Glossary · 30 terms · 2026
Local SEO Glossary
for small businesses.
30 terms from local SEO 2026: Google Business Profile, Local Pack, NAP, citations, attributes, LocalBusiness schema, Google reviews. For businesses that want to understand the terminology used when optimizing visibility in Google Maps and local search results.
Google Business Profile (GBP)
Google Business Profile is a free business profile in the Google ecosystem (Maps + Search), managed by the owner. It contains the name, address, phone, hours, photos, posts, reviews, and attributes. Formerly Google My Business (GMB). It is the fundamental local visibility tool in 2026.
Local Pack
Local Pack is the block of the 3 best local business results displayed at the top of the Google page for queries with local intent. It comes from the Google Business Profile database. On mobile, customers usually do not scroll past these 3 results. For a small local business the Local Pack is the strongest source of traffic.
NAP (Name, Address, Phone)
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone. Three business details that must be identical across all online sources: GBP, the website, social media, and industry directories. An inconsistency (e.g. "ul. Marszałkowska 1A" vs "Marszalkowska 1a") dilutes authority in Local Pack ranking.
Citations (NAP citations)
Citations are mentions of a business online containing the NAP (even without a link). They can be in industry directories, local portals, social media, and maps. The number and quality of citations is one of the signals of business prominence in Local Pack ranking. Polish directories with citations: Aleo, PanoramaFirm, GoWork, industry-specific.
GBP Attributes
Google Business Profile attributes are predefined business features: parking, delivery, takeaway, open now, accepts cards, wheelchair ramp, WiFi, pet-friendly. Each industry has its own set of attributes. Filled-in attributes are a potential match for user queries such as "restaurant with parking Mokotow".
Knowledge Panel
Knowledge Panel is the panel of information about a business, person, or brand shown on the right side of Google search results. For businesses, it comes from a combination of GBP + schema.org Organization + Wikidata + Wikipedia. For a small local business, the Knowledge Panel is a sign of strong entity recognition by Google.
E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness)
E-E-A-T is the framework Google uses to evaluate page quality (since 2022 with "Experience" added to EAT). It rewards content created by experts with documented experience. For a small business: Person schema for the author, jobTitle, founderOf, sameAs, regularly updated content.
LocalBusiness Schema
LocalBusiness schema is a JSON-LD type identifying the page as a local business with address, phone, and hours. Narrower types: Restaurant, Dentist, LodgingBusiness, BeautySalon, ProfessionalService. LocalBusiness schema is a technical duplicate of GBP data, but Google uses it as a confirmation signal.
AggregateRating
AggregateRating is a schema.org type indicating the average rating and number of reviews for a business, product, or service. When implemented correctly, Google shows stars in the search results ("rich snippets"). It requires real data: you must not invent numbers or add reviews that do not exist.
Local Services Ads (LSA)
Local Services Ads are paid Google ads displayed ABOVE the Local Pack, marked "Sponsored". Available for selected industries (plumbers, lawyers, electricians, dentists). They require license verification. Lokal360 does not handle LSA; we focus on organic positions in the Local Pack.
GBP Posts
GBP Posts are mini-articles published on the Google Business Profile, displayed on the listing. Four types: Update, Offer, Event, Product. Up to 1500 characters of text plus 1 photo and a CTA. Weekly posts reinforce the listing's activity signal, one of the Local Pack ranking factors.
Q&A on Google listing
Q&A is a section on the GBP listing where users ask public questions. The owner can (and should) answer. Strategy: the owner asks 3-5 typical questions themselves and answers them, plus responds to customer questions within 24-48h. Q&A appears in search results as a rich snippet.
Bookings with Google
Bookings with Google is online booking integration with the business listing. The customer can book a visit, table, or service directly from Maps. It requires a partner booking system (Reserve with Google partners). Lokal360 integrates its own Standard System with RWG for selected industries (restaurants, beauty salons).
Hreflang
Hreflang is an HTML attribute indicating the language version of a page to the search engine. For a small local business in Poland, `lang="pl-PL"` is usually sufficient. For international businesses (Lokal360 for guesthouses serving DE/EN/RU/UK tourists): full hreflang per language version signals to Google which version to show per region.
