Capturing “Near Me” Voice Searches for a Restaurant Chain
Client: A regional fast-casual restaurant chain with 50+ locations.
Challenges We Faced
The client’s individual locations were invisible to high-intent, on-the-go mobile users:
Losing “Near Me” Searches
Competitors were capturing all “pizza near me” or “restaurants open now” voice queries.
Inconsistent Local Listings
Dozens of GMB profiles were unclaimed, unoptimized, or had incorrect information (hours, phone numbers).
No Local Landing Pages
The main website had no unique pages for each location, making it impossible to rank for city-specific voice queries.
Poor Mobile Page Speed
The site was slow to load on mobile, causing users to bounce before they could find a location.
No Conversational Content
The site lacked simple, conversational answers to questions like “Do you have gluten-free options?”
Dominate Local Voice Search
“Want your local business to be the top answer for ‘near me’ queries? Explore our voice SEO services and drive more foot traffic today!”
Our Approach – How We Solved These Challenges
Local Business & “Near Me” Optimization
Conducted a massive GMB audit and optimization campaign, claiming, verifying, and standardizing all 50+ listings with correct hours, menus, and photos.
Built and optimized unique, mobile-friendly location pages for every store.
Conversational Keyword Research
Focused on high-intent, local voice queries (e.g., “best [food] near me,” “[restaurant name] hours”).
FAQ & How-To Schema Markup
Implemented LocalBusiness and FAQ schema on all location pages to answer common questions like “Do you take reservations?” or “Is parking available?”
Technical SEO (for Voice)
Prioritized Core Web Vitals & Page Speed optimization, focusing on mobile load times to provide an instant answer for users on the move.
Results
| Metric | Before | After | Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Get Directions” Clicks (from GMB) | 4,500/mo | 12,000/mo | +166% |
| Click-to-Call (from GMB & Local Pages) | 1,200/mo | 4,500/mo | +275% |
| Impressions for “Near Me” Queries | 80,000/mo | 350,000/mo | +337% |
Free Local Voice SEO Audit
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Advice for Marketers & Brand Owners
- For local businesses, voice SEO is local SEO. Your GMB profile is the single most important tool you have.
- Accuracy is critical. Incorrect hours or phone numbers in your listings will kill trust and cost you customers.
- Mobile page speed is non-negotiable. Voice search users are on-the-go and will not wait for a slow page to load.
- Use FAQ Schema on location pages to answer common questions before users even have to ask.
Extra Factors That Made It Work
- A systematic GMB optimization process that ensured 100% accuracy across all listings.
- The creation of 50 new, unique, and speed-optimized location pages.
- A focused local citation-building campaign to solidify trust signals.
