Most local businesses know they need to show up in search. Fewer know exactly which searches to target. Local keyword research is different from the general kind: it’s about finding the specific “service + location” and “near me” phrases your customers type when they’re ready to spend money, then making sure every page and your Google Business Profile speaks that language back to them.
This guide focuses specifically on the local angle. If you want the broader picture on organic keyword research for AI search, that guide lives here.
What makes local keyword research different
Local keyword research targets transactional, location-bound intent. A person searching “SEO” might be a student writing an essay. A person searching “SEO agency Brisbane” is looking to hire someone this week. The geography qualifier changes everything: it narrows the audience, raises the intent, and makes the competition manageable for a small business.
The other difference is the search surface. Local queries trigger the Google Map Pack (three local listings above organic results), Google Business Profile panels, and increasingly, AI Overview answers that pull from local data. Targeting the right keywords influences all three.
The “service + location” modifier pattern
The most productive local keywords follow a simple formula: what you do plus where you do it. “Emergency plumber Brisbane,” “family dentist Parramatta,” “commercial electrician Geelong.” These are explicit-location queries that Google maps directly to local businesses.
Start by listing every service or product you offer. Then pair each one with:
- City or suburb name (“roof repair Melbourne,” “roof repair Fitzroy”)
- Region or district (“roof repair inner west Sydney,” “roof repair Northern Beaches”)
- Qualifier + location (“affordable roof repair Melbourne,” “24-hour plumber Newtown”)
A service business operating across multiple suburbs should target each suburb explicitly rather than relying on a single city-level page. A plumber in Brisbane covering Fortitude Valley, West End, and New Farm should have pages (or at minimum, GBP service-area entries) that name each suburb. This is central to multi-location SEO, which covers how to structure those pages without cannibalising your own rankings.
”Near me” searches and proximity intent
“Near me” queries have grown steadily and now cover everything from “pizza near me” to “emergency vet near me.” The intent is pure urgency: the person wants the nearest viable option right now.
You can’t optimise for “near me” the same way you optimise for an explicit location. Google resolves “near me” using the searcher’s device location. Your job is to make sure your Google Business Profile has an accurate address (or service area), your categories are precise, and your site mentions your location naturally in the content. A plumber whose site says “serving the Inner West, including Newtown, Enmore, and Marrickville” is giving Google the suburb signals it needs to match that profile to “plumber near me” searches from those areas.
“Near me” queries now appear at every stage of the funnel, not just the final decision. “Coffee near me,” “physiotherapist near me,” “tax accountant near me” all follow the same pattern. Assume your customers are using it.
Neighbourhood and suburb-level terms
City-level keywords (“dentist Sydney”) are competitive and dominated by aggregators. Suburb-level keywords (“dentist Surry Hills,” “dentist Newtown”) are often much easier to rank for and convert better because the intent is more specific.
These suburb terms matter for three reasons:
- Your Google Business Profile can list multiple service areas, and Google uses them for relevance matching.
- A dedicated location page on your website can rank in organic results for the suburb query even when you can’t always make the Map Pack.
- Suburb mentions in your GBP posts, reviews, and Q&A section reinforce your geographic relevance.
Common mistake: businesses create suburb pages that are near-identical copies with just the location swapped out. Google sees this as thin content. Each location page needs something unique: local context, specific customer problems you solve in that area, or photos from jobs done nearby.
Problem and question phrasing
Not all local searches name the service directly. Many describe the problem. “Tap keeps dripping,” “roof leaking after rain,” “tooth pain when eating.” These question-style searches represent high-intent moments, and a business that answers them gets considered before the searcher even types the explicit service query.
Google’s People Also Ask results show exactly which questions come up around your service area. Search for your core service + location and note every question in the PAA box. Common patterns:
- “How much does [service] cost in [city]?”
- “How long does [service] take?”
- “What’s the difference between [option A] and [option B]?”
- “Is [service] worth it?”
These make excellent FAQ sections on service pages or standalone blog posts that funnel into a service page. A page that answers “how much does a bathroom renovation cost in Melbourne” can attract early-stage researchers and convert them once they’re ready to book.
Google autocomplete and “People Also Ask”
Google’s own interface is one of the best free keyword research tools available. Type your core service and location into Google Search without pressing enter, and the autocomplete dropdown shows the most common completions. These are real queries people are typing.
Work through variations:
- “[service] [city]”
- “[service] near me [city]”
- “best [service] [suburb]”
- “cheap [service] [city]”
- “[service] [city] reviews”
For each one you want to target, note the People Also Ask box. Those questions tell you exactly what else your potential customer is wondering, and answering them on the page strengthens relevance.
