Local SEO software helps a business show up when people nearby search for what it sells. In practice that means four jobs: keeping the business's name, address, phone number and hours correct across Google, Apple Maps, Bing, Facebook, Yelp and the long tail of directories; tracking where the business ranks in the local map pack, street by street; getting and answering reviews; and managing the Google Business Profile itself. Some tools do all four. Others do one job very well and expect you to pair them with something else.
This guide compares six widely used tools for local businesses, multi-location brands and agencies: BrightLocal, Moz Local, Whitespark, Semrush Local, Yext and Birdeye. They are not the same kind of product, and the way each one charges matters as much as the feature list.
Here is what to check before you choose:
- How you are billed. Moz Local and Semrush Local charge per location. BrightLocal charges by bands of locations (1, 2 to 5, 6 to 10 and so on), so the price per location drops as you grow. Whitespark sells separate tools, each with its own subscription. Yext and Birdeye don't publish prices at all.
- Whether listings are synced or just checked. Some plans only audit your citations and tell you what is wrong. Others push your data to directories and keep it there. Some sell citation building as one-time credits on top of the subscription.
- Where reviews sit. Review tools are often on the top plan only, or sold as an add-on. If reviews are a priority, price that plan, not the entry plan.
- Countries. Moz Local covers the US, UK and Canada only. Check directory coverage for your country before you buy anything.
- Rank tracking depth. Geo-grid tracking (a heatmap of your map-pack rank across a grid of points) is now standard, but the limits differ a lot: some plans give a few keywords, others sell credits.
Comparison Table
| Tool | Starting price | Free plan / trial | Pricing unit | Best for | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BrightLocal | $41/month for 1 location ($31/mo billed annually) | 14-day trial, no card | Location bands | Most businesses and agencies | Full toolkit and white label on every plan |
| Moz Local | $20/month per location ($16/mo billed annually) | Not listed for Moz Local | Per location | Single locations in US, UK, Canada | Sync to 90+ directories from $199/year |
| Whitespark | Free Citation Finder plan; Rank Tracker from $14/month billed annually | Free plan; 14-day trials on some tools | Per tool | Local SEO specialists | Citation finder and done-for-you citations |
| Semrush Local | $30/month per location | "Try for free" (length not stated) | Per location | Existing Semrush users | AI agent for Google Business Profile |
| Yext | By quote | Demo | Not published | Enterprise brands | Direct sync to 200+ publishers and LLMs |
| Birdeye | By quote | Demo | Not published (based on locations) | Multi-location customer experience | Listings, reviews and AI agents in one platform |
BrightLocal
BrightLocal is a local SEO platform built for both single businesses and agencies. Its plans are now named Track, Manage and Grow. Every plan includes the core research and reporting tools; the higher plans add listing sync, post scheduling and then reviews. G2 rating: 4.6/5 from 230 reviews.
What it does well for local SEO
The Track plan is unusually complete for an entry plan. It includes the Local Rank Tracker (up to 100 keywords and four competitors per location), the Local Search Grid geo-grid tracker for up to 5 keywords, the Local AI Visibility Tracker, Citation Tracker, Google Business Profile Audit and Local Search Audit. White-labelling, which lets you put your own branding on every tool and report, is included on all plans. So are the Location Summary dashboard, the Google Analytics integration and an Agency Lead Generator widget for agencies' own sites.
Manage adds Active Sync, AI Insights, the GBP Post Scheduler and BrightLocal's APIs. Active Sync pushes your business data to Google (Search and Maps), Apple Maps, Facebook, Bing and Yelp (Yelp in the US and Canada only). It is also sold as a standalone pay-as-you-go add-on, though BrightLocal doesn't publish that price.
Grow adds the reputation tools: review monitoring, review requests by email, SMS and in store, and review showcase widgets for your website. Grow also unlocks the AI Insights API and an MCP server.
Citation building is separate from the subscription. The Citation Builder is pay as you go, with no recurring fees, and you can use it from a free account. It starts at $3.20 per site, or as low as $2 with bulk credits. Submission to five data aggregator networks costs $30 each, with an optional yearly renewal for all five at $120. Updates to existing listings are also $3.20 per listing (as low as $2 with bulk credits).
