01
The Shortlist Is Three Names
The local pack is the map and three listings. Fourth does not get the call, however good the accounts are.
Local SEO for accountants
Local SEO for Accountants Is the Map, Not a Blog
A business owner searches accountant near me on a phone. Three firms appear, with stars and a button to call. Local SEO is the work of being one of them, in the streets you actually serve.
Why good firms stay invisible
The Town Is Searching. The Listing Is Not Ready.
02
Your Own Street Flatters You
Searching from the office is the kindest point on the map. The estates and the retail park can tell a different story.
03
The Old Address Is Still Out There
Name, address and phone disagree between Google, the website and a directory from the last office. That is enough to look unfinished.
The page you control
Start with the Google Business Profile
Category: Accountant. Services in the client’s words: year-end accounts, VAT, payroll, self assessment, limited companies. Hours that are true. A description that names the town once. Photos of the actual practice. The profile auditor shows the gaps. The AI wizard turns them into steps you can accept. Commission another brochure after that, not before.
What Keeps a Listing Alive After the Tidy-Up
A finished profile goes quiet again if nobody replies, nobody posts, and the old suite number is still on Yell.
Reviews Are How People Choose
Stars are not vanity. They are how a nervous owner picks between two similar firms. Ask after the accounts meeting. Reply to the year-end complaint. Never buy a star.
A Post Is a Sign of Life
Six silent weeks and the listing looks closed. The scheduler keeps a weekly update: a deadline, a service, an invitation to call. Not tax advice.
The Details Have to Match
Name, address and phone. Google, the website, Apple, Bing and the UK directories. Citations are the tidy-up when you move. We do not invent directories to pad a package.
Proof on the listing
An Unanswered Review Is Part of Local SEO
The person comparing two accountants will read the reply, not your about page. The autoresponder follows the firm’s voice, the speed you set, the star ratings you choose to answer, and the language the review was written in. On managed, a person still reads the queue.
Name, address, phone
NAP, Without the Jargon
If you moved last year, the old suite is still being copied. Until the copies match the door, the map has a reason to doubt you. Citations line them up with the Google Business Profile. They do not replace it. The listing is still what the client sees in the local pack.
The Whole Local System, in One Login
Local SEO for accountants fails when it is split across an agency login, a spreadsheet and a folder of screenshots. This is the same work, visible to the practice.
The Google Listing
Category, services, hours, photos and a description that names the town once.
Profile Auditor
What is missing, before anyone debates a blog post.
AI Wizard
The fixes, one accepted step at a time, in the firm’s voice.
Reviews
Ask after the job. Reply in the language the client used.
Posts
A weekly update on the listing so January does not leave it silent until March.
Citations
Apple, Bing, Yell and the rest, agreeing with the address on the door.
The Geo-Grid
Accountant near me across the town, as a map and a table.
Enquiries
Calls, clicks, direction requests and bookings. Not a guessed fee.
The Fortnightly Note
What moved, which office is quiet, what is still open.
AI Visibility
Whether an assistant names you when someone asks locally.
The newer search
Some of Those Clients Never Open Google
They ask an assistant for an accountant in the town. AI visibility checks whether the practice is named. It is a reading, not a promise. The usual cause of a miss is the same as a weak map position: an unfinished listing, details that do not match, and reviews nobody answered.
One town, or a network
Each Office Has Its Own Map
A group that reports one rank has averaged away the quiet town. Software is priced for the firm: £99, £199 or £349 depending on how many locations you connect. Managed is £249 for each office we run, on top. One managed office is £348 a month, excluding VAT.
For the wider meaning of the term, read SEO for accountants.
Local SEO Questions
What is local SEO for an accountant?
The work of being found by people in your own town: the map pack, the Google Business Profile, reviews, posts, and the same name, address and phone on every directory that copies you. It is not a blog about the VAT threshold.
What is the local pack?
The map and the three listings Google shows for a search such as accountant near me. For many practice owners, that is the only result that matters. Local SEO is how you earn a place in it on the streets you actually serve.
We already rank when we search from the office. Are we fine?
Not necessarily. Google personalises, and your own street is the kindest point on the map. A geo-grid checks the surrounding area. You can be first at the door and absent at the retail park.
What does NAP mean?
Name, address and phone. They should be identical on your website, your Google Business Profile, and every directory that repeats them. A stale suite number is a common reason a listing looks unfinished.
How does AccountancyHQ fit?
It is the software for this work: the auditor, the AI wizard, reviews, posts, citations, the geo-grid, AI visibility and the enquiry numbers. Managed adds a person at £249 per office on top of the subscription. One office, managed, is £348 a month, excluding VAT.
Does local SEO include several offices?
Each office has its own map. A group that reports one rank has not looked. Ten to twenty-nine locations sit on the £349 subscription. Managed, if we run an office, is still £249 there.
Look at Your Own Grid.
Twenty minutes on the listing and the searches around the office. You leave knowing whether the map is the problem, and what it costs to have it run.