How to Build a Local SEO Competitor Analysis Spreadsheet

A local SEO competitor analysis spreadsheet is a structured document that captures the key ranking signals of competing businesses – Google Business Profile metrics, review scores, citation counts, keyword rankings, and on-page signals – in one place so you can compare your position and prioritize actions. Building one takes two to three hours the first time and becomes the foundation of every optimization decision you make afterward. This guide walks through every step, from identifying competitors to interpreting the data.

Key Takeaways

• A local SEO competitor analysis spreadsheet tracks six categories of data: Google Business Profile metrics, review signals, citation health, keyword rankings, backlinks, and on-page signals.
• Limit your initial competitor list to three to five businesses – enough to surface patterns without making the project unmanageable.
• Review count and average rating together are stronger predictors of local pack performance than either signal alone.
• Citation consistency across directories is a ranking signal; a competitor with 80 consistent citations outperforms one with 200 inconsistent ones.
• Each spreadsheet row should represent one competitor; each column group should represent one data category, so filtering and sorting reveal gaps instantly.
• Keyword rankings should be tracked at the city or neighborhood level, not nationally – local rankings differ significantly by proximity.
• The spreadsheet is only useful if it drives a prioritized action list; treat the gap analysis output as a task queue, not a reference document.

Step 1: Define What You Are Measuring and Why

Before opening a spreadsheet, decide which data categories belong in it. A local SEO competitor analysis covers six distinct areas, each answering a different question about why a competitor ranks where it does.

Local SEO competitor analysis is the process of examining the ranking signals, online presence, and content strategies of businesses that appear ahead of yours in local search results – including Google Maps, the local pack, and geo-targeted organic results – in order to identify gaps and prioritize your own optimization efforts.

The six data categories to track are:

1. Google Business Profile (GBP) signals – categories, attributes, photo count, post frequency, Q&A entries
2. Review signals – average rating, total review count, response rate, recency
3. Citation health – number of directory listings, NAP consistency, citation sources
4. Keyword rankings – local pack position and organic rank for target keywords by city or neighborhood
5. Backlink profile – total referring domains, domain authority, local link sources
6. On-page signals – title tags, location-specific content, schema markup, page load speed

Each category gets its own column group in the spreadsheet. That structure makes it easy to sort by any single signal – such as sorting by review count to see which competitors are furthest ahead on that factor alone.

Step 2: Identify Your Local Competitors

A local competitor is any business that appears in Google Maps, the local pack, or geo-targeted organic results for the same keywords your business targets – regardless of whether it is a direct business rival in your industry.

Local competitors are not always the businesses on the same street. A hotel might compete with a booking platform for local search terms. A clinic might compete with a health directory. The businesses to track are the ones ranking in local results, not necessarily the ones competing for the same customers offline.

To find them, search Google for your three to five most important keywords – include your target city or neighborhood. Note every business that appears in the local pack, Google Maps results, and the top five organic positions. Run the same searches across three to five keyword variants. Any domain that appears more than once across different keywords deserves a row in your spreadsheet.

Limit your initial list to three to five competitors. Analyzing more than five makes the project unwieldy and rarely adds insight in the first round. You can expand the list once the process is established.

Consistent local citation data helps search engines match a business across directories – a competitor strong in citations is worth prioritizing in your analysis.

Step 3: Set up Your Spreadsheet Structure

Create a new spreadsheet with one row per competitor, plus a row for your own business at the top. Use the following column structure, organized into labeled groups using merged header cells or color coding.

Column Group	Columns to Include
Business Info	Business name, website URL, Google Maps URL, primary GBP category
GBP Signals	Secondary categories, photo count, total posts (last 90 days), Q&A count, attributes listed
Review Signals	Average rating, total review count, reviews in last 90 days, owner response rate
Citation Health	Estimated citation count, NAP consistency score (1–5), top citation sources present
Keyword Rankings	Local pack position per keyword, organic rank per keyword
Backlink Profile	Referring domain count, top linking domains, presence of local links
On-Page Signals	Title tag includes city, schema markup present, location page exists, page speed score
Gap Score	Formula-calculated summary (explained in Step 6)

For the keyword columns, create one column per keyword you track. If you track five keywords, you will have five local pack position columns and five organic rank columns. Label each clearly: "Local Pack – [keyword]" and "Organic – [keyword]."