Pricing
Prices depend on the plan and the number of locations. Annual billing saves 25%.
| Locations | Track (monthly / annual) | Manage (monthly / annual) | Grow (monthly / annual) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $41 / $369 per year | $54 / $485 per year | $65 / $584 per year |
| 2 to 5 | $62 / $558 | $76 / $683 | $87 / $782 |
| 6 to 10 | $83 / $747 | $109 / $980 | $131 / $1,178 |
| 11 to 20 | $104 / $936 | $153 / $1,376 | $197 / $1,772 |
| 41 to 50 | $261 / $2,353 | $384 / $3,455 | $494 / $4,445 |
| 91 to 100 | $524 / $4,716 | $769 / $6,920 | $989 / $8,900 |
Bands continue in steps of 10 locations up to 100. Above 100 locations, pricing is on request. The free trial lasts 14 days with full access, and no credit card is required. BrightLocal doesn't offer refunds for the remaining time on a plan; you can cancel any time and reports stop updating. It also sells a Managed SEO Service at $1,299/month and API solutions at custom prices.
Pros and cons
Pros: the entry plan includes rank tracking, geo-grids, citation audits and white label; location-band pricing gets cheaper per location as you grow; a 14-day trial with no card; and pay-as-you-go citations mean you only pay for the sites you need.
Cons: reviews are on Grow only; citations are an extra cost on top of every plan; no refunds on unused time; and BrightLocal doesn't state user seats or credit allowances on the pricing page.
Who should use it, and who should skip it
Use BrightLocal if you are an agency managing local clients, or a business with between one and 100 locations that wants rank tracking, audits and listings in one place. The band pricing is the reason it wins at multi-location scale.
Skip it if all you want is listing sync for a single shop at the lowest price (Moz Local Lite is cheaper), or if you need a full customer experience platform with ticketing and surveys (look at Birdeye).
Moz Local
Moz Local is Moz's listings and local presence product, sold separately from Moz Pro. Plans are Lite, Preferred, Elite and Enterprise. Each physical location needs its own subscription. G2 rating: 4.2/5 from 476 reviews.
What it does well for local SEO
Moz Local's main job is listing management, and even the Lite plan does it: directory management across "90+ listing directories". Moz's help pages list networks including Google Business Profile, Google Maps, Google Assistant, Facebook, Bing Places and Maps, Apple Maps, Apple Siri, Amazon Alexa, Localeze, Factual, HERE, Garmin, car navigation systems from makers such as Ford, BMW and Mercedes, Nextdoor, Mapquest and Manta. Coverage differs between the US, Canada and the UK.
Lite also includes Local Grid (map pack ranking with a heatmap), review monitoring across all networks and Data Health analytics. That is a lot for $199 a year.
Preferred adds the engagement tools: responding to reviews on Google and Facebook, review generation, review sentiment analysis, social posting and analytics for Google and Facebook, content libraries, competitor analysis and agency permissions. Elite adds posting to Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, Facebook ad boosting, responding to social engagement and a reporting suite.
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly billing | Annual billing | AI add-ons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $20/month | $16/month ($199 billed yearly) | Listings AI $14/month or $119/year |
| Preferred | $30/month | $24/month ($299 billed yearly) | Listings AI $14/month or $119/year; Reviews AI $10/month or $69/year |
| Elite | $40/month | $33/month ($399 billed yearly) | Listings AI included; Reviews AI $10/month or $69/year |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | For 50+ locations, with a dedicated account manager and more directories |
All prices are per location. The price is the same in the US, UK and Canada. Moz Local doesn't list a free trial on its pricing page (the trial offered there is for Moz Pro), and no money-back guarantee is stated. Support is listed on all tiers.
Pros and cons
Pros: the lowest published price for real listing sync, at $199 per location per year; 90+ directories including voice assistants and car navigation; Local Grid and review monitoring on the entry plan; and simple per-location pricing.
Cons: US, UK and Canada only; every location is billed in full, so costs grow in a straight line; AI features are paid add-ons below Elite; and there is no published free trial for Moz Local.
Who should use it, and who should skip it
Use Moz Local if you run one or a few locations in the US, UK or Canada and your main goal is accurate, synced listings at a low price. Preferred is the sweet spot if you also want to answer reviews from the same place.
Skip it if you operate outside those three countries, or if you need deep rank tracking and audit tools for client work. BrightLocal or Whitespark go further there.
Whitespark
Whitespark sells a set of separate local SEO tools rather than one platform. Each tool has its own plans and its own bill, and Whitespark also sells done-for-you citation services. G2 lists its tools separately; Whitespark Local Citation Finder has 4.6/5 from 19 reviews.
