How to Analyze Your Local Competitors on Google Maps

Understanding where you stand relative to your local competitors on Google Maps is an essential foundation for any local SEO strategy. This analysis doesn’t require complex paid tools — most of it can be done directly in Google. Here is a structured method to do it effectively.

Why Analyze Your Local Competitors

Local competitive analysis serves several purposes:

Understanding why certain competitors appear first in the Local Pack
Identifying gaps between your listing and theirs
Spotting opportunities they are not exploiting
Setting realistic targets (number of reviews, categories, attributes)

This is not about copying your competitors, but about understanding the standards in your local market so you can meet them — and then exceed them.

Step 1: Identify Your Real Competitors on Google Maps

Start with a simple search: type your business type and your city into Google (e.g., “plumber Austin”, “accounting firm Denver”). Look at the 3 results in the Local Pack — these are your priority competitors.

Then open Google Maps and search for the same query. Note:

The listings that appear at the top of the map
Those that appear in the list below the map
Those that appear when you pan around your area

List 5 to 10 direct competitors. These are the ones you will analyze.

Step 2: Analyze Your Competitors’ Google Business Profile Listings

For each competitor, open their GBP listing and examine the following elements.

Business Name

Some competitors include keywords in their business name (e.g., “Austin Plumbing & Emergency Repair — Martin’s”). This is a common practice, sometimes against Google’s guidelines, but worth observing.

Review Count and Rating

How many reviews do they have?
What is their average rating?
How long have they been accumulating reviews?
Do they respond to reviews (both positive and negative)?

A competitor with 200 reviews at 4.7 stars vs. one with 30 reviews at 4.2 — the gap is significant and gives you a concrete target.

Photos

How many photos do they have?
Are they recent?
Do they cover different aspects (premises, team, completed work, products)?

Services and Attributes

Scroll down the listing. What services have they filled in? What attributes (wheelchair access, contactless payment, outdoor seating, etc.)? These elements influence search filters.

Google Business Posts

Are they publishing posts regularly? What type of content? How often?

Questions & Answers

What questions are customers asking them? The answers give clues about the concerns of your shared target audience.

Step 3: Analyze Their Website

The GBP listing is only the visible part. Visit each competitor’s website.

Site Structure

Do they have pages dedicated to each service?
Do they have pages for each geographic area they serve?
Do they have a blog with local content?

Visible Local Optimization

Is the city and service area present in H1 headings?
Do they have a clear map and address?
Do they use LocalBusiness Schema markup?

Trust Signals

Do they display certifications or badges?
Customer testimonials?
Portfolio or case studies?

Step 4: Identify Opportunities

Once data is collected, build your comparison table.

Criterion	You	Competitor A	Competitor B	Competitor C
Number of reviews
Average rating
Photo count
Active GBP posts
Service pages
Geographic pages

The boxes where all your competitors are weak represent your fastest opportunities. For example, if no competitor has an active local blog, that’s an open door for differentiation.

Step 5: Monitor Regularly

Competitive analysis is not a one-time exercise. Repeat it every 2 to 3 months to:

Detect if a competitor is gaining ground
Observe new practices (new category, new GBP feature being used)
Measure your own relative progress

Useful Tools for Ongoing Monitoring

Google Alerts: set up alerts on your competitors’ names to track their mentions
Whitespark Local Rank Tracker: tracks your positions in local results vs. your competitors
BrightLocal: comprehensive local analysis tool including GBP position tracking

Pitfalls to Avoid

Don’t blindly copy: if a competitor uses a questionable practice (keyword stuffing in the business name), that’s no reason to follow suit. Google eventually penalizes these tactics.

Focus only on actionable metrics: review count, photos, filled-in services — these are things you can act on. A competitor’s 20-year brand authority is much harder to close quickly.

Only compare yourself to true competitors: analyze businesses that actually operate in your area and target the same customers — not national players or large chains.

Conclusion

Analyzing your local competitors on Google Maps is a strategic exercise that gives you a clear picture of where you stand and what to do next. By combining direct observation of GBP listings with website analysis, you quickly identify the priority levers to improve your local visibility. Make this analysis a regular appointment in your marketing calendar.

How to Analyze Your Local Competitors on Google Maps