Map Pack vs Local Pack
Map Pack and Local Pack are synonyms denoting the same block of 3 map results at the top of Google Search for local queries. Some industry publications use "Map Pack" (formerly 7 results, now 3), others "Local Pack" (Google's terminology). In practice these are the same results.
Local SEO ranking factors
Local ranking factors fall into 3 groups: relevance (how the listing matches the query), distance (from the user), prominence (business authority). Under each group Google hides about 200 technical signals. The strongest: complete GBP, fresh reviews 4.5+, LocalBusiness schema, NAP consistency.
Google Reviews
Google Reviews are customer reviews on the GBP listing. The strongest trust signal in 2026. Ranking criteria: number of reviews (more = better), average rating (4.5+ is the threshold), freshness (regular inflow), owner responses, keywords in the review text. First-year goal: 30-50 reviews 4.5+.
Review schema
Review schema is a JSON-LD type marking reviews on the company website. It requires: author, datePublished, reviewRating (1-5), reviewBody. AggregateRating combines all Reviews into one rating. Lokal360 implements Review per case study and AggregateRating on service pages.
GBP Insights
GBP Insights is the Google Business Profile analytics panel showing: how many people viewed the listing, how many clicked phone, website, or directions, what queries surfaced the profile, where customers come from. For a local business Insights is the main source of marketing data (replacing Google Analytics for some industries).
Service Area Business (SAB)
Service Area Business is a GBP profile type for businesses without a permanent address publicly shown (e.g. a photographer travelling to the client, plumber, online tutor). You indicate the cities served. A pin on the map does not appear, but the listing displays for local queries from those cities.
Apple Business Connect
Apple Business Connect is a free business profile in the Apple ecosystem (Maps + Siri + Spotlight). Introduced in 2023. For businesses in Poland in 2026 it is still secondary, but growing. Setup takes 30 minutes, once for good. Bing Places is the analogous option for the Microsoft ecosystem.
Bing Places for Business
Bing Places is a free business profile in the Microsoft Bing ecosystem. A secondary signal in PL (Bing has 3-5% share), but important in certain industries. You can import GBP data in 1 minute via "Sync from Google Business Profile" in the Bing Places panel.
Google Map embed (iframe)
Google Map embed is the embedding of an interactive Google Map on your own website via an HTML iframe. A signal for Google: the site links to the business location. Lokal360 inserts a map with a pin on every business website in the contact section, as standard in the package.
Local link building
Local link building is the acquisition of backlinks from domains associated with the business region: local news portals, tourist associations, city offices (.gov.pl), universities (.edu.pl). .gov.pl and .edu.pl backlinks are particularly strong signals of local authority. For a guesthouse in the Pieniny: links from GOPR, Pieniny National Park, local tourist office.
Featured Snippet
Featured Snippet is a content fragment selected by Google as the direct answer to a query, displayed ABOVE the first organic result. Usually with a link to the source. For local businesses, capturing a Featured Snippet for queries "how", "how much", "what is" requires answer-first content (a short answer in the first 2 sentences of the article).
People Also Ask (PAA)
People Also Ask is the section of related questions below the first Google results. Each expands into a mini Featured Snippet with an answer and a link to the source. For a small business, capturing a position in PAA equals free traffic from adjacent queries. It requires FAQ schema with specific questions and answers.
Search intent
Search intent is the user's intent behind the query. Four main types: informational ("what is", "how"), navigational ("Lokal360"), transactional ("buy", "order", "price"), comparative ("vs", "or", "difference"). For a small business the site should cover all four intents: blog (informational), home (navigational), pricing (transactional), vs (comparative).
Long-tail keywords
Long-tail keywords are long, specific phrases with low competition and higher intent. E.g. instead of "dentist" (short, brutal competition) we use "dentist Mokotow open evenings until 9pm". For a small local business long-tail is the main source of organic traffic, easier to rank for.
Geofencing in marketing
Geofencing is the restriction of ads and communication to a geographic area around the business location. Used in Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Microsoft Ads. For a small local business, geofencing 5-10 km around the office or venue yields 3-5x higher conversion than ads without geo-targeting.
Local SEO audit
Local SEO audit is the systematic check of all elements of local presence: GBP completeness, LocalBusiness schema, NAP consistency, reviews, citations, local backlinks, Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, hreflang. Lokal360 performs the audit as standard in the Care Standard package and as a one-off from 490 PLN.
Related Lokal360 glossaries
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