Use conditional formatting to highlight cells where a competitor scores significantly higher than your business. Red for a gap of more than 20 percent, yellow for 10 to 20 percent. This makes weaknesses visible at a glance without manual review of every cell.

Step 4: Collect and Populate the Data

Work through each competitor row by row, filling in one column group at a time rather than one competitor at a time. Batching by data type is faster because you use the same tool or process for all competitors before switching to the next.

Google Business Profile Data

Open each competitor's GBP listing directly in Google Maps. Record the primary and secondary categories (a browser extension like GMB Everywhere surfaces secondary categories that are not visible by default), the number of photos, and how recently they posted. Count Q&A entries. Note which attributes they have enabled – things like "women-led," "outdoor seating," or "accepts new patients" depending on the industry.

Review Signals

Record the average rating and total review count directly from the GBP listing. To estimate the owner response rate, scroll through recent reviews and count responses as a percentage of the last 20 reviews. Note the date of the most recent review; recency matters to Google's local algorithm.

Citation Health

Citation consistency is the degree to which a business's name, address, and phone number (NAP) appear identically across all online directories, maps, and listings – inconsistency in any of these fields weakens the trust signals used by search engines to verify a business's location and legitimacy.

For each competitor, check their presence in the major directories relevant to your market: Google, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Yelp, Facebook, and any industry-specific directories. Note which ones they appear in. Assign a NAP consistency score from 1 (significant inconsistencies) to 5 (fully consistent) based on what you find. Structured local citation sources differ in authority and relevance – prioritize the directories where your competitors have the strongest presence.

For African markets specifically, also check local directories relevant to the region alongside global platforms.

Keyword Rankings

Search each of your target keywords in Google while logged out or in incognito mode, with location set to your target city. Record each competitor's position in the local pack (1, 2, or 3) and their organic ranking if they appear on page one. For more precise local rank data across a service area, a local search grid tool shows ranking positions at the neighborhood level, which matters in dense urban markets where proximity heavily influences results.

Destinali offers local rank tracking as part of its local visibility tools, which is useful for monitoring these positions over time rather than capturing a single point-in-time snapshot.

Backlink Profile

Use a free tool like Ahrefs' backlink checker or Moz's Link Explorer to pull the referring domain count for each competitor's domain. Record the total count and note any local referring domains – local business associations, local news sites, and city-specific directories carry particular weight for local rankings.

On-Page Signals

Visit each competitor's location page or homepage. Check whether the city name appears in the title tag, whether they use LocalBusiness schema markup (right-click, view source, search for "schema.org"), whether they have a dedicated location-specific page, and what their mobile page speed score is via Google PageSpeed Insights.

Step 5: Add a Gap Analysis Formula

Once all competitor rows are populated, add a gap score column that calculates where your business is furthest behind. Use a simple weighted formula based on the factors that most strongly influence local rankings.

A practical weighting:

Signal	Weight
Review count gap	25%
Average rating gap	20%
Citation count gap	20%
Keyword ranking gap (local pack)	20%
GBP completeness gap	15%

For each signal, calculate the percentage by which the top competitor outperforms your business. Multiply by the weight. Sum across all signals to get a composite gap score per category. The category with the highest weighted gap score is where you have the most ground to make up relative to competitors who are actually ranking.

For example, if the top competitor has 340 reviews and you have 45, the review count gap is significant. If their average rating is 4.7 and yours is 4.6, the rating gap is negligible. The formula surfaces these distinctions numerically so you are not guessing at priorities.

Step 6: Interpret the Data and Prioritize Actions

The spreadsheet is only useful if it produces a ranked list of actions. After completing the gap analysis, identify the three signals where your business is furthest behind the leading local competitor. Those three become your first optimization priorities.

Common findings and their corresponding actions:

• Review count gap: Implement a structured review request process – ask at the point of service, follow up by text or email, and respond to every existing review within 48 hours.
• Citation consistency gap: Audit your existing listings for NAP errors before building new ones. A business with 50 consistent citations outperforms one with 150 inconsistent ones.
• GBP completeness gap: Add secondary categories your competitors use, upload more photos (aim for at least 10 high-quality images), enable all applicable attributes, and publish at least one post per week.
• Keyword ranking gap: Build or improve location-specific pages targeting the keywords where you lag. Strong location landing pages improve both local pack and organic visibility for geo-targeted searches.
• Backlink gap: Identify the local referring domains pointing to competitors and pursue the same sources – local business associations, chambers of commerce, and city-specific directories.

