Local SEO Glossary: Terms Explained Clearly

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This glossary gives concise explanations of the Local SEO terms used across LetsBuzzMedia and links to deeper guides where more detail is useful. Use it when an acronym, platform phrase or SEO term is unfamiliar.

The glossary is one reference page. Each definition should use a stable fragment anchor such as /glossary/#geo-grid rather than creating a separate thin indexable URL for every term.

Some terms below are official Google or Schema.org terminology; others are common industry shorthand. Where a term is not an official Google product or confirmed ranking formula, the definition says so.

301 redirect

An HTTP redirect status that tells browsers and crawlers that a resource has moved permanently to another URL. It is commonly used when consolidating or permanently moving pages.

Why it matters: Useful during URL changes and site migrations.

A

Additional category

A secondary Google Business Profile category that describes another genuine business type the business operates. It should not be used as a list of every product or service.

Why it matters: Categories can affect how Google understands the business.

See also: Primary category; Google Business Profile.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/categories/

Anchor text

The visible, clickable words used in a link. Descriptive anchor text can help users understand where a link leads and gives search engines context about the destination.

Why it matters: Useful internal linking improves navigation and page relationships.

Attribution

The process of deciding which marketing source, channel or touchpoint contributed to an enquiry, sale or other outcome. Local journeys can involve several touchpoints, so attribution is rarely perfect.

Why it matters: Prevents rankings or clicks being mistaken for final business outcomes.

See also: Conversion; lead; UTM parameter.

Learn more: /local-seo-measurement/

B

Backlink

A clickable link from another website to your website. A backlink is different from a citation: a business mention can exist without a link, and a link can exist without a full business citation.

Why it matters: Relevant links can contribute to authority and discovery.

See also: Citation; Local Link Building.

Learn more: /local-link-building/

Baseline

A dated record of performance before a meaningful change. It may include Search Console data, Business Profile performance, rankings, enquiries, quotes or jobs depending on the question being measured.

Why it matters: Gives later comparisons context, without automatically proving causation.

See also: Geo-grid; Google Search Console.

Learn more: /local-seo-measurement/

BreadcrumbList

A Schema.org type for representing an ordered breadcrumb trail. A breadcrumb shows a page’s place within a site hierarchy.

Why it matters: Can describe visible breadcrumb navigation when implemented accurately.

See also: Schema markup; structured data.

Learn more: /technical-local-seo/structured-data/

Business address

The physical address associated with a business. In Google Business Profile, whether that address should be public depends on how customers are genuinely served.

Why it matters: Service-area businesses that do not serve customers at the address should follow current address-hiding guidance.

See also: Service-area business; storefront business.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/storefront-vs-service-area/

C

Cannibalisation

An SEO term for situations where multiple pages from the same site overlap strongly enough in intent that ownership becomes unclear or performance is diluted. Not every case of two pages ranking for a query is automatically a problem.

Why it matters: Useful when deciding whether to consolidate or clarify page roles.

See also: Keyword mapping; canonical page owner.

Learn more: /local-keyword-research/keyword-mapping/

Canonical page owner

LetsBuzzMedia editorial shorthand for the one URL that owns a particular main search/user intent. It is a content-governance concept, not a Google product term.

Why it matters: Helps prevent overlapping pages competing to answer the same question.

See also: Keyword mapping; cannibalisation.

Learn more: /local-keyword-research/keyword-mapping/

Canonical URL

The preferred URL for a piece of content when multiple URLs are identical or substantially similar. Google can choose a canonical based on several signals; a canonical link element is a hint, not an instruction Google must always follow.

Why it matters: Helps consolidate duplicate URL signals.

Canonicalisation

The process of consolidating multiple duplicate or near-duplicate URLs around a preferred canonical URL. It can involve redirects, canonical link elements, internal links and sitemap consistency.

Why it matters: Reduces unnecessary duplicate URL versions.

Case study

A documented account of a real project, starting position, actions, evidence, results and limitations. A useful case study separates what happened from what can actually be claimed as the cause.

Why it matters: Adds first-hand evidence without pretending one example proves a universal rule.

Citation

An online mention of a business and its identifying information, commonly including some combination of name, address and phone number. A citation may or may not include a backlink.

Why it matters: Helps maintain a coherent business identity across important platforms.

See also: NAP; backlink; structured citation.

Learn more: /local-citations/

Click

In Search Console, a click generally records a user clicking a Google Search result that leads to the site, subject to Google’s result-specific counting rules.

Other platforms define clicks differently.

