Local SEO: how to choose who runs your Google Business Profile
Agency, consultant or platform: what suits you based on your time and budget.
When someone searches for your service nearby, Google shows them a handful of businesses on the map. Being among them depends on how you look after your Google Business Profile: the information, the photos, the reviews and the area content. You can hand it to an agency, to a local SEO consultant or run it with a platform. This guide helps you choose.
No credit card. No lock-in.
Do you need to hire a Google Business Profile agency?
Many businesses open their Google Business Profile, upload four photos and forget about it. Meanwhile, competitors in your area reply to their reviews, post updates and show up ahead of you on Google Maps.
A Google Business Profile agency can handle all of that, but you do not always need one. What matters is that someone looks after the profile every week, and there are ways to get that without paying an agency retainer.
What we do
For many customers, your Google Business Profile is the first thing they see of your business. Here are your options for running it, what to ask of each and how CustomIQ works, so you can choose with sound judgement.
The alternative: technology and control
Your profile always up to date
The platform optimizes your Google Business Profile and keeps it active, with the information and content your local customers look for.
Reviews under control
You follow the reviews you get and answer them in time, because they also count towards your Google Maps ranking.
Area content
Pages and posts built for each area you work in, so you show up when someone searches for your service nearby.
The same tool, whether you or we run it
You can run it yourself on the platform or let our team do it with that same tool. You always see what is being done.
The role of a local SEO consultant for your business
Review your profile and your area
A good local SEO consultant starts by seeing how your business shows up on Google Maps today and what the businesses ranking ahead of you are doing.
Fix and complete
Categories, opening hours, services, photos and description: whatever your profile is missing for Google to understand what you do and where.
Keep it active every week
Posts, review replies and area content. It is the steady work that makes the difference, and it is what CustomIQ does for you.
Clear prices, no small print
The Individual plan costs €97/month and includes local SEO alongside the rest of your marketing, 10,000 credits a month and 1 brand. If you would rather our team handled the strategy, the calendar, the setup and the monthly report, the Fully Managed plan is priced on a custom quote. Prices exclude VAT, paying annually gets you 2 months free and there is no lock-in.
See plans and pricingTrust and security
No agency retainer
You pay your plan, with no extra fees for running the profile.
No lock-in
Cancel whenever you like, with no penalties.
You choose how
Run it yourself on the platform or hand it to our team.
How we work
We run it for you
End to end: strategy, execution and continuous optimization, with no agency fee and no lock-in.
You run it
You get the same tool we use: refined over years of experience and powered by AI, so you can use it from day one with our support.
Other pages on Local SEO (Google Maps & Business Profile)
Problems it solves
I depend on word of mouth and don't know how to get new customers
“If nobody recommends me, nobody comes in.”
My website brings me nothing
“I've had a website for years and nobody has ever contacted me through it.”
I don't show up on Google or ChatGPT when people search for my service
“People search for my trade in my city and others come up.”
Frequently asked questions
- I have no time to update my profile. Would you recommend hiring a Google Business Profile agency?
- If you have no time, what matters is that someone takes care of it, but it does not have to be an agency. With CustomIQ the platform keeps your Google Business Profile active, and if you want nothing to do with it, the Fully Managed plan puts our team in charge of the strategy, the calendar and the monthly report.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to a Google Business Profile agency for ranking my business?
- Yes. The CustomIQ Individual plan costs €97/month (plus VAT) and includes local SEO alongside ads, social media and SEO for one brand. No agency retainer and no lock-in.
- I have tried ads and they do not work. Is it better to invest in ranking my Google Business Profile?
- You do not have to choose. A well-kept Google Business Profile brings you local customers without paying per click, and well-run ads bring you more in the short term. If yours did not work, it is usually down to the audience, the creative or the landing page. With CustomIQ you can work on both in the same plan.
- What is the best all-in-one platform for managing my small business’s local SEO?
- One that lets you run your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your area content from the same place as the rest of your marketing. CustomIQ brings local SEO together with ads, social media, your website and email, so you do not have to pay for or learn several tools.
Questions this page answers
If you have asked yourself any of these, you are in the right place.
- ?Is it worth hiring an agency for my Google Business Profile?
- ?What alternatives to a local SEO agency are there for a small business?
Shall we start?
Start free or tell us about your case on WhatsApp. No agency fee, no lock-in.