Pack Position | 2.3 | 1.8 | 2.7 | 2.5 | | Review Count | 85 | 210 | 45 | 80 | | Review Velocity | 6/mo | 12/mo | 3/mo | 5/mo |

This table immediately shows where you trail, where you lead, and where the biggest opportunities lie.

General benchmarks for local businesses in 2026:

• Minimum competitive review count: 50+ on Google
• Target review rating: 4.0+ stars
• GBP completeness target: 100% of available fields
• Citation accuracy target: 95%+ NAP consistency across Tier 1 sources
• Pack appearance rate: 40%+ of target keyword-locations for a competitive business

Compare your metrics against both competitors and industry benchmarks. The largest gaps in the highest-weight ranking signal categories become your priority actions:

1. If review count/velocity is below competitors → launch systematic review acquisition
2. If Pack SoV is low despite good reviews → investigate GBP category accuracy and completeness
3. If organic visibility is low → address on-page optimization and content gaps
4. If visibility varies dramatically by location → investigate proximity and citation issues

Use benchmarks to set realistic targets:

• 3-month target: Close the review velocity gap with primary competitor
• 6-month target: Increase Pack SoV from 15% to 25%
• 12-month target: Achieve average Pack position of 2.0 or better

Benchmarking data creates compelling client and stakeholder reports:

• "We increased Pack Share of Voice from 12% to 22% this quarter"
• "Our review velocity now exceeds Competitor A (8/mo vs. their 6/mo)"
• "Average Pack position improved from 2.8 to 2.1 over six months"

Monthly for active metrics (rankings, reviews). Quarterly for slower-moving metrics (citations, backlinks, domain authority). Annual comprehensive benchmark against all competitors.

In less competitive markets, benchmark against industry averages and your own historical performance. Set targets based on the ranking signal thresholds that correlate with Pack visibility.

Only if they appear in your local SERPs. National brands competing in your Pack are SERP competitors regardless of their size. Benchmark the local metrics (reviews, GBP activity, local content) where you can realistically compete.

Establish baselines for all metrics on day one. Your first benchmark is your starting point. Every subsequent measurement shows progress from that baseline. Use competitor data to set realistic improvement targets.

Benchmarking transforms abstract concepts like "local SEO performance" into concrete, measurable, comparable metrics. By tracking Share of Voice, average Pack position, review metrics, and citation scores against competitors and industry standards, you create a performance dashboard that drives strategic decisions and demonstrates ROI.

Start by measuring your current metrics using LocalSERPChecker.app and competitor profiling. Build monthly benchmarking into your workflow, and use the data to set targets, prioritize actions, and measure the impact of every optimization investment.