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TL;DR
A useful local SEO report explains whether potential customers are finding your business, whether the resulting enquiries are suitable, and what needs attention next. It should connect the numbers to decisions you can make. A collection of ranking screenshots leaves too much of that work to you.
Start with the service and area you want to grow. A Yorkshire electrician might want more planned installation enquiries within a practical travelling distance. A salon might want bookings for a particular treatment. Those goals require different evidence, even if both businesses want greater local visibility.
Ask for three separate views
The first view is search visibility. Which relevant searches show your website, and which service pages receive clicks? Google's Search Console performance report records clicks, impressions, click-through rate and average position. An impression is visibility, not a visit or an enquiry.
For AI visibility, check the separate Generative AI performance report in Search Console. It reports impressions in supported Search AI features by page, country, date and device. It may not appear when the site has too few AI impressions. These impressions are already included in the Search results report, so do not add them again to its total. Review the Search generative AI control if the site is excluded. These reports do not establish visits or completed enquiries.
The second view is your Google Business Profile. Useful measures can include profile website clicks, call-button clicks and directions requests, depending on the business. Google's performance definitions explain what these actions represent. A call-button click does not establish that someone spoke to you or booked work.
The third view is the business outcome. How many genuine enquiries arrived? How many concerned a service you provide, in an area you cover? Which became appointments or accepted quotes? Where practical, keep a simple enquiry record alongside website tracking. Avoid including customer names or contact details in a widely shared report.
Keep these views separate. Adding website submissions to profile call clicks can produce an impressive total while counting different actions, possibly by the same person.
Check the measurement before judging the result
Ask what counts as an enquiry. A click on a submit button may happen before a form rejects missing information. A successful submission can still fail to reach the right inbox. Test the route and compare recorded events with messages actually received. The website enquiry form checklist covers that practical check.
The report should identify tracking gaps. Consent choices, incomplete setup and enquiries made through other routes can leave an incomplete picture. Missing measurement should be labelled as missing rather than presented as zero activity.
Separate branded searches where useful. People looking for your business by name have a different relationship with it from someone comparing providers for the first time. Neither group is worthless; the distinction helps explain where growth is coming from.
Make local comparisons honest
Search Console's country dimension does not provide a street-level or town-by-town Maps ranking. Searches containing “Barnsley” can indicate an interest in that area, but do not prove where the person searched from.
If a report uses local rank observations, ask for the query, location, device and date. Keep those conditions consistent when comparing snapshots. A result seen from one location cannot stand for everyone across your service area.
Compare periods that make sense for the business. Holidays, opening hours, service availability and seasonal demand can all change enquiry volume. A quiet week deserves investigation when something looks wrong, but it should not automatically trigger a rewrite of every service page.
Finish with a decision and an owner
A short action table is often enough:
| Observation | Question to investigate | Possible next action |
|---|---|---|
| Relevant service clicks increased but suitable enquiries stayed flat | Can visitors understand the offer and complete an enquiry? | Review the service page and test the contact route. |
| Enquiries arrived from areas you cannot serve | Is geographic coverage clear? | Clarify coverage in the service information. |
| A key service page lost visibility | Did the page, tracking or search demand change? | Check the evidence before selecting a remedy. |
These are examples, not conclusions about your website. Record the agreed action, who will handle it and when it will be reviewed. Keep a note of completed changes so later reports can explain what happened without claiming that every movement was caused by the latest edit.
If your reports leave you unsure what to do next, contact Phil Carr. Share your business goal and the reporting problem. A tailored quote can cover a review, tracking investigation or ongoing organic SEO support suited to the work required. If a page or profile seems missing, start with the Google visibility checks.
