Frequently asked questions
Direct answers. No fluff. If yours isn't here, reply to your scan email and we'll answer within a day.
What is Local Visibility Scanner?
Local Visibility Scanner is a free, AI-powered local-SEO audit tool for small businesses. It scans your Google Business Profile, website, reviews, competitors, and trust signals, then returns a 0–100 Local Visibility Score with the top 3 most damaging issues and one quick win. A paid one-time $9.99 report adds a 30-day action plan, competitor breakdown, AI-drafted Google posts and review replies, and 24+ step-by-step how-tos written for non-technical owners.
How much does it cost?
The scan is free. No credit card, no signup beyond an email for delivery. The full report is $9.99 one-time, no subscription, with a 14-day no-questions refund. Each business gets its own report — you can scan unlimited businesses for free.
What's in the free scan vs the paid report?
Free scan: Local Visibility Score (0–100), breakdown across 5 signal categories, top 3 problems, one quick-win. Paid $9.99 report adds: executive summary written for your business, verified Google Business Profile audit (via Places API), real Google Maps Local Pack ranking position (via SerpAPI), side-by-side competitor comparison, 30-day action plan with weekly milestones, AI-drafted Google posts, review-reply templates, 7 ranked priority fixes, and 24+ step-by-step how-tos.
How long does the free scan take?
About 60 seconds. The system runs 5 scan agents in parallel: website-agent, gbp-agent, review-agent, competitor-agent (up to 3 competitors), and trust-agent. Results display on the page and are emailed.
How long does the paid report take?
About 90–120 seconds after payment. The system re-runs the 5 scan agents with deeper data sources (Places API, SerpAPI Local Pack, multi-page crawl), then a synthesis agent writes the executive summary + 30-day plan, then a how-to agent generates step-by-step instructions for each priority fix. The report displays in-browser and a permanent magic-link is emailed.
Is there a refund?
Yes. 14-day no-questions refund. Reply to your purchase email within 14 days and we refund the full $9.99 — you keep the report either way. No forms, no friction.
Do I need a Google Business Profile to scan?
No, but providing your Google Business Profile URL significantly increases the report's depth. Without it, the GBP signal is honestly labeled "Limited Signal" rather than fabricated. The scan still audits your website, reviews where visible, competitors, and trust signals.
What data sources does the scanner use?
Verified third-party data: Google Places API (categories, rating, reviews, hours, attributes), SerpAPI (real Google Maps Local Pack ranking position), polite Chrome-UA crawl of your website (multi-page in paid tier), and Browserless.io headless-Chrome fallback for JavaScript-only sites. AI analysis is by Anthropic Claude — Sonnet 4.6 for synthesis writing, Haiku 4.5 for extraction and how-to generation.
How is this different from hiring a local SEO consultant?
A local SEO consultant costs $500–$2,000/month and delivers an audit plus ongoing work. The paid report is $9.99 one-time and delivers a comparable-depth audit plus a 30-day plan with step-by-step how-tos a non-technical owner can do themselves. Trade-off: a consultant does the work for you; we tell you exactly what to do and walk you through each step.
How long until I see ranking improvements?
Foundation fixes (homepage title, schema, NAP consistency) usually move Local Pack score within 4–8 weeks. Sustained activity signals (weekly posts, monthly photos, regular reviews) compound over 3–6 months. Local SEO ranking is never guaranteed because Google's algorithm is not contractable — but the signals we audit are documented ranking factors.
Does the scan work for businesses without a website?
Yes. Scan using only a social profile URL (Instagram, Facebook, Linktree, TikTok). The website-agent operates in "social mode" — adapts criteria for social-profile content rather than penalizing for missing schema/NAP, but surfaces "no standalone website" as a high-priority finding since it genuinely limits local visibility.
Can I scan competitors?
Yes — up to 3 competitors per scan. The competitor agent fetches each competitor's website (and, in the paid tier, verified Google Places data) and generates a side-by-side strengths/weaknesses comparison. One of the highest-value parts of the paid report.
Is my scan data private?
Yes. Scan inputs are stored for 30 days so we can send the email magic-link. Paid report data is kept for 1 year for permanent magic-link access. Emails are SHA-256 hashed before any third-party transmission (Meta Conversions API). We do not sell or share data. Cookies are consent-gated — declining marketing cookies means zero Meta Pixel or PostHog tracking.
Question not answered above?
Reply to your scan email — we read every one and respond within 24 hours on weekdays.