LOCUSOLVE | Local SEO Audit Checklist for Canadian Businesses,,,,,,,,,,
"A complete local search check-up: business details, Google Business Profile, website, technical health, measurement, Canadian rules and AI search basics.",,,,,,,,,,
"How to use: work top to bottom. Set Status to Not started, In progress, Done or Not applicable. Give every open item an Owner and a Due date. Fix High priority items first.",,,,,,,,,,
"Version 1.0 | Checked against official sources on 9 November 2026 | Free from locusolve.com/free-resources/seo-templates/ | General guidance, not legal advice",,,,,,,,,,
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ID,Area,Check,Why it matters,How to check,Priority,Status,Owner,Due date,Notes,Reference
A01,Business details,"Business name, address or service area and phone number are identical on your website, Google Business Profile and main directories",Google says complete and accurate information makes a business more likely to appear in local results,Compare each listing side by side. Use the LOCUSOLVE Citation and Directory Tracker for the full list,High,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091
A02,Business details,"Addresses use the Canadian format: street, city, two-letter province code and postal code written as A1A 1A1",A consistent format avoids near-duplicate listings and mismatched details,"Check the footer, contact page, structured data and each directory listing",Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business
A03,Business details,"Opening hours match everywhere, with special hours set for the statutory holidays that apply in your province",Statutory holidays differ by province. Wrong hours send customers to a closed door or an unanswered phone,Compare website and Business Profile hours. Add special hours before each holiday,Medium,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177
A04,Business details,"The service area is described in plain words on the website: the cities, towns or neighbourhoods you really serve",Relevance and distance are two of the three main local ranking factors Google describes,"Read the home page, service pages and contact page as a customer would",Medium,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091
A05,Google Business Profile,The profile is verified and the business owns it from a business-controlled Google account,Verification tells Google you are authorized to represent the business. Ownership protects you if a provider changes,"In Business Profile, check the owners and managers list. The business should be an owner",High,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091
A06,Google Business Profile,"The business name matches the real-world name, with no added keywords, locations, slogans or phone numbers",Google does not permit unnecessary information in the name and it can lead to suspension,"Compare the profile name with your signage, invoices and registration",High,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177
A07,Google Business Profile,The primary category is the most specific one that completes the phrase: this business IS a ...,Google asks for as few categories as possible and the most specific one available,Review the primary and additional categories. Remove any that describe features rather than the business,High,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177
A08,Google Business Profile,Service-area businesses hide their address if customers are not served there,"Google says service-area businesses should hide the address, for example a plumber working from home",Check the address setting and the service areas listed,High,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177
A09,Google Business Profile,"Services, description, attributes and photos are complete and current. The description contains no links",Complete profiles are more likely to appear. Google does not allow links in the description,Open the profile in edit mode and review every section,Medium,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177
A10,Google Business Profile,"Every customer is asked for a review with a direct link or QR code, with no incentives offered",Google prohibits incentives for reviews. Asking everyone keeps reviews genuine,Review your request process with the LOCUSOLVE Review Request and Response Tracker,High,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122
A11,Google Business Profile,"Reviews get honest, prompt replies that never share private information or offer promotions",Google says prompt responses show you value feedback and asks replies to avoid deals and personal details,Check the last 20 reviews and note any without a reply,Medium,,,,,https://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122
A12,Website content,"Each core service has its own page that explains what you do, where, how it works and how to book","Pages need helpful, people-first content to be understood and chosen",List your services and match each one to a page URL,High,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content
A13,Website content,"Every page has a unique, descriptive title, with the brand added once at the start or end","Google recommends unique, descriptive titles without keyword stuffing or boilerplate",Crawl the site or view each page title in the browser tab,Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/title-link
A14,Website content,Important pages have a written meta description that summarises the page,"Google may use it as the snippet under your result, but does not always",View the page source or use a crawler to list descriptions,Low,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/snippet
A15,Website content,"Phone number and address are real text, and the phone number is a tap-to-call link on mobile",Customers on phones need to call in one tap. Text can be read by search engines,Open the site on a phone and tap the number,High,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials
A16,Website content,"Location pages exist only where they add genuinely useful local information, not as near-identical copies",Google treats pages made at scale to manipulate rankings as spam,"Compare your location pages. If only the city name changes, merge or rewrite them",Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
A17,Website content,"Images are relevant, compressed and have descriptive alt text",Alt text helps people using screen readers and helps search engines understand images,Check image sizes and alt text on the main pages,Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/google-images
