Billings SEO Services

Local SEO from a Billings agency that lives here. Strategy-led optimization for Billings businesses, nonprofits, and growing companies.

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We’ve done SEO for Billings businesses since 2021. The work isn’t about chasing national rankings. It’s about making sure that when someone in Billings, Laurel, or Lockwood searches for what you do, you show up. Local SEO is a different game than national SEO, and we run it as a discipline.

*Billings Symphony performing at the ABT. Photo by Let’s Canoe*.

Services

What Billings SEO actually includes

AI search optimization (GEO).

Optimizing your content so it gets cited when ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini act as search engines. Generative Engine Optimization rewards clear answers, structured information, and entity-based content that AI models can parse and surface as cited sources. Different from traditional SEO, and increasingly important as AI search takes share.

LLM SEO

Beyond search, people ask ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini direct questions every day. “Tell me about [your company].” Large Language Model Optimization builds the entity signals, authoritative content, and structured data that make AI models recognize your brand, describe it accurately, and recommend it when prompted.

Google Business Profile optimization.

Setup, category selection, photo work, posts, attributes, hours, service area, products, and ongoing review of profile health. The Google Business Profile is the single most important piece of local SEO in 2026, and most businesses leave 60-70% of its capability on the table.

Google AI Overviews and answer engines.

Google AI Overviews and Bing Copilot now generate AI-written answers above the traditional results for many queries. We tune content, schema, and authority signals so your business has a real chance at being the cited source in those answers.

Reviews strategy and management.

Asking for reviews systematically, responding to every review (good and bad), and using review content to inform other parts of the SEO work.

On-Page & Technical SEO.

Site speed, Core Web Vitals, mobile usability, crawlability, indexation, schema markup, internal linking structure, and the technical foundations Google needs to read the site. Title tags, meta descriptions, heading structure, image alt text, content depth, internal anchor text, and the on-page optimization that connects pages to keyword targets.

Local citations and NAP consistency.

Your business name, address, and phone number, consistent across Google, Bing, Apple Maps, Yelp, Facebook, BBB, the Chamber of Commerce, and the dozens of directory sites that still influence local rankings. Inconsistent NAP data is the most common reason a Billings business doesn’t rank as well as it should.

Local content strategy.

Pages and posts that target Billings-specific intent. Service-area pages, neighborhood content, local case studies, and the editorial work that builds topical authority for the city.

Local link building.

Backlinks from Billings-area chambers, business associations, local press, sponsorships, and partnerships. Local links are weighted differently than generic links.

Reporting.

Google Search Console, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile Insights, and the rank tracking that tells you whether the work is moving the needle.

Our approach

How we run a Billings SEO engagement

Every Billings SEO engagement runs the same way. Audit first. Strategy second. Execution third. Measurement throughout.

Audit.

Two to four weeks. We crawl the site, pull data from Google Search Console and Google Business Profile, review citations across the local web, look at competitors, and document what’s working, what’s broken, and what’s missing. The audit ends with a prioritized roadmap.

Strategy.

Two weeks. We translate the audit into a sequenced plan: which fixes happen first, what content gets built, which citations need cleanup, what the Google Business Profile work looks like, and how we’ll measure progress.

Execution.

Monthly retainer cadence. The first 90 days focus on technical fixes, Google Business Profile cleanup, and citation work. Months four through twelve focus on content, links, and ongoing optimization. We run weekly working sessions and monthly reporting.

Measurement.

Monthly reports cover rankings on a tracked keyword set, Google Business Profile insights, organic traffic, conversions, and the gap between where you are and where the audit said you should be. No vanity metrics.

Why local

Why local SEO is different in Billings

Billings has about 110,000 people. Yellowstone County has about 165,000. That may sound small compared to national markets, but local search behavior is concentrated. When someone here searches for a service, they’re usually within driving distance of a decision.

That changes how SEO works. The local pack (the three-result map block at the top of a Google search) drives more clicks than the blue links for most service queries. Google Business Profile, reviews, and NAP consistency matter more than long-form content for those queries. A Billings business with a well-optimized GBP and 50 strong reviews can outrank a national chain on local intent.

It also changes the competitive landscape. Most Billings businesses don’t optimize for local SEO at all. They rely on word of mouth and the Yellow Pages mentality. That leaves the local search results open for any local business willing to do the work.

Beyond SEO

The rest of what we do