Treat the output as a task queue. Assign each action an owner, a deadline, and a measurable target. Return to the spreadsheet monthly to update competitor data and track whether your gaps are closing.

What to Do Now

1. Make a copy of a blank spreadsheet and set up the six column groups described in Step 3 before you collect any data.
2. Run your three to five most important keywords in Google incognito and record every local pack and top organic result – this is your competitor list.
3. Fill in GBP and review data first; these are the fastest to collect and most immediately actionable.
4. Add the gap formula once all rows are populated, and let it produce your ranked priority list.
5. Schedule a monthly update – local rankings shift, and a snapshot that is more than 30 days old may no longer reflect current competitive positions.

Local businesses across Africa, the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, and the Philippines that take a structured approach to competitor analysis consistently find that the gaps are more specific and addressable than they expected – the problem is rarely "everything," but rather two or three concrete signals where focused effort moves the needle.

To get more visibility across local search and stay ahead of competitors, you can create a free listing on Destinali and be found where customers are searching.

FAQ

What Columns Should a Local SEO Competitor Analysis Spreadsheet Include?

A local SEO competitor analysis spreadsheet should include columns for Google Business Profile data (categories, photo count, post frequency), review signals (average rating, total count, response rate), citation health (directory count, NAP consistency), keyword rankings by city, referring domain count, and on-page signals like schema markup and location-specific pages. Organizing these into color-coded column groups makes the spreadsheet easier to scan and filter.

How Many Competitors Should I Track in My Spreadsheet?

Track three to five competitors to start. This number is large enough to reveal consistent patterns – such as which signals all top-ranking businesses share – without making data collection unmanageable. Once your process is efficient, you can expand to ten or more, but three to five is sufficient for the first round of analysis.

How Do I Find My Local SEO Competitors?

Search your three to five most important keywords in Google incognito mode with your target location active. Any business appearing in the local pack, Google Maps, or the top five organic results for multiple keywords is a local SEO competitor worth tracking. Businesses that appear across several different keyword searches deserve the most attention in your analysis.

How Often Should I Update My Competitor Analysis Spreadsheet?

Update the spreadsheet monthly. Local rankings shift frequently due to algorithm updates, competitor activity, and changes in review volume. A spreadsheet that is more than 30 days old may no longer accurately reflect your current competitive position or highlight the right priorities.

What Is NAP Consistency and Why Does It Affect Local Rankings?

NAP consistency refers to whether a business's name, address, and phone number appear identically across all online directories, maps, and listings. Search engines use NAP data to verify that a business is legitimate and correctly located. Inconsistencies – such as a different phone number on Yelp than on Google – introduce conflicting signals that reduce trust and can suppress local rankings. A business with 80 fully consistent citations typically outranks one with 200 inconsistent ones.

How Do I Calculate a Gap Score for My Spreadsheet?

Assign a weight to each ranking signal based on its influence – for example, 25 percent for review count, 20 percent each for citation count, keyword ranking, and average rating, and 15 percent for GBP completeness. For each signal, calculate the percentage by which the top competitor outperforms your business, then multiply by the weight. Sum across all signals to get a composite gap score. The category with the highest score is your highest-priority optimization area.

Do I Need Paid Tools to Build a Local SEO Competitor Analysis Spreadsheet?

No. Most of the data can be collected manually using Google Search in incognito mode, direct inspection of Google Business Profile listings, and free tools like Google PageSpeed Insights and Ahrefs' free backlink checker. Paid tools speed up the process and add precision – particularly for citation counts and keyword tracking across large service areas but the core spreadsheet can be built without them.

What Should I Do After Completing the Spreadsheet?

Identify the three signals where your business is furthest behind the leading competitor and treat those as your first optimization priorities. Assign each gap a specific action, an owner, and a measurable target. Return to the spreadsheet monthly to update competitor data and confirm whether your gaps are narrowing. The spreadsheet is only valuable when it drives a prioritized action list, not when it sits as a reference document.