Local Marketing Ontology: Key Terms, Definitions, and Knowledge Base
Comprehensive Glossary of Local Marketing Terms
A
Algorithm (Local Search): The mathematical formulas and machine learning models search engines use to determine local search result rankings, weighing factors including relevance, distance, and prominence.
Apple Maps: Apple's native mapping application and local business directory, serving as an important citation source and discovery platform for iOS users.
B
Beacon: A Bluetooth Low Energy device that broadcasts signals to nearby smartphones, enabling micro-location targeting and indoor navigation within physical business locations.
Business Description: The narrative text on business listings explaining services, history, and unique value propositions, typically limited to 750 characters on Google Business Profile.
C
Citation: Any online mention of a business's Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP), serving as a trust signal for local search algorithms regardless of whether a link is included.
Category (Business): Primary and secondary classifications on business listings indicating industry and services, with Google offering over 4,000 predefined categories.
Click-to-Call: A mobile feature allowing users to initiate phone calls by tapping phone numbers displayed in search results or on websites.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): The practice of increasing the percentage of website visitors who take desired actions, such as filling out contact forms or making purchases.
D
Data Aggregator: Companies that collect and distribute business information to multiple directories, including Data Axle, Neustar/Localeze, Foursquare, and Factual.
Directory: An online platform listing businesses by category and location, ranging from general directories like Yelp to industry-specific platforms like Avvo for attorneys.
Distance: One of Google's three primary local ranking factors, measuring the geographic proximity between the searcher and business location.
E
E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Google's quality evaluation criteria increasingly applied to local businesses, particularly for Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) industries like healthcare and legal services.
Editorial Description: A business description written by directory staff rather than the business owner, common on platforms like Yelp where editorial oversight maintains quality standards.
G
Geo-Tagging: The process of adding geographic metadata (latitude and longitude coordinates) to digital content such as photos, videos, or social media posts.
Geofencing: Creating virtual boundaries around physical locations to trigger marketing actions when users enter, exit, or dwell within defined areas.
Geotargeting: Delivering content or advertisements based on the geographic location of the user, utilizing IP addresses, GPS coordinates, or user-specified locations.
Google Business Profile (GBP): Google's free business listing platform, formerly Google My Business, enabling businesses to manage their presence across Google Search and Maps.
Google Local Pack: The map-based search results displaying three local businesses with their locations, ratings, and contact information for location-specific queries.
I
Insights: Analytics data provided by Google Business Profile showing how customers find and interact with business listings, including search queries, photo views, and action clicks.
Internal Linking: The practice of linking between pages within a website to distribute authority and help search engines understand site structure and content hierarchy.
K
Knowledge Panel: The information box appearing on Google search results for branded queries, displaying business details, images, reviews, and key facts sourced from Google Business Profile and other databases.
Keywords (Local): Search terms incorporating geographic modifiers such as city names, neighborhoods, or "near me" indicators that signal local search intent.
L
Local Citation Finder: Tools that scan the web for business mentions, identifying existing citations, detecting inconsistencies, and discovering new citation opportunities.
Local Pack: See Google Local Pack.
Local SEO: The practice of optimizing online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches, encompassing technical, content, and off-page optimization strategies.
Location Page: Dedicated website pages for individual business locations in multi-location enterprises, optimized for location-specific keywords and containing unique NAP information.
M
Map Pack: Alternative term for the Google Local Pack, referring to the three business listings accompanied by a map in local search results.
Meta Description: The HTML attribute providing a brief summary of webpage content, displayed in search results and influencing click-through rates.
Mobile-First Indexing: Google's approach of using the mobile version of website content for indexing and ranking, reflecting the dominance of mobile search.
N
NAP (Name, Address, Phone): The core business information that must remain consistent across all online listings to maximize local search visibility and avoid confusing search algorithms.
NAP Consistency: The practice of ensuring identical formatting of business name, address, and phone number across all citations and listings.