Why it matters: A useful visibility/traffic metric, but not the same as an enquiry or customer.

Conversion

A completed action that the business chooses to measure, such as a qualified form submission, call, booking or sale. The exact definition should match the business goal.

Why it matters: Connects traffic and visibility to useful outcomes.

Crawl

When a search engine fetches a page or resource so it can process the content.

Crawling does not guarantee that the page will be indexed or rank.

Why it matters: A page must generally be discoverable and accessible before it can be considered for indexing.

Crawlability

How easily search-engine crawlers can discover and access a site’s important URLs. Navigation, links, robots rules, server responses and technical errors can affect crawlability.

Why it matters: Poor crawlability can prevent important content being fetched reliably.

D

Distance

One of the main concepts Google currently describes for local ranking: how far a business is from the location used for the search. If the searcher’s location is not supplied directly, Google uses what it knows about location.

Why it matters: Helps explain why Maps visibility can change from one search point to another.

See also: Proximity; relevance; prominence.

Learn more: /local-seo/ranking-factors/

Doorway page

A page created mainly to funnel search users through highly similar pages or destinations rather than provide substantial standalone value. Google’s spam policies should be checked for the current wording and examples.

Why it matters: Important when scaling service-Location Pages.

See also: Location page; scaled content.

Learn more: /location-pages/doorway-pages/

Duplicate content

Content that is identical or substantially similar to content available at another URL. Duplicate content does not trigger a generic automatic “duplicate content penalty” simply because duplication exists, but duplicate URLs can create indexing, canonicalisation and user-value problems.

Why it matters: Manage duplication according to why it exists and which URL should be preferred.

See also: Canonicalisation; thin content.

Learn more: /technical-local-seo/

E

E-E-A-T

Industry shorthand for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness, concepts used in Google’s Search Quality Rater Guidelines. It is not a public Google score that a site can calculate and should not be presented as a simple direct ranking formula.

Why it matters: A useful quality lens for thinking about credible, first-hand and trustworthy content.

G

GA4

Google Analytics 4, Google’s current analytics platform for measuring website and app interactions. Whether and how a UK business uses analytics should consider implementation quality, consent and privacy requirements.

Why it matters: Can help measure site behaviour and conversions beyond Search Console.

Geo-grid

An industry term for a local rank-tracking method that checks the same query from many geographic points and displays the results on a grid or map. It is not a Google Business Profile product or a Google ranking metric.

Why it matters: Useful for diagnosing geographic visibility and proximity effects.

See also: Rank tracker; proximity; baseline.

Learn more: /local-seo-measurement/geo-grid/

Google Business Profile (GBP)

Google’s product for eligible businesses to manage how business information can appear on Google Search and Maps. It was previously widely known as Google My Business (GMB).

Why it matters: A core local-search business record; eligibility and representation should match the real business.

See also: Service-area business; primary category.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/

Google Maps

Google’s mapping and local-discovery product. Business information can appear in Maps and can also feed local results in Google Search.

Why it matters: A major surface for local discovery, but visibility varies by query and location.

Google Search Console

Google’s first-party service for understanding how a website performs in Google Search and for monitoring crawling/indexing information. The Search results Performance report includes metrics such as clicks, impressions, CTR and average position.

Why it matters: Useful for query, landing-page and search-visibility analysis.

H

Homepage

The main entry page at the root of a website. For a local business it normally explains the business, core offer, main geographic context, proof and paths to key services.

Why it matters: Often owns the broad brand/service proposition rather than every individual service or town query.

Hybrid business

In Google Business Profile terminology, a business that serves customers at its business address and also visits or delivers to customers directly. The premises must genuinely operate as a customer-facing location for the public-address representation to be appropriate.

Why it matters: Determines how address and service-area settings should be handled.

See also: Storefront business; service-area business.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/storefront-vs-service-area/

I

Impression

In Search Console, an impression records that a link or search result for the site was shown under Google’s counting rules for that result type. An impression is not the same as a click or visit.

Why it matters: Useful for understanding search visibility and demand trends.

Index

As a noun, a search engine’s stored collection of pages and information that may be eligible to appear in results. As a verb, indexing is the process of processing and storing information about a page.

Why it matters: A crawled page is not guaranteed to be indexed.

Indexability

Whether a page is technically eligible to be indexed. Noindex directives, canonicalisation, server responses, duplication and quality considerations can all affect whether a URL appears in Google’s index.

Why it matters: Useful when diagnosing why a page is not appearing in Search.

