foundbylocals.com

What It Is

FoundByLocals is a Google Business Profile (GBP) scoring tool built for local tradespeople and trade-based businesses in the UK. After a user enters a business name or Google Maps URL, the system crawls and analyzes the Google listing and generates a 0–100 score in about 60 seconds. It is not a general-purpose SEO platform; instead, it is a lightweight tool focused on “near me” customer acquisition and GBP optimization.

Core Features and Data

The product offers a free score, identifies the Top 3 issues, breaks the score down across 4 categories, and turns problems into action items written in plain English. The paid report includes the full FoundByLocals score, 8–12 prioritized optimization recommendations, and a downloadable PDF. Based on the site copy, its data mainly comes from the user’s Google Business Profile/Google Maps information. The page says 200+ UK tradespeople have used it this month, but it does not disclose the scoring algorithm, the scale of its data coverage, or the specific category names.

Pricing and Ease of Use

Pricing is very straightforward: users can view the score and the top three findings for free, with no registration and no email required. The full checklist and PDF report cost a one-off £12, with no subscription. The page also mentions a £5/month monitoring service and a £49 Done-for-You optimization brief. For solo operators without a website or technical background, getting recommendations simply by entering a business name makes the learning curve very low.

Pros and Cons

Its strengths are its precise positioning, low barrier to entry, transparent pricing, and recommendations presented in plain English. It is well suited to local operators who are unfamiliar with SEO, such as plumbers, electricians, gas engineers, and builders. The downsides are that its feature scope is relatively narrow and mainly centered on GBP. It does not cover full marketing workflows such as keyword research, competitor tracking, backlinks, or content SEO. Details on support channels, scoring logic, and the monitoring feature are also limited.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is best suited to individual tradespeople and small local service teams in the UK, especially businesses that rely on Google Maps, reviews, and “near me” searches for leads—or even businesses without a website. For Chinese users, both the product’s geographic focus and platform dependency lean heavily toward the UK and the Google ecosystem, and the actual access status from China is not stated in the available text. Payments are handled via Stripe, so users in mainland China may also face limitations related to payment methods and the availability of Google services. Alternatives include BrightLocal, Whitespark, Semrush Local, Moz Local, Yext, and the native Google Business Profile dashboard.