What SOCi’s Top 100 Local Brands Are Doing To Stand Out

The SOCi Local Visibility Index (LVI) has become a trusted benchmark for measuring how well multi-location businesses perform across the digital channels that directly impact local customer engagement. In 2024, the SOCi LVI expanded to analyze 2,791 companies and over 2.8 million locations, making it the most comprehensive ranking yet.

This annual report zeroes in on local visibility, assessing how brands rank in local search, social media, and reputation management. By evaluating performance in these areas, the LVI offers clear insights into how businesses can optimize their digital presence and effectively engage local customers.

Each brand is measured through two key scores: the Optimization Score, which tracks how well a business applies best practices, and the Performance Score, reflecting how well the brand ranks and interacts with local audiences across platforms like Google, Yelp, and Facebook.

The report also categorizes businesses into four visibility quadrants — low, limited, moderate, and high — offering a clear roadmap for improving localized marketing success.

While we have an article recapping the full report, this piece will focus on high-visibility brands’ strategies to dominate their markets, from optimizing local search profiles to engaging customers on social media.

What Does High Visibility Mean?

High visibility brands, which are brands that fall in the SOCi Top 100, consistently rank in local search results, engage with local audiences, and stand out in reviews and social interactions. It’s about succeeding in local markets where large and small businesses compete for attention. The chart below highlights our SOCi Top 100 brands in dark blue. The interactive version of the quadrant chart can be found in the full report. 

Top brands excel in local keyword searches like “coffee near me,” actively engaging with their communities on social media, and building loyal, repeat customers. Many of the brands that fall in the SOCi Top 100 differentiate themselves locally, using local SEO to rank better for “near me” searches. 

Key factors that set high visibility brands apart:

• Search visibility: These brands appear on page 1 of local search results 53.2% of the time, 2.3 times more than the average brand.
• Review engagement: High visibility brands average a 4.5-star rating on Google and respond to 80.5% of reviews within 2.1 days, far outperforming the average response rate of 45.1% and 6-day response time.
• Social engagement: These brands post 15.3 times per month on Facebook, nearly double the average, and use more video content (21.4% vs. 10.5%), which drives higher engagement.

These achievements lead to tangible results — more foot traffic, increased customer interaction, and higher sales. Their prominence in local search results draws more attention from consumers, ultimately leading to greater customer interaction and revenue. So how can businesses with 100s or 1,000s of locations still ensure their businesses are appearing in local search? 

Ways Brands Are Achieving High Visibility

To achieve high visibility, brands need a strong presence across the three pillars of localized marketing: search, social, and reputation. These elements work together to make a business visible to local customers, foster community engagement, and build trust through positive feedback.

• Search: Brands need to be easily found on key platforms like Google and Yelp, where customers search for local businesses.
• Social: Engaging local audiences through social media helps build loyalty and keeps the brand at the top of the community’s mind.
• Reputation: Managing customer ratings and reviews and responding effectively to feedback strengthens trust and drives repeat business.

Now that we’ve established that high visibility requires a focus on local search, social, and reputation, let’s dive into the strategies brands use to succeed in these areas.

Accuracy

Consumers expect accurate information when they find a brand online, whether through a social profile or a local listing. High-visibility brands prioritize accuracy, especially in competitive spaces like the Google 3-Pack, where precise details can influence rankings.

The Google 3-Pack highlights the top three local business listings in search results. What shows up depends on factors like the business’s location, the search query, and how close the user is to those businesses.

With Google reducing the number of Local Pack results, only the most relevant and well-optimized profiles make the cut. 

Here are some key tactics high-visibility brands are using to maintain accuracy:

• Claiming and fully optimizing Google, Yelp, and Facebook profiles across locations.
• Regularly updating profiles to maintain NAP (name, address, phone) consistency.
• Using onsite and offsite SEO strategies, such as incorporating relevant local keywords and selecting accurate business categories.

When brands focus on accuracy, they can rank higher and capture valuable local search traffic. Maintaining complete and up-to-date profiles is crucial for competing in the fiercely competitive local search environment.

Social Search

Social media is becoming a major search tool for discovering local businesses, especially among younger consumers.  