Internal link

A link from one page on a website to another page on the same website. Internal links help users navigate and help search engines discover pages and understand site relationships.

Why it matters: Important for hubs, service architecture and avoiding orphan pages.

K

Keyword

An SEO research term for a word or phrase used to represent a search topic or query group. Real users submit queries; SEO tools often group those queries into keywords for research and planning.

Why it matters: Useful for demand research, but one keyword does not automatically deserve one page.

Keyword mapping

The process of assigning groups of related search intents or keyword themes to the most appropriate existing or planned URLs. It is not a one-keyword-onepage exercise.

Why it matters: Helps define page ownership and prevent unnecessary URL multiplication.

See also: Cannibalisation; canonical page owner.

Learn more: /local-keyword-research/keyword-mapping/

L

Lead

A potential customer who has made a meaningful enquiry or taken another action that moves them into the sales process. Businesses should define what counts as a qualified lead rather than treating every click as one.

Why it matters: Connects Local SEO activity to commercial outcomes.

Local content

Content that is useful because it reflects genuine local business activity, customer needs, places, projects or expertise. It should not be confused with adding town names to generic copy.

Why it matters: Real jobs, photos and questions can provide stronger firsthand material than templated location filler.

Local Finder

Common industry shorthand for the expanded list/map view of local businesses reached from Google’s local results. Interface names and layouts can change, so use the term descriptively rather than treating it as a guaranteed fixed product label.

Why it matters: Helps distinguish the expanded local interface from the smaller Local Pack.

Local link building

The process of earning or acquiring legitimate links from relevant local, community, supplier, membership, media or industry sources. The goal is useful authority and relationships, not raw backlink volume.

Why it matters: Can strengthen discovery and authority when the links reflect real relationships.

Local organic results

The standard web results shown for a search with local intent, separate from the map-based Local Pack. A business can appear in local organic results through normal website pages even when its Maps visibility differs.

Why it matters: Local SEO includes both map-based and organic visibility.

Local Pack

The map-based group of local business results that Google can show within Search for queries with local intent. The exact layout and number of visible businesses can change.

Why it matters: It is separate from the normal organic web results below or around it.

See also: Local organic results; Google Maps.

Learn more: /google-maps-seo/

Local search

A search where the user is looking for a business, service, product or place connected to a geographic area or nearby need. The location may be explicit in the query or inferred from context.

Why it matters: Local intent changes which results and business information are most useful.

Local SEO

The work of improving a real local business’s visibility and usefulness across local search surfaces, including Google Business Profile/Maps and locally relevant website results. It combines accurate business data, relevant content, authority, technical foundations and measurement.

Why it matters: The goal is useful visibility that can lead to real business outcomes, not a proprietary score.

See also: Google Business Profile; Local Pack.

Learn more: /local-seo/

LocalBusiness schema

Schema.org vocabulary for describing a local business entity and its properties.

Using Schema.org vocabulary does not by itself make a page eligible for a particular Google search feature; Google’s current structured-data documentation controls feature eligibility.

Why it matters: Use only when the markup accurately describes the entity represented on the page.

See also: Schema markup; structured data.

Learn more: /technical-local-seo/structured-data/

Location page

A website page created to serve a meaningful geographic user intent, such as a real branch or a genuinely useful service-area landing page. A location page is not the same thing as a Google Business Profile service area.

Why it matters: It should have standalone value and real business relevance.

See also: Service-area page; doorway page.

Learn more: /location-pages/

N

NAP

Industry abbreviation for Name, Address and Phone number. NAP consistency is about keeping the business’s genuine identity accurate across important sources; service-area businesses should not publish a private address just to satisfy old citation practices.

Why it matters: Useful for business-identity consistency.

Near me search

A local-intent search using wording such as “near me” or otherwise relying heavily on the searcher’s location. The business does not need to create pages stuffed with “near me” phrases to be relevant.

Why it matters: Location and proximity can strongly shape the result set.

Noindex

A directive that tells compliant search engines not to index a page. It is commonly provided through a robots meta tag or HTTP header. A page blocked from crawling may not allow the crawler to see the noindex directive.

Why it matters: Useful for intentionally non-indexable content but harmful when placed accidentally on important pages.

O

Orphan page

A page with no normal internal links pointing to it from the rest of the website.

Search engines may still discover it through sitemaps or external links, but users and crawlers have a weaker navigation path.

Why it matters: Often signals weak site architecture or forgotten content.

