Local SEO pricing
Local SEO Pricing: What It Costs and What You Should Get
By Jim Robbins, co-founder of Iron Pixel · Updated November 6, 2026
Most small businesses pay $500 to $1,500 a month for local SEO from an agency. Industry surveys of SEO providers by Ahrefs (2024) and SE Ranking with Duda (2025) found the most common monthly retainer is $500 to $1,000. Iron Pixel's local SEO is on the Grow plan at $400 a month, and that price also includes your website, hosting and maintenance, with a one-time $1,000 setup.
Free website mockup before you pay anything · Launch in 3–7 business days · $1,000 setup
What local SEO costs in 2026
| Pricing model | Typical price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Monthly retainer (most common) | $500–$1,000/mo | Ahrefs survey of 439 SEO providers (2024); SE Ranking & Duda survey of 260 agencies (2025) |
| Agencies under $1,000/mo | 64% of agencies surveyed | SE Ranking & Duda (2025) |
| Average local SEO retainer | About $1,557/mo | Ahrefs (2024) |
| Average revenue per local client, first year (US) | About $799/mo | BrightLocal Local Search Industry Survey (2023) |
| One-time project (audit or setup) | $500–$2,000 | SE Ranking & Duda (2025) |
| Iron Pixel Grow | $400/mo + $1,000 setup, website included | Our pricing |
Prices rise with competition, the number of locations and how many services you need to rank for. A roofer in a metro area costs more to rank than a dog groomer in a small town.
What local SEO should include at any price
- Google Business Profile work. The right primary category, Google's predefined services, accurate hours, photos and posts.
- A page for each service you sell. Written for the searches buyers use, with real proof: projects, photos and the areas you actually serve.
- Consistent listings. Your name, address and phone the same across Google, Apple Maps, Bing, Yelp, Facebook and industry directories.
- Technical basics. Fast mobile pages, clean titles, schema markup, a sitemap and pages AI crawlers can read.
- Reporting on leads, not just rankings. Calls, texts and form submissions by page and source, every month.
Iron Pixel local SEO plans
| Plan | Monthly | What's included |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | $200/mo | Custom website, mobile-first design, Google Business Profile optimization, quote forms, secure hosting & maintenance, ongoing support, social media integration |
| Grow (most popular) | $400/mo | Everything in Launch + keyword targeting for your services and area, local ranking work, 3–5 professionally written blogs a month, 50+ directory listings and backlinks (Apple Maps, Yelp, Bing and more), Google review monitoring |
| Dominate | $600/mo | Everything in Grow + AI authority building, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews |
Local SEO starts on Grow. Every plan includes your website, hosting and maintenance, so there's no separate website bill. $1,000 one-time setup, 12-month agreement.
Red flags in local SEO pricing
- Guaranteed #1 rankings or guaranteed map-pack placement
- Adding keywords to your Google Business Profile name that aren't part of your real business name, which violates Google's guidelines
- Dozens of near-identical city pages for towns you don't serve, which Google's spam policies treat as doorway pages
- Press releases or guest posts stuffed with keyword links
- Reports that show impressions and rankings but never calls or leads
- A price you can only get after a long sales call
How long local SEO takes
In our experience, Google Business Profile fixes can move map rankings within weeks, improvements to pages that already rank show up within one to three months, and new pages and links take six to twelve months. Anyone who promises faster is guessing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does local SEO cost per month?
Most small businesses pay $500 to $1,500 a month from an agency, and surveys put the most common retainer at $500 to $1,000. Iron Pixel's local SEO plan is $400 a month and includes your website and hosting.
Is $400 a month enough for local SEO?
For a single-location small business in a normal market, yes, when the work is focused on your Google Business Profile, service pages, listings and tracking. Very competitive markets or multiple locations need more.
What's included in Iron Pixel's local SEO?
On the Grow plan: keyword targeting for your services and area, local ranking work, 3–5 professionally written blogs a month, 50+ directory listings and backlinks, Google review monitoring, plus your website, hosting and Google Business Profile optimization.
Do I have to sign a contract?
Yes, plans are a 12-month agreement. If you ever leave, we transfer your website and domain to you.
Does local SEO help me show up in ChatGPT?
It helps, because AI assistants lean on your website, Google Business Profile and listings. The Dominate plan ($600/mo) adds optimization specifically for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
Related pages
Find out what it would take to rank in your area
Call or text and we'll check where you rank today for your main searches and show you a free mockup of your new site. Local SEO from $400/month, website included.