O
Organic Results: Traditional search results appearing below the Local Pack and paid advertisements, ranked based on relevance and authority rather than paid placement.
P
Phone Tracking: Systems using unique phone numbers for different marketing channels to attribute calls to specific campaigns and measure ROI.
Prominence: One of Google's three primary local ranking factors, measuring a business's overall reputation and authority based on reviews, backlinks, and brand recognition.
Proximity: The geographic distance between a searcher and business location, a critical factor in local search ranking algorithms.
Q
Q&A (Questions and Answers): The feature on Google Business Profile allowing potential customers to ask questions and business owners or the community to provide answers.
R
Rank Tracking: Monitoring search engine positions for target keywords, with local rank tracking simulating searches from specific geographic locations.
Ratings: Numerical scores (typically 1-5 stars) assigned by customers on review platforms, aggregated and displayed in search results.
Reviews: Customer-written feedback about business experiences, serving as both ranking signals and conversion influence factors.
Relevance: One of Google's three primary local ranking factors, measuring how well a business listing matches the searcher's query intent.
S
Schema Markup: Structured data vocabulary added to website HTML to help search engines understand content context, including LocalBusiness schema for geographic entities.
Service Area Business (SAB): Businesses that serve customers at their locations rather than at a physical storefront, such as plumbers, cleaners, or mobile pet groomers.
Social Signals: Social media engagement metrics (likes, shares, comments) that may indirectly influence local search visibility through increased brand awareness and traffic.
T
Title Tag: The HTML element specifying webpage titles, displayed in browser tabs and search results as the clickable headline for a page.
U
User-Generated Content (UGC): Content created by customers rather than the business, including reviews, photos, Q&A entries, and social media mentions.
V
Voice Search: Search queries conducted through voice assistants (Siri, Google Assistant, Alexa), typically featuring more conversational, long-tail keyword patterns.
W
Website Authority: A measure of a website's overall strength and trustworthiness, calculated from backlink profiles, content quality, and user engagement metrics.
Taxonomies and Classification Systems
Citation Types
Local marketing citations can be classified by their source type and authority level:
- Primary Data Aggregators: Data Axle, Neustar/Localeze, Foursquare—sources that distribute to hundreds of downstream directories
- Tier 1 Directories: Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook, Bing Places, Apple Maps—platforms with high domain authority and direct consumer usage
- Tier 2 Directories: Yellow Pages, Superpages, Citysearch, Merchant Circle—general directories with moderate authority
- Industry-Specific Platforms: Healthgrades (healthcare), Avvo (legal), TripAdvisor (hospitality)—niche directories with high relevance for specific verticals
- Local/Regional Directories: Chamber of commerce websites, local business associations, city guides—geographically focused platforms
Geotargeting Methodologies
Geotargeting approaches can be categorized by their underlying technology:
- Network-Based: IP address geolocation, cellular tower triangulation, Wi-Fi network mapping
- Device-Based: GPS coordinates, GLONASS (Russian GPS alternative), Galileo (European system), BeiDou (Chinese system)
- Hybrid Approaches: Assisted GPS (A-GPS) combining satellite and network data, Wi-Fi positioning systems (WPS)
- Proximity-Based: Bluetooth beacon detection, NFC (Near Field Communication) tap interactions, RFID (Radio-Frequency Identification)
Local SEO Ranking Factors
Google's local ranking algorithm weights factors across three primary categories:
- Relevance Signals: Business category selection, keyword usage in descriptions, service attributes, website content relevance, Q&A content
- Distance/Proximity Signals: Physical address location, service area definitions, searcher location relative to business, location data accuracy
- Prominence Signals: Review quantity and quality, average star rating, citation volume and consistency, backlink profile, brand mention volume, social media presence
Conclusion
This ontology provides the foundational vocabulary and classification frameworks necessary for understanding and executing local marketing strategies. Mastery of these terms enables practitioners to communicate effectively with colleagues, clients, and technology platforms while implementing sophisticated local marketing campaigns grounded in established best practices and technical standards.