P

Practitioner profile

A Google Business Profile for an eligible individual professional who is publicly facing and can be contacted at a verified location, subject to Google’s current practitioner guidelines. Eligibility varies by situation.

Why it matters: Useful for some professional practices, but should not be created merely to multiply profiles.

Primary category

The main Google Business Profile category that best describes the business.

Google currently advises choosing the most specific available category that represents the core business.

Why it matters: Categories can affect relevance and available profile features.

Prominence

One of the main concepts Google currently describes for local ranking. Google explains it as how well known a business is and says signals can include information such as links, reviews and ratings.

Why it matters: It is not a published numeric score or formula.

Proximity

Industry shorthand for the geographic closeness between the search location and a business. It is closely related to Google’s published “distance” concept but is not the same as a Business Profile service area.

Why it matters: Helps explain why a business can rank differently across a town or region.

See also: Distance; service area; geo-grid.

Learn more: /google-maps-seo/proximity/

Q

Query

The actual words or characters a user enters into a search engine. Search Console groups performance by query, although some query data is anonymised or omitted for privacy and technical reasons.

Why it matters: Use real query data to understand how people find the site.

R

Rank tracker

A third-party tool that checks where a page or business appears for selected searches. Local rank tracking can be useful diagnostically, but results depend on location, device, settings and methodology.

Why it matters: Do not confuse third-party rank data with first-party Google performance metrics.

Redirect

A server or browser mechanism that sends a user or crawler from one URL to another. Redirects can be temporary or permanent depending on the status and purpose.

Why it matters: Essential for many URL changes and migrations.

See also: 301 redirect; canonicalisation.

Learn more: /technical-local-seo/

Relevance

One of the main local-ranking concepts Google describes: how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. Google recommends complete, detailed and accurate business information to help it understand the business.

Why it matters: Relevance should reflect the real business, not keyword stuffing.

Review

Public feedback or a rating left by a customer or user on a platform such as Google. Reviews can help customers evaluate a business and are subject to the platform’s content and fake-engagement policies.

Why it matters: Review strategy should focus on genuine customers and neutral requests.

See also: Review gating; review velocity.

Learn more: /reviews/

Review gating

An industry term for filtering customers before asking for a public review, typically directing only positive customers to review platforms while diverting unhappy customers elsewhere. It can create manipulation and policy risk.

Why it matters: Use neutral review requests instead of pre-screening sentiment.

Review velocity

Industry shorthand for the rate at which a business receives reviews over time.

It is useful descriptively, but it should not be presented as a confirmed Google ranking formula or as a quota the business must hit.

Why it matters: Monitor patterns without inventing a required number of reviews per week or month.

Robots.txt

A file at the root of a site that gives crawlers instructions about which paths they may crawl. It is a crawling control, not a reliable method for keeping a page out of Google’s index.

Why it matters: Use noindex or appropriate access controls when the goal is non-indexing, depending on the situation.

S

Scaled content

Content produced at large scale primarily to manipulate search rankings rather than help users. Google’s current spam policies describe scaled content abuse as large amounts of unoriginal, low-value content regardless of how it is created.

Why it matters: Relevant to mass-generated Location Pages and automated content systems.

Schema markup

Structured data added to a page using a vocabulary such as Schema.org. JSONLD is a common format, but the underlying vocabulary and the search engine’s feature eligibility rules are separate things.

Why it matters: Markup should describe visible content accurately rather than exist as an SEO decoration.

See also: Structured data; LocalBusiness schema.

Learn more: /technical-local-seo/structured-data/

Search intent

The underlying goal behind a search: for example, learning, comparing, finding a provider, visiting a place or completing a transaction. Several different keyword wordings can share the same intent.

Why it matters: Intent should guide page ownership more than raw keyword variations.

Service area

In Google Business Profile, the geographic area where a service-area or hybrid business says it provides products or services. It is a profile setting and customer information - not an automatic website page and not a promise of ranking throughout that area.

Why it matters: Keep it aligned with genuine operations.

See also: Service-area business; location page.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/service-area-business/

Service page

A website page focused on a distinct service, problem or service group. It should exist because the service intent deserves a useful answer, not merely to repeat keywords.

Why it matters: Service architecture normally comes before geographic expansion.

Service-area business (SAB)

A business that visits or delivers to customers directly and does not serve customers at its own business address. Google currently uses this model for businesses such as cleaning services or plumbers.

Why it matters: Address visibility and profile setup differ from a storefront.

See also: Hybrid business; storefront business.