What it does well for local SEO
Whitespark's tools are aimed at people who do local SEO for a living:
- Local Rank Tracker tracks local rankings with plans based on "location keywords". Domains and locations are unlimited. There is a 14-day free trial.
- Local Citation Finder finds citation opportunities and checks existing citations. A free Starter plan gives 1 campaign and 3 searches per day with limited results; paid plans rerun campaigns weekly.
- Local Ranking Grids is a credit-based geo-grid tool. One credit is used per grid point per scan, grids range from 4 to 225 points, and unused credits expire each period. The trial gives 200 credits with no credit card needed.
- Reputation Builder handles review requests and monitoring: 3,000 email requests per month (100 per day), up to 3,500 new customers per month, 300 SMS credits and review monitoring on 10 sites.
- Local Platform is a newer Google Business Profile management tool: update notifications, rejecting unwanted changes to your profile, bulk editing, a GBP website builder and import from GBP.
The Listings Service builds and cleans up citations for you, with one-time prices per location and no subscription.
Pricing
Local Rank Tracker (price per month, annual / monthly billing):
| Plan | Location keywords | Weekly updates | Daily updates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Small Business | 100 | $14 / $17 | $20 / $25 |
| Specialist | 250 | $30 / $35 | $42 / $50 |
| Agency | 1,000 | $60 / $70 | $85 / $100 |
| Enterprise | 2,500 | $117 / $140 | $167 / $200 |
Local Citation Finder: Starter is free. Small Business is $33/month billed annually or $39 monthly (5 campaigns, 20 searches a day); Specialist $41 or $49 (10 campaigns); Agency $49 or $59 (20 campaigns); Enterprise $124 or $149 (100 campaigns).
Local Ranking Grids, billed monthly: $10 for 2,000 credits, $20 for 5,000, $50 for 15,000, $100 for 32,000, $150 for 48,000, and $200+ for 65,000+.
Reputation Builder PRO: $79 per location per month. Multi-location pricing is by quote. 14-day free trial for up to 10 locations.
Local Platform: $1 per location per month, billed annually.
Listings Service (US, one-time per location): Premium $399 (cleanup of the top 10 sites and 42 new listings), Comprehensive $599 (top 15 and 80 new), Ultimate $999 (top 100 plus 10 industry or regional sites). Custom packages start from $20+ per location. The Data Aggregator Service is $99 per location, a Yext Replacement Service is $399 per location, and refreshing existing listings costs $2 per listing. Volume discounts run from 5% over $1,000 to 20% over $5,000. All prices are in USD.
Pros and cons
Pros: you buy only the tools you need; the rank tracker allows unlimited domains and locations; a free Citation Finder plan and free trials on several tools; GBP management for $1 per location per month; and a done-for-you citation service if you don't want to do the work.
Cons: no single bundle, so a full stack means several subscriptions; no listing sync network like Moz Local or Yext; Reputation Builder at $79 per location is expensive next to BrightLocal Grow or Moz Local Preferred; and multi-location review pricing is by quote.
Who should use it, and who should skip it
Use Whitespark if you are a local SEO consultant or agency and want specialist tools, especially for citation research and rank tracking across many locations. It is also a good fit if you want citations built for you once rather than a monthly listing subscription.
Skip it if you want one login and one bill for everything, or if you need ongoing automated listing sync.
Semrush Local
Semrush Local is the local toolkit from Semrush, which has been an Adobe company since April 2026. Semrush says there are no changes to existing contracts for now. Local plans are now Base, Pro and Business; older Local plans (Local Basic, Premium and Essentials) are legacy and, according to Semrush's help center, lack some features. You can add Semrush Local to an existing Semrush subscription or buy it on its own. Semrush Local has no separate G2 listing.
What it does well for local SEO
Base centers on the Google Business Profile. Its GBP AI Agent writes and publishes posts, replies to reviews automatically, posts photos and optimizes your description. Base also includes a GBP audit and optimization plan, Map Rank Tracker with 375 credits plus competitor heatmap reports, and a Map Rank Tracker reporting API.
Pro adds Listing Management across "70+ directories" (the US list counts 67, including Google, Apple, Bing, Facebook, Foursquare, HERE, TomTom, Yahoo, Yelp and YP.com), US healthcare directories such as WebMD, Vitals and Wellness.com, duplicate suppression and a listing management API. It also adds review management: monitoring, negative review alerts, review requests by SMS and email, AI replies and competitor review analytics (10 reports a month, 10 competitors each). Bulk GBP editing, team collaboration and location grouping are on Pro too, and Map Rank Tracker goes up to 1,225 credits.
