Local SEO lives or dies on data. At AFFiNCO, we approach a google business profile audit the same way we audit everything else, with scraped numbers and zero guesswork.
One profile is easy to eyeball. Fifty profiles across a client's branches, plus every rival in the map pack, is a different beast.
So we pull bulk GBP data with Apify, then layer Semrush on top for rankings and listings. Reviews, ratings, opening hours, categories and photos all land as clean JSON.
Below we share our exact process, the specific Actors we run, and how we handle competitor intelligence at scale. No fluff, just the local SEO data workflow we use on live client accounts.
How We Pull Bulk GBP Data Before Touching a Client Account
Every local engagement at AFFiNCO opens the same way. Before any advice, we collect.
A single Google Business Profile shows you a sliver. We want the full local map — the client plus every rival fighting over the same map pack. So we extract all of them at once.
Apify makes that fast. The Google Maps Scraper Actor (compass/crawler-google-places) is our engine. Feed it a search term plus a location, a category, coordinates, or a list of map URLs. It returns structured business data with no Google Places API key and no per-request caps.
Here's what one sweep gives us per business:
That single dataset is the spine of our local search visibility audit. We export it as JSON or CSV, drop it into a sheet, and the gaps jump out straight away.
Start with a small capped run — 20 to 50 places. Confirm the fields look right, then scale the search across the whole service area. We learned the hard way that an uncapped first run burns credits you didn't need to spend.
The GBP Signals We Extract and What Each One Tells Us
| Scraped field | What it reveals | How we use it in the audit |
|---|---|---|
| Star rating + review count | Trust gap versus rivals | Set a review velocity target |
| Primary + secondary categories | Relevance signals to Google | Fix missing or weak categories |
| Opening hours + popular times | Profile completeness | Flag empty or stale hours |
| Photo count | Engagement and freshness | Benchmark against top rivals |
| Name, address, phone | Citation accuracy | Check NAP consistency across directories |
The Apify Actors We Actually Use for Local Audits
We don't reach for one tool. A full local sweep uses a small stack of Actors, each doing one job well. Here's the exact set we keep on rotation.
| Apify Actor | What it pulls | Our local use case |
|---|---|---|
| Google Maps Scraper compass/crawler-google-places | Names, ratings, hours, categories, photos, place IDs | Map the full local pack for a keyword + area |
| Google Maps Reviews Scraper compass/google-maps-reviews-scraper | Review text, star rating, owner replies, dates, reviewer detail | Bulk review sentiment analysis per business |
| Google Search Results Scraper apify/google-search-scraper | Organic results, local pack, People Also Ask, AI overviews | See what Google shows for local queries |
| Website Content Crawler apify/website-content-crawler | Clean page text from rival sites | Audit competitor landing pages and service copy |
One more thing we love. Apify exposes every Actor through its official MCP server at mcp.apify.com. So we drive these from inside Claude in plain English. We ask, Claude picks the Actor, runs it, and hands back the data in chat. No dashboard hopping.
Mapping a Client's Local Pack Rivals in One Sweep
This is the part most guides skip. They tell you to optimise one profile. We audit the whole battlefield.
To run competitor intelligence at scale, we don't search one keyword. We feed the Google Maps Scraper a cluster. Say a dental client in Tampa. We query “dentist Tampa”, “emergency dentist Tampa”, “cosmetic dentist Tampa” and a few suburb variants in one batch.
Out comes every rival ranking for those terms. Now we can sort and compare:
You can filter by category, geography and minimum rating, so noise drops out and only real rivals stay. On that Tampa job, the gap was obvious in an afternoon. Our client sat on 41 reviews. The top three averaged over 300. That single number reframed the whole strategy.
Why this matters for our agency clients: Competitor and market data sit at the base of both our SEO services and paid search. Scraped GBP data feeds straight into both. We covered the same engine in our Apify review.
Reading Review Sentiment at Volume Without Manual Reading
Reviews are gold for a local audit. Nobody has time to read 4,000 of them by hand. We don't.
The Google Maps Reviews Scraper pulls full review text, star ratings, owner responses, exact timestamps and reviewer details. It supports date-range filtering, so we can grab only the last 12 months when recency matters.
Then we pipe the export through Claude. A short prompt turns thousands of raw reviews into clear patterns:
That last point catches people out. A rival with a lower rating but fast, polite owner replies often out-converts a higher-rated business that ignores feedback. Scraped data shows us that gap in seconds.
AFFiNCO’s Step by Step GBP Audit Workflow with Apify
Here's the exact path we follow, start to finish. A non-technical strategist on our team can complete it in a day.
- Set the seed queries: List the client's core service-plus-location keywords. Add suburb and intent variants.
- Run the Google Maps Scraper: Paste the query cluster, set the area, cap the first run small to test output.
- Scale the sweep: Once fields look right, raise the limit and pull every rival across the service area.
- Layer the reviews: Feed the place IDs into the Google Maps Reviews Scraper to collect feedback in bulk.
