Most accounting and CPA firm websites get built once, during a slow month, and never touched again, while how people search for an accountant nearby keeps changing underneath them. This page covers what we actually do for the map pack and Google Business Profile side of that, plus how the process runs and what it costs, given how tax season timing affects all of it.
Book a free consultation →Walk through how most accounting and CPA firm websites actually get built: a partner needs something online before busy season starts, hires whoever is fastest or cheapest, and ends up with a template site, a stock photo of a handshake, a paragraph about being a trusted advisor, and a contact form. It goes live in February and nobody touches it again until it is time to replace it entirely.
The observable problems tend to repeat across firms, and most of them show up specifically in the map pack and the Google Business Profile:
Some of this is a website problem and some of it is a map pack problem, and they are not always the same fix. If the bigger issue is organic search and content beyond the map pack, that is SEO for accountants. If the site itself needs rebuilding, that is websites for accountants. This page is about the local piece specifically: the Google Business Profile, the map pack, and the signals that get a firm found by someone searching nearby.
The local SEO work covers the parts that actually move a Google Business Profile and the map pack, not organic rankings in general:
We also build custom tools for firms that want one, and we run first-party lead dashboards on more than 20 of the sites we manage, so a firm can see where its calls and form submissions are actually coming from instead of guessing.
Accounting runs on a different clock than most local service businesses. Tax season, roughly January through April, leaves a firm with little time or attention for marketing decisions. That makes the months right after tax season the better window for the heavier local SEO work, since local SEO takes months to build momentum, not weeks, and work started in December will not be showing up in the map pack by April.
Reviews behave differently in this field too. People are often more hesitant to leave a public review naming their accountant than they would for a restaurant or a contractor, partly from habit and partly from a sense that their financial situation is private. We frame review requests around a general recommendation rather than any detail about the engagement, which respects that while still building the profile out over time.
Compliance sits underneath all of it. We do not write copy that promises a refund amount, a specific tax outcome, or an audit result, and we do not fabricate credentials, reviews, or client counts anywhere on the profile or the site. Every claim about the firm's services, experience, or certifications comes from the firm itself, never from us. Accountant SEO has to work within those limits, which is different from SEO for a business with no advertising rules to consider.
How people choose an accountant is shifting as well. Search and referrals still matter most, but a growing share of people now ask an AI tool to name a local accountant before they ever open Google Maps, which is part of why the AI search work matters as much as the traditional map pack work. That timing also affects reporting: a monthly report during tax season competes with the busiest weeks of the year for the firm's attention, so we keep it short then and go deeper in the months when there is actually time to read it.
Most agencies selling SEO for accountants hand every client the same theme with a new logo swapped in. A few differences in how we work:
That combination, a custom-built site, AI search work, free tools, and no contract, is built around one goal: making it easy to see what is actually being done and just as easy to leave if it is not working, with no termination clause to negotiate first.
Four steps, in order:
Local SEO for most accounting and CPA firms runs $1,500 to $3,500 a month. Firms in competitive metro areas or with multiple office locations typically run $3,500 to $7,500 a month. If the firm also needs a new site built, custom website builds run $3,500 to $12,000+ one-time.
The difference in price mostly reflects the difference in effort involved: a single office in a smaller market needs less citation and content work to hold a spot in the map pack than a firm competing across several zip codes in a larger metro.
Everything is month-to-month. No long-term contracts, and the firm owns its site, content, and accounts outright. For a full breakdown of what changes the price, see how much SEO costs and how long SEO takes.
If the firm also runs Google Ads, that is quoted separately as a flat fee after a free consult. Flat-fee and percentage-of-spend models are both common in the industry; we just do not publish one number for every firm since spend and markets vary.
Not sure what is fair for your situation before talking to anyone? What should you pay is a free tool that estimates a reasonable range based on what you tell it.
Ready to see specifics for your firm? Request a quote, or call or text (407) 694-2055.
This page is about the map pack specifically: the Google Business Profile, local schema, citations, and service-area pages that determine whether the firm shows up when someone searches accountant near me. Organic search and content beyond the map pack is a separate service, and a full website rebuild is a separate project the local work builds on top of. Many firms need some combination, and we scope that during the audit rather than selling all three by default.
Outside of tax season, if possible. Local SEO takes months to build momentum, so work started in December is not going to show up in the map pack by April. The better pattern is doing the heavier setup and content work in the slower months, so the firm's Google Business Profile and site are already in shape before the next busy season starts.
We ask clients for a general recommendation rather than any detail about their return or engagement, and we never write or suggest review language ourselves. Some accounting and CPA firms will always get fewer reviews than a restaurant or contractor because of that caution, and we don't try to manufacture volume to compensate. If review volume matters more than usual for a specific firm, that's worth talking through upfront rather than treating as a surprise later.
No. We do not write copy that promises a refund amount, a specific tax outcome, or an audit result, and we never invent credentials, reviews, or client numbers. Every claim about the firm's services, experience, or certifications on the profile or the site comes directly from the firm, not from us, including team bios, which we ask the firm to confirm rather than write from a resume ourselves.
We do. Google Ads is quoted separately from local SEO, usually as a flat monthly fee after a free consult rather than a percentage of ad spend, though both models are common in the industry. It runs alongside the local SEO work rather than replacing it, and can help fill in demand while the local SEO work builds up over its first few months.
Local SEO can run on the existing site if it's structurally sound, meaning it loads reasonably fast and has separate pages for different services. If the site itself is the problem, we'll say so plainly and show what a rebuild would involve before you commit to anything. Either way, the audit in step one covers that question honestly before any work starts.
The lead dashboard shows what is actually happening: calls, form submissions, and which pages or search terms they came from. We report on that activity honestly. We don't promise a ranking position, a number of new clients, or a revenue outcome, since none of that is something an outside marketing partner can guarantee for an accounting firm or any other business.
Local SEO services · Accountants and cpa firms: industry overview · SEO for accountants and CPA firms · What should you pay? (free tool)
Request a free mockup and an honest look at what is and is not working, no obligation attached. Call or text (407) 694-2055 to start.
Book a free consultation → Or call/text directly: (407) 694-2055Describe the bottleneck and we'll come back with a fixed quote and a timeline. Free, and no pressure either way.
I'll look at what you sent and reply within a day with an honest read: what it would take, what it would cost, and whether it's worth building at all.