A18,Website content,"Service pages link to related services, and the home page links to every core service",Internal links help people and crawlers find your important pages,Click through from the home page to every service in two clicks or fewer,Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
A19,Structured data,"LocalBusiness structured data uses the most specific subtype and matches the visible address, phone and hours",Google recommends the most specific subtype and a phone number with country and area code,Test the home or contact page in the Rich Results Test and the Schema Markup Validator,Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/structured-data/local-business
A20,Structured data,No report or quote counts FAQ rich results as a deliverable or result,Google stopped showing FAQ rich results on 7 May 2026,Check old reports and proposals for FAQ schema claims,Low,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/updates
A21,Technical,Every page loads over HTTPS and http addresses redirect to https,"Visitors expect a secure connection, especially on forms",Type the http address of a few pages and confirm the redirect,High,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials
A22,Technical,"Core Web Vitals are good at the 75th percentile: LCP 2.5 seconds or less, INP 200 ms or less, CLS 0.1 or less",These are the thresholds web.dev publishes for a good page experience,Run your main pages through PageSpeed Insights and note mobile results,High,,,,,https://web.dev/articles/vitals
A23,Technical,"Google Search Console is verified, a sitemap is submitted and important pages are indexed",You cannot fix indexing problems you cannot see,"In Search Console, open the Pages report and the Sitemaps report",High,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/sitemaps/overview
A24,Technical,"robots.txt does not block important pages, CSS or JavaScript",Blocked pages and files cannot be crawled or rendered properly,Open yoursite.ca/robots.txt and test key URLs in Search Console,High,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/robots/intro
A25,Technical,"Only one version of each page is used: www or non-www, one trailing-slash style, https",Duplicate versions split signals and confuse reporting,Try each variation of the home page address and confirm they redirect to one,Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/consolidate-duplicate-urls
A26,Technical,"No broken links or error pages on important paths such as services, contact and booking",Broken paths lose enquiries and waste crawling,Use a crawler or the Search Console Pages report,Medium,,,,,https://search.google.com/search-console/about
A27,Measurement,"Calls, form submissions and bookings are tracked as key events in Google Analytics",Rankings are a means. Enquiries are the outcome you need to count,"In Analytics, check that each event fires and is marked as a key event",High,,,,,https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/9267568
A28,Measurement,Search Console queries and pages are reviewed every month,"Shows which searches and pages bring visitors, and which are slipping",Use the LOCUSOLVE Monthly Local SEO Report template,Medium,,,,,https://search.google.com/search-console/about
A29,Measurement,"New customers are asked how they found you, and the answer is recorded","Fills gaps that analytics cannot see, such as calls from the Business Profile",Add a question to your intake form or call script,Low,,,,,
A30,Canadian rules,"If you serve customers in Quebec, your website content for them is available in French on terms at least as favourable",The Charter of the French language applies to commercial websites aimed at Quebec customers. Not legal advice,Review which pages Quebec customers use and whether a French version exists,High if it applies,,,,,https://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/
A31,Canadian rules,Ontario organizations with 50 or more employees meet WCAG 2.0 Level AA on public websites,Required under the AODA for large organizations in Ontario. A good standard for every business. Not legal advice,Run an accessibility check and test the site with a keyboard only,High if it applies,,,,,https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-make-websites-accessible
A32,Canadian rules,"Follow-up emails and texts have consent, identify the business and include a working unsubscribe",Canada's Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) applies to commercial electronic messages. Not legal advice,Review your follow-up and newsletter process,High,,,,,https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/canada-anti-spam-legislation/en
A33,Canadian rules,The privacy policy explains what your forms collect and why,Federal (PIPEDA) or provincial privacy law applies to personal information collected online. Not legal advice,Compare form fields with your privacy policy,Medium,,,,,https://www.priv.gc.ca/en/privacy-topics/privacy-laws-in-canada/the-personal-information-protection-and-electronic-documents-act-pipeda/
A34,Canadian rules,"Staff who review the business or competitors disclose their connection, and no fake reviews are posted","The Competition Bureau says businesses could be liable for misleading reviews, including employee reviews",Brief staff and anyone who markets for you,High,,,,,https://www.canada.ca/en/competition-bureau/news/2024/01/online-reviews-posted-by-employees-businesses-could-be-liable.html
A35,AI search basics,Key content is crawlable text and the Business Profile is current. No special AI files or markup are bought or added,Google says no special markup or machine-readable files are needed for its AI search features,"Check that service details are in page text, not only in images",Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/ai-optimization-guide
A36,AI search basics,"robots.txt rules for AI crawlers are a deliberate choice, and Googlebot is allowed",Blocking the wrong crawler can remove you from search. Google-Extended does not control inclusion in Google Search,Read robots.txt and compare it with Google's list of crawlers,Medium,,,,,https://developers.google.com/search/docs/crawling-indexing/overview-google-crawlers
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"Free template from LOCUSOLVE, Calgary. Want help putting it into practice? Book a free consultation at locusolve.com/book-consultation/ or call 403-383-4306.",,,,,,,,,,