Pricing local SEO comes down to market size, competition level, and what you're actually delivering. In smaller Canadian cities or for single-location service businesses, $500–$800/month covers ongoing optimization, review management, and basic citation work. Mid-tier markets like Ottawa or Kitchener typically justify $1,000–$1,500/month when you're targeting multiple service areas or facing moderate competition. Competitive verticals in Toronto or Vancouver—think personal injury lawyers or real estate agents—can command $1,500–$2,500/month because the keyword difficulty and required content volume are higher. Most agencies separate the initial setup from the retainer. Expect to charge $1,000–$3,000 upfront for a local SEO audit, Google Business Profile cleanup, schema implementation, and the first round of citation building across 40–60 directories. That one-time fee covers the foundational work that doesn't need repeating monthly. Monthly retainers should include specific deliverables to justify the cost: on-page optimization for location pages, regular posting to Google Business Profile, review generation and response, local link building, and monthly reporting with ranking movement and traffic data. If you're managing multiple locations or running localized content campaigns, add $300–$500 per additional location. At Ottawa SEO, we've found that transparent deliverable lists prevent scope creep. Clients understand they're paying for 4–6 optimized blog posts per month, 8–12 review responses, and 2–3 local backlinks, not just "SEO magic." Avoid flat-rate pricing that doesn't scale with effort—a three-location HVAC company needs different resources than a single dentist office. The biggest mistake is undercharging because the business is local. A plumber ranking #1 in Ottawa for "emergency plumber" pulls $200,000+ in annual revenue from that position. Your $1,200/month retainer is a rounding error compared to the value you're generating. Price for the outcome, not the effort, and tier your packages so clients can see the difference between basic maintenance and aggressive growth strategies.