If your team already uses Semrush for keyword research and site audits, having local data in the same account is the main reason to choose it.
Pricing
- Base: $30 per location per month. Includes the GBP AI Agent and 375 Map Rank Tracker credits.
- Pro: $60 per location per month. Adds listings, reviews, bulk GBP management and 1,225 credits.
- Business: custom pricing, custom limits and priority support. The location threshold is not stated.
Both figures are shown the same on the monthly and annual views of the pricing page. Each location needs its own limit. Add-ons: extra users at $20/month, a Base Report at $10/month, a Pro Report at $20/month (white label and 20+ external integrations), and Lead Generation at $90/month. The pricing page offers "Try for free", but the trial length for Local is not stated.
Pros and cons
Pros: the GBP AI Agent automates posting and review replies from the entry plan; 70+ directories on Pro, including US healthcare sites; fits into an existing Semrush account; and Map Rank Tracker comes with a reporting API.
Cons: listings and reviews need Pro at $60 per location; white-label reports and extra users cost extra; no G2 listing of its own; and the Local trial length isn't published.
Who should use it, and who should skip it
Use Semrush Local if your team already works in Semrush and wants local rankings and GBP management next to its other SEO data, or if you want AI to handle routine GBP posts and review replies.
Skip it if you manage many locations on a budget. At 10 locations, Pro costs several times more than BrightLocal Grow (see the cost example below).
Yext
Yext is an enterprise platform. It now markets itself as an "Enterprise Agentic Marketing Platform" covering Listings, Reviews, Social, Pages, Search, Scout (an AI search visibility agent) and Hearsay Social. Listings is the part most local SEO buyers care about. G2 rating: 4.4/5 from 1,124 reviews.
What it does well for local SEO
Yext distributes your business data directly to what it calls "200+ publishers and LLMs", without going through data aggregators. Its Listings Verifier detects errors, duplicates and overwrites. Profiles support 50+ fields, and analytics break down by publisher and location. Yext also compares how AI answers cite you against local competitors. For large teams, role-based approvals and audit trails matter: they control who can change what across hundreds or thousands of locations. There is a mobile app.
Pricing
Pricing is by quote. Yext's main site doesn't publish prices, and its calls to action are "Get a demo" and contact sales. Plan limits for the enterprise platform are not published either. A self-serve listings page at yext.com/plans, which is not linked from the main site and may be legacy, still lists four packages billed at $199, $449, $499 and $999 a year, for up to 10 locations; more locations go to a demo.
Pros and cons
Pros: direct distribution to a large publisher network, including AI platforms; approvals and audit trails for big teams; detailed profile fields and per-location analytics; and a broad platform if you also want pages, search and social.
Cons: no pricing on the main site; built for enterprises, so heavy for a single location; plan gates are not public; and fewer local SEO research tools (rank tracking, citation audits) than BrightLocal or Whitespark.
Who should use it, and who should skip it
Use Yext if you are a brand with many locations that needs central control of listings, approvals and audit trails, and wants your data sent directly to publishers and AI platforms.
Skip it if you are a single business or a small agency. Published-price tools cover your needs for far less paperwork.
Birdeye
Birdeye is a customer experience platform for multi-location businesses. It is now packaged as "BirdAI", with AI "coworkers": Jay for marketing (AI search, reviews, listings, social, chatbot, pages, content), Myna for operations (front desk, appointments, reminders, voice, email and text) and Robin for customer experience (surveys, insights, competitors, ticketing, reporting). G2 rating: 4.7/5 from 4,264 reviews.
What it does well for local SEO
On the listings side, Birdeye has native real-time integrations with Google, Facebook, Apple, Yelp and Bing. Other sites need manual fixes, and Birdeye doesn't publish a directory count. A Listings Optimization Agent, a Reporting Agent and an AI Search Optimization Agent sit on top. The bigger draw is everything around listings: reviews, social, surveys, ticketing and messaging in one place, plus a Birdeye MCP server.
Pricing
Pricing is by quote. Birdeye says pricing is "built around outcomes, not seat counts" and that you "pay only for what you deploy at your locations". The pricing page has a form that asks for your number of locations (from 1 to 3 up to 1,000+). A free trial is not stated; a demo is offered.
