Traffic, Reviews, and “Near Me” Visibility: Metrics That Move the Needle in Local SEO

Discover the most important metrics for local SEO success — traffic, reviews, “near me” visibility, and conversions — to boost calls, store visits, and sales.

Whether you have a small chain of fast-casual Mexican restaurants, a family-owned repair shop, or a couple of chic boutiques, a solid local SEO strategy is paramount to your success. But how do you know if your strategy is working and actually having a positive impact on your business? It all comes down to making sure you analyze the right metrics and make adjustments as needed. In this guide, we’ll cover the most important local SEO metrics, what they reveal, and where to find them.

Why Looking at the Right Local SEO Metrics Is Crucial

The wrong metrics can mislead your marketing efforts and waste valuable resources. By focusing on the right ones, you can connect digital visibility to real-world outcomes, like phone calls, driving directions, reviews, and in-store visits. Tracking and adjusting these metrics empowers you to generate measurable, profit-impacting results.

4 Key Metrics for Local SEO Success

1. Traffic with Intent

Not all traffic is created equal, and you want to narrow in on high-intent traffic (clicks-to-call, map clicks, direction requests). Localogy emphasizes that the ultimate goal of a Google Business Profile is to drive those customer actions beyond simple listing visibility.

Here’s why high-intent traffic matters more than total visits:

• It signals strong purchase or visit intent. Someone who clicks to call or to get directions is already partway down the funnel, not just window shopping.
• It helps filter noise. A spike in general website visits might be due to content, social, or branding, but intent metrics isolate the local search audience that’s closer to converting.
• Over time, you can benchmark which locations or campaigns generate the highest intent actions, enabling better budget allocation.

2. Reviews & Sentiment

A detailed research report from Creative News found strong connections between reviews, trust, ranking, and business performance, meaning you can’t ignore review-related metrics. Additionally, SEO Roundtable recently reported that individual reviews are being cited in AI Overviews, making reputation management more critical than ever.

Look beyond star ratings to track:

• Review volume and velocity (steady growth signals trust).
• Response rates (engagement shows customers you care).
• Sentiment analysis (themes in what customers say, positive or negative).

3. “Near Me” Visibility

“Near me” searches are a goldmine for local businesses. Conversion flows start from local-pack visibility. If you’re not in the map pack, you’re missing a prominent real estate spot where users click and act. Some Google Business Profile (GBP) metrics to track include: 

• Local pack impressions and click-through rate (CTR)
• Conversion actions (calls, direction requests, and visits)
• Rank distribution across multiple locations

These metrics can provide invaluable insight into how your business is showing up and how effective your local presence is at converting visibility into action.

4. Engagement & Conversions

Local SEO makes you discoverable, but you need to pay attention to what happens when you’re found. Track actions like:

• Form fills, appointment bookings, coupon downloads, and offer redemptions. These engagement metrics demonstrate that visibility translates into tangible business results.
• Conversion rates from local queries (how many local-search visitors convert). This number, especially when compared to CTRs from generic queries, enables you to spot weak points: maybe your landing page, offer, or contact flow is inefficient.

Over time, you can analyze which locations, pages, offers, or content types yield higher conversion rates,  allowing you to scale what works and refine what doesn’t.

Wait! What About Impressions?

Impressions are often the first number businesses look at in SEO reports. After all, visibility in search results shows whether your brand is being seen by potential customers. And while impressions alone don’t guarantee calls, visits, or sales, they still play an important role:

• Early Indicator of Visibility: Rising impressions suggest your listings, pages, or profiles are appearing more frequently in local searches.
• Benchmark for Growth: Tracking impressions at the location level helps you understand whether your SEO efforts are expanding reach.
• Context for Performance Metrics: Impressions paired with CTR, calls, or direction requests show whether visibility is translating into action.

The takeaway: visibility is important, but it’s not the finish line. The real power of local SEO comes when impressions lead to meaningful engagement and conversions.

The Role of AI Search in Local Visibility

AI-driven search tools like Google’s AI Overviews and Bing Copilot are changing how consumers find local businesses. Reviews, star ratings, and local content often surface in AI-powered answers. 

Brands that optimize listings, publish consistent geo-modified content, and earn authentic reviews are more likely to appear in these emerging AI search results. Tracking referral traffic from AI surfaces and monitoring visibility in these tools is becoming as critical as traditional SERP monitoring.

Tools for Surfacing Local SEO Metrics

Identifying the right metrics to follow is only half the challenge. You still need to surface and interpret them. 

• Google Business Profile: Track clicks-to-call, direction requests, and profile views.
• Google Analytics & Google Search Console: Monitor organic search traffic, query data, and conversions tied to location pages.
• Third-Party SEO Platforms (Semrush, Moz, etc.): Useful for tracking ranks on traditional SERPs and AI-powered search mentions. 
• Third-Party Review Monitoring (GPO, Birdeye, etc.): Track review volume, sentiment, and responses across multiple platforms.

Grow Your Local Visibility & Discoverability with GPO

Strong local visibility doesn’t happen by accident. It takes the right strategy, tools, and support. At GPO, we specialize in local SEO services that help multi-location businesses show up in “near me” searches, earn more reviews, and drive real-world results like calls and visits. From optimizing your listings to building your local content strategy, we deliver scalable solutions that get your brand found in traditional search, AI chats, and everywhere it matters. 

Get in touch with one of our experts today to learn how we can optimize your online presence for discoverability.