Learn more: /service-area-business-seo/

Service-area page

A website location page for a place genuinely served by a travelling business. It should provide useful standalone local/service information; it is not the same as adding that place to the Google Business Profile service area.

Why it matters: Use a qualification process before creating one.

Service-location keyword

A keyword or query pattern combining a service with a place, such as “electrician Leeds”. The existence of the phrase does not automatically justify a dedicated URL.

Why it matters: Map the intent before creating pages.

See also: Keyword mapping; location page.

Learn more: /local-keyword-research/

Spam policy

Rules Google publishes to protect Search from practices intended to manipulate rankings or mislead users. The policies change over time and should be checked at the source before making a policy claim.

Why it matters: Relevant to link schemes, scaled content and other manipulative patterns.

Storefront business

A local business where customers genuinely visit and are served at the physical premises. For Google Business Profile, a public address should correspond to a real eligible customer-facing location.

Why it matters: A home, depot or registered office is not automatically a storefront.

See also: Service-area business; hybrid business.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/storefront-vs-service-area/

Structured citation

A business citation presented in a standard listing format with fields such as name, address, phone, category and website, commonly found in directories or mapping platforms.

Why it matters: Easier to compare and maintain than free-text mentions.

See also: Citation; unstructured citation.

Learn more: /local-citations/

Structured data

Machine-readable information added to a page to describe its content and entities using a defined vocabulary. Schema.org provides vocabulary; search engines separately decide which structured data can enable particular search features.

Why it matters: Accuracy matters more than adding every available type.

See also: Schema markup; LocalBusiness schema.

Learn more: /technical-local-seo/structured-data/

T

Thin content

Common SEO shorthand for content that provides little useful substance for its intended user. It is not a Google product name and there is no universal word-count threshold that makes a page thin.

Why it matters: Judge usefulness, originality and intent satisfaction rather than length alone.

See also: Duplicate content; scaled content.

Learn more: /local-content/ai-and-scaled-content/

U

Unstructured citation

A business mention that appears naturally in prose rather than in a standard directory field set, for example in a local news article, sponsor page or community website.

Why it matters: Can reinforce real-world business identity and local relationships.

See also: Citation; structured citation.

Learn more: /local-citations/

UTM parameter

A query-string parameter added to a URL to label campaign source, medium or other attribution information for analytics. UTM conventions do not change the underlying page content and should be used consistently.

Why it matters: Can help separate traffic from Business Profile or campaigns in analytics.

V

Verification

The process Google uses to confirm that a person is authorised to manage a Business Profile. Available verification methods can vary and Google may require additional verification after important changes.

Why it matters: Needed for profile management and some performance data.

Virtual office

A rented address or office arrangement that does not function as the business’s genuine staffed customer-facing location. Google currently states that a rented physical postal address where the business does not operate is not eligible as a profile location.

Why it matters: Do not use a virtual office to manufacture local presence.

See also: Business address; storefront business.

Learn more: /google-business-profile/eligibility/

X

XML sitemap

A machine-readable file that lists URLs a site wants search engines to know about. A sitemap can aid discovery and monitoring, but it does not guarantee indexing and is not a replacement for crawlable internal links.

Why it matters: At launch it should normally contain completed canonical indexable URLs intended for Search.

Commonly confused terms

GBP service area vs website location page

A GBP service area is profile information describing where a service-area or hybrid business says it operates. A website location page is a web URL that must justify its own user value. Adding a town to one does not automatically require adding it to the other.

Citation vs backlink

A citation is a business mention/identity reference. A backlink is a clickable link to a website. A source can provide both, either or neither.

Proximity vs service area

Proximity describes geographic closeness between the search location and the business. A service area is information the business supplies about where it serves customers. Setting a larger service area does not remove distance from local ranking.

Canonical vs redirect

A canonical indicates a preferred URL among duplicates, but users can still access the non-canonical URL unless something else changes. A redirect actively sends the browser/crawler to another URL. Use the mechanism that matches the real URL change.

Crawl vs index

Crawling is fetching a page. Indexing is processing/storing information so a page may be eligible to appear in results. Crawled does not automatically mean indexed.

Local Pack vs local organic

The Local Pack is the map-based business result module. Local organic results are standard web results for a locally relevant query. A local business can perform differently across the two surfaces.

Ongoing maintenance rule

Add a glossary term when it is genuinely needed across published content, not because a keyword tool produced another wording variation. Keep anchor IDs stable once other guides deep-link to them. Review product names, Google policy terminology and platform-specific definitions when those sources change.