Related searches (at the bottom of the search results page) give you a third layer of variations, often surfacing synonyms and adjacent services you hadn’t considered.
GBP Insights: searches that already show your business
If you have a Google Business Profile, you have access to search data you’re likely not using. The Insights section in GBP shows “searches used to find your business”: the actual queries that triggered an impression of your profile.
This data is gold for two reasons. First, it shows you what Google already associates your business with, which tells you where your current profile is winning. Second, it surfaces unexpected queries, often suburb names or service variations you hadn’t explicitly targeted, that you can now build on.
Check it monthly. If a query is driving profile views but not clicks, your profile may not be converting that interest into action. Review your description, photos, and review content to make sure they match the intent behind that query.
Mining competitor profiles
Your competitors’ GBP profiles and websites show exactly what keyword territory they’re targeting. Search for your core service in your area and look at the top Map Pack results. For each competitor:
- Read their business description for the location and service language they use.
- Check their review text: customers often describe the service in exactly the language other customers search for.
- Look at their website’s service pages for keyword patterns.
- Check what categories they’ve selected (you can see primary category in their GBP profile).
Reviews are particularly useful. A plumbing business whose customers write reviews saying “fixed my blocked drain in Newtown same day” is showing you that “blocked drain Newtown same day” is a search worth owning.
Choosing the right Google Business Profile categories is one of the highest-leverage things you can do, and seeing what categories competitors use helps you identify options you might have missed.
How AI is changing local search language
Increasingly, people ask AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity questions that they used to type into Google. Instead of “dentist Bondi,” someone might ask: “What are the best dentists in Bondi that bulk-bill?” Instead of “emergency plumber Brisbane,” they might ask: “Who’s a reliable 24-hour plumber in Brisbane’s inner suburbs?”
These conversational queries are longer and more specific. Businesses that show up in AI answers tend to be the ones whose content directly answers the specific question, not just targets the short keyword. Writing a FAQ section that mirrors how people phrase questions to AI assistants isn’t just good for AI visibility; it also improves your local organic rankings because Google is increasingly rewarding direct-answer content.
Tracking whether you appear in these AI answers is a different exercise from traditional rank tracking. Tools like Fokal run your target queries through AI engines on a schedule, showing you which AI tools are citing your business and where you’re invisible.
Mapping keywords to intent and page type
Not every keyword belongs on the same page. Matching keyword to page type is what makes local keyword strategy work.
| Keyword type | Intent | Best page |
|---|---|---|
| ”emergency plumber Brisbane” | Ready to hire now | Service page or GBP |
| ”plumber Newtown” | Comparing options | GBP + suburb page |
| ”how much does a plumber cost” | Researching, not ready | Blog/FAQ page |
| ”plumber vs electrician for hot water” | Early research | Blog post |
| ”best plumbers Brisbane reviews” | Evaluating options | GBP (reviews) + homepage |
Your Google Business Profile is the right answer for proximity-based searches where the intent is location-first. Your service pages answer specific service queries. Location pages target explicit suburb terms. Blog content captures the question-based and early-research queries.
Sending every keyword to the homepage is the most common local SEO mistake. The homepage rarely out-competes a properly built service or suburb page for specific queries.
A simple local keyword list-building process
Building your list doesn’t require paid tools. Start here:
- List every service you offer, one per line.
- List every suburb and city you serve, in order of importance to your business.
- Combine them: “[service] [suburb]” for every meaningful pairing. This is your foundation.
- Add “near me” variants for your top five services.
- Run each top combination through Google autocomplete and add any new variations you spot.
- Check Google’s People Also Ask for the top two or three combos and note all questions.
- Open your GBP Insights and add any surprise queries showing up there.
- Read your top five competitor reviews and mine them for customer language.
- Group keywords by page: which belong on your GBP, which on service pages, which on location pages, which on blog posts.
This process takes a few hours but gives you a list your competitors have probably never built with this level of intent-mapping. Revisit it every few months as new services, suburbs, or customer questions emerge.
For the broader local SEO picture, beyond keyword research, the local SEO guide covers citations, reviews, GBP optimisation, and how all these pieces connect.
What to do next
Pick your top five service and location combinations from step three above. Search each one in Google and note the Map Pack results, PAA questions, and autocomplete suggestions. That thirty-minute exercise will surface more opportunities than most businesses act on in a year.
- List every service you offer
- List every suburb and city you serve
- Build “service + location” pairs and assign to page types
- Check Google autocomplete and People Also Ask for each top combo
- Review GBP Insights for surprise queries
- Mine competitor reviews for customer language
- Assign each keyword group to the right page: GBP, service page, location page, or blog