Pros and cons
Pros: the highest G2 rating and review count in this list; reviews, listings, messaging and surveys in one platform; AI agents that cover marketing, front desk and customer experience work; and real-time listings integrations with the major platforms.
Cons: no published pricing; fewer listing directories than Moz Local or Yext, with others fixed by hand; plan gates are not public; and less depth for SEO research tasks like citation audits.
Who should use it, and who should skip it
Use Birdeye if you run a multi-location business where reviews and customer messaging matter as much as rankings.
Skip it if you want a local SEO toolkit for rank tracking and citation work, or if you need to see a price before you talk to sales.
Cost Example: One Location vs a 10-Location Brand
These examples use only published prices, billed annually, as shown on each vendor's site on 17 October 2026. Yext and Birdeye are left out because they price by quote. The goal in both cases is the same: listing management, local rank tracking and review management.
Scenario 1: a single-location business
- BrightLocal Grow, 1 location: $584 per year. That covers rank tracking, geo-grids, audits, Active Sync and reviews. If you skip reviews, Manage is $485 per year.
- Moz Local Preferred, 1 location: $299 per year. That covers sync to 90+ directories, Local Grid and review responding and generation. Lite, without review responding, is $199.
- Semrush Local Pro, 1 location: $60 x 12 = $720 per year. That covers listings, reviews, the GBP AI Agent and 1,225 Map Rank Tracker credits.
- Whitespark: Local Rank Tracker Small Business, weekly ($14 x 12 = $168) + Local Platform ($1 x 12 = $12) + Reputation Builder PRO ($79 x 12 = $948) = $1,128 per year. That still doesn't include listing sync; a one-time Premium Listings Service package adds $399 in the first year, for $1,527.
For one location, Moz Local Preferred is the cheapest way to cover all three jobs, and BrightLocal Grow costs about twice as much but adds deeper rank tracking, audits and white-label reports.
Scenario 2: a 10-location brand
- BrightLocal Grow, 6 to 10 locations band: $1,178 per year for all 10 locations. That is about $118 per location per year.
- Moz Local Preferred: $299 x 10 = $2,990 per year.
- Semrush Local Pro: $60 x 10 x 12 = $7,200 per year.
- Whitespark: Rank Tracker Small Business, weekly ($168 for 100 location keywords, for example 10 keywords at each of 10 locations) + Local Platform ($1 x 10 x 12 = $120) = $288 per year, plus Reputation Builder, which is by quote for multi-location. Listing sync is not included.
At 10 locations, BrightLocal's band pricing pulls ahead: Grow costs less than half of Moz Local Preferred and about a sixth of Semrush Local Pro. Citations are extra on BrightLocal, though. Submitting all 10 locations to the five data aggregators would add 10 x 5 x $30 = $1,500 one time, so check which directories you actually need before you buy.
How to Choose
Start from what you need most, then match the billing model to your number of locations.
- You have one location and want listings fixed for good. Moz Local Lite or Preferred, if you are in the US, UK or Canada. It is the lowest published price for ongoing sync.
- You are an agency, or you have more than five locations. BrightLocal. Every plan includes white-label reports, and the band pricing keeps costs per location falling as you grow.
- You are a local SEO specialist who wants the best individual tools. Whitespark. Pair its Local Rank Tracker and Citation Finder with whichever listing tool you prefer, or use its Listings Service for one-time citation work.
- Your team already lives in Semrush. Semrush Local Base is a low-effort way to add GBP automation and geo-grids. Move to Pro only if you need listings and reviews there too.
- You are an enterprise brand with hundreds of locations. Yext, for direct publisher distribution and governance. Get a quote and compare it against BrightLocal's 100+ location pricing on request.
- Reviews and customer messaging drive your business. Birdeye. It is a customer experience platform first and a listings tool second.
A few checks apply to every option:
- Confirm country coverage. Moz Local is US, UK and Canada only, and directory lists differ by country everywhere.
- Price the plan with reviews. On BrightLocal, reviews are on Grow only; on Semrush Local, they are on Pro.
- Count one-time citation costs. BrightLocal and Whitespark charge for citation building separately from subscriptions.
- Use the free trials. BrightLocal gives 14 days with no card. Whitespark has a free Citation Finder plan and trials on its rank tracker, grids and Reputation Builder.
How We Compared
Prices and plans were checked on each vendor's site on 17 October 2026, and G2 ratings and review counts on g2.com on the same day.
Sarah Chen