- Export and dedupe: Pull everything as JSON or CSV, then strip duplicates and merge into one master sheet.
- Enrich with AI: Send the sheet to Claude to score profiles, summarise reviews and flag the biggest gaps.
- Build the scorecard: Rank client versus rivals on rating, review count, categories, photos and response rate.
The output is a one-page local SEO data scorecard. It shows the client precisely where they trail, with numbers behind every claim. That builds trust fast — and trust is what wins the retainer.
Where Semrush Local Takes Over From the Raw Data
Apify gives us the raw signals. Semrush Local turns those signals into ongoing tracking and fixes we can stand behind. We use both, and they complement each other neatly.
The Semrush Local toolkit is built around three core tools that plug into the wider SEO platform.
| Semrush Local tool | What it does | Where it fits our audit |
|---|---|---|
| Listing Management | Pushes business data to 70+ directories, audits coverage, flags wrong NAP | Fix the citation gaps Apify exposed |
| Review Management | Monitors multi-directory reviews, weekly negative alerts, AI draft replies, rival review profiles | Close the review and response gap |
| Map Rank Tracker | Geo grid heatmap of map rankings over time, with rival comparison | Track movement after fixes ship |
| GBP AI Agent | Connects the profile, auto-posts, auto-replies to reviews, optimises the description | Keep the profile active hands-free |
| Position Tracking | ZIP-code and local-pack ranks, daily updates, AI Overview tracking, up to 20 rivals | Tie local wins to organic ranks |
The Listing Management tool is the cleanest fix for citation problems. Add the client's details once, and Semrush distributes accurate NAP data across major directories like Google, Facebook, Yelp and TripAdvisor. It also audits existing listings and shows which directories carry a wrong address or phone number.
That ties straight back to our scraped data. Apify shows us the NAP mess. Semrush cleans it.
Use Apify for the wide, cheap first sweep across rivals, then point Semrush Local at the client's own profile for the fixes and the ongoing tracking. One tool finds the gaps. The other closes them.
Layering Map Rank Tracker Heatmaps Over Scraped Listings
Apify tells us who ranks. The Semrush Map Rank Tracker heatmap tells us where those rankings drop off across a real map.
Setup is quick. You type the business name, add up to 100 keywords (or accept AI keyword recommendations), then drag a grid of pins over the target area. A 7×7 grid at half-kilometre spacing is a solid default. Pick a schedule, and Semrush scans each pin on cadence.
The payoff is a colour-coded grid. Green where the client ranks well, red where they vanish. You see local pack rankings fall off block by block, not as a single average. That precision changes the advice we give.
A few things we lean on here:
That last feature earns its place in 2026. Local search is shifting. People ask AI assistants for “best plumber near me” and act on the answer. Tracking those citations early keeps clients visible as the click pattern moves.
Stack it together and the picture is complete. Apify hands us the rival list and review data. Map Rank Tracker shows the geographic gaps. Position Tracking ties it to organic ranks at ZIP-code level. Nothing is guessed.
Turning Scraped Signals Into a Client Action Plan
Data alone wins nothing. The point is action. Here's how we close the loop on every local audit.
Then we watch the heatmap. As fixes land, the red pins turn green, and we report it with screenshots the client can actually understand. That feedback loop is the whole game.
This is the same data-first method we apply across our local SEO work and our AI agent automation. Scrape the truth, audit against it, fix what moves the needle, prove the result.
FAQs on Auditing Google Business Profiles at Scale
Do I need to code to run a GBP audit with Apify?
No. Every Actor runs from the dashboard with a few clicks. Connect Apify to Claude through MCP and you can scrape in plain language with no code at all.
How is scraping Google Maps different from the Places API?
The Places API caps results and charges per call. Apify's Maps Actors pull public listing data at scale without those limits, and hand it back as clean JSON, CSV or Excel.
Can I audit competitors, not only my own client?
Yes, and you should. Run Google Maps Scraper across a keyword and area to pull the whole map pack, then compare every rival's signals beside your client's.
Is scraping Google Business Profile data legal?
Public data is generally fair to collect, but you stay responsible for each site's terms and privacy laws like GDPR. Scrape ethically and skip personal data you do not need.
Where does Semrush fit if Apify already pulls the data?
Apify extracts. Semrush tracks rankings, distributes listings and automates review replies through the GBP AI Agent. We run both for a complete local audit.
If this workflow lands with you, a few of our other guides go deeper on the tools and tactics around it.
Want This Audit Run on Your Client Accounts?
Apify pulls the bulk GBP data. Semrush Local tracks and fixes it. Start both free and build your first google business profile audit this week.
Spin up the tools yourself on their free plans, or hand the whole thing to us.
Ali
Ali is a digital marketing expert with 7+ years of experience in SEO-optimized blogging. Skilled in reviewing SaaS tools, social media marketing, and email campaigns, we craft content that ranks well and engages audiences. Known for providing genuine information, Ali is a reliable source for businesses seeking to boost their online presence effectively.