SOCi’s Consumer Behavior Index (CBI) shows that platforms like Instagram and TikTok are increasingly preferred for local searches. Younger demographics now turn to Instagram (67%) and TikTok (62%) more frequently than Google Search (61%) to find local businesses.

Even Facebook, which appeals to an older audience, ranks third across all age groups for local search, following Google Search and Google Maps. Brands must adopt a strong social media strategy to stay competitive.

High-visibility brands are already capitalizing on this trend with these tactics:

• Regular posting: Posting an average of 15 times per month, compared to the average of 7.9.
• Engaging content: Creating relevant, useful, or entertaining posts to connect with audiences beyond simple promotion.
• Video content: 21% of their posts are video, driving higher interaction and visibility.

Profile Completeness

Completing profiles across platforms is critical for high visibility. High-performing brands consistently claim and optimize their profiles on all major platforms, with Google leading the way.

SOCi’s search benchmarks show that most multi-location brands are doing well on Google, but there’s room for improvement on platforms like Yelp and Facebook. As mentioned above, fully optimizing profiles is necessary to compete in Google’s 3-Pack and achieve higher rankings on Yelp and Google’s organic results.

Frequent Posting (Especially with Media Like Videos and Photos)

High-visibility brands know frequent posting and content variety are crucial to engaging local audiences. These brands post nearly twice as often as the average business, using a mix of photos and videos to capture attention. Engaging, non-promotional content is crucial for boosting interaction.

SOCi’s benchmarks show that high visibility brands post 15.3 times per month, with 21% of their content being video — compared to just 10.5% for average brands. While Facebook may limit organic reach, brands prioritizing valuable content that resonates with local audiences see better engagement.

Another critical factor is local presence — high-visibility brands post from store-specific accounts, not corporate profiles, to build stronger connections with local customers. This localized approach helps brands stay relevant in their communities.

To succeed in social media, brands must post frequently, use a variety of post types, and focus on local engagement.

Respond to Reviews — and Quickly

Reviews also play a critical role in local search visibility, social engagement, and building consumer trust. High-visibility brands excel at reputation management by actively encouraging customer reviews and responding quickly.

Top brands respond to 80% of Google reviews within an average of 2 days, far exceeding the industry average of 45.1% response rate and 6-day response time. They use reviews to show they care, building trust and loyalty among local customers.

Responding quickly, especially to negative reviews, improves a brand’s reputation and boosts search rankings. Search engines like Google factor review management into rankings, making it essential for brands to stay responsive.

To maintain a strong reputation and improve visibility, brands must respond to reviews consistently and quickly, reinforcing trust and elevating their online presence across all three pillars—search, social, and reputation.

What Low-Visibility Brands Are Missing

Low-visibility brands commonly make vital mistakes that hinder their ability to attract and retain local customers, leading to missed growth opportunities.

• Failure to optimize local search profiles: Many low-visibility brands neglect fully optimizing their profiles on platforms like Google, resulting in poor rankings and limited visibility in search results.
• Ignoring consumer feedback: By not responding to reviews or customer inquiries, these brands miss valuable opportunities to build trust and loyalty, especially when dealing with negative feedback.
• Inconsistent social media activity: Low-visibility brands often fail to post regularly, leading to low engagement and fewer interactions with potential customers.

These errors can have significant consequences. SOCi research shows that low-visibility brands are losing millions in local revenue. For instance, they appear on page one of Google’s local search results only 4% of the time, compared to 53% for high-visibility brands. This gap highlights the opportunity cost of not investing in localized marketing strategies.

• To improve local visibility, brands should focus on the tactics mentioned above. 

Master Local Visibility Success with SOCi

High-visibility brands excel in their industry by mastering the three interconnected pillars of local search, social engagement, and reputation management. Their success is driven by consistent efforts to optimize their local presence, engage with customers, and maintain a strong reputation.

To see how your brand stacks up and uncover opportunities for improvement, request your personalized SOCi LVI report today. By benchmarking your local visibility, you’ll gain valuable insights that can help drive your brand’s success in local markets.

What are you waiting for? It’s time to differentiate your brand from the competition!