Local Justifications for SEO (2024 Guide)
A local justification is a featured snippet of text that is displayed on Google My Business listings in Local 3-Pack, Local Finder, and Google Maps results.
This shows that the particular business is relevant to the search query, and provides a competitive edge that makes listings stand out, likely increasing engagement by improving click-through rates.
Here are the different types of local justifications that can display in search results:
- Website justifications
- Service justifications
- Review justifications
- Post justifications
- Menu justifications
- Sold Here justifications
- In Stock justifications
- Appointment justifications
Website justifications
Website justifications are sourced from information obtained from the website that is linked in the Google My Business listing. This information can be sourced from the homepage, location page, or service pages.
How to influence: Optimize the homepage or local landing page with a mention of the target keyword, and include additional mentions (and variations) of the keyword in the navigation, internal links pointing to the target page, and throughout the main content of the service page.
Service justifications
Service justifications are sourced directly from content found in the Service section of Google my Business listings.
How to influence: Using the Services section of Google My Business, add the target keyword as a service, and add a supporting description about the service.
Review justifications
Review justifications are snippets of text that are sourced from Google My Business Reviews.
How to influence: Create a review acquisition campaign that prompts customers to leave a detailed review about the product or service that they received.
Post justifications
Post justifications showcase snippets of content sourced from Google My Business posts.
How to influence: Create a posting strategy that includes highlighting products or services, and include the target keyword or partial match within the content of the post.
Pro Tip: Follow this guide on how to create and optimize GMB posts to maximize the visibility of your profile and posts in search.
Menu justifications
Menu justifications highlight menu items relevant to a user’s search, and are sourced from the Menu feature within the Google My Business Dashboard. These local justifications may also be sourced from menu content on the website and on 3rd Party platforms such as Grubhub.
How to influence: Provide complete information in the Menu section of the Google My Business Dashboard. Additionally, all relevant menu items should be included on the business’s website and applicable 3rd Party providers of delivery services.
Sold here justifications
The “sold here” justification highlights products and product categories that match the search query.
How to influence: It’s currently unknown how this information is sourced. Your website should include complete information about products and categories with detailed descriptions, schema, and a meaningful site structure.
In stock justifications
Google highlights products sold by local businesses with the “in stock” justification, and is sourced from aggregated data across the web
How to influence: Participate in Google’s free local product listings program. Google highlights products sold by local businesses with the “in stock” justification, and is sourced from aggregated data across the web.
Appointment justifications
For healthcare businesses like an urgent care, Google will also display appointment justifications to showcase the next available appointment.
How to influence: Google states that these times are updated within 1 hour by partners (such as 3rd party scheduling software) and may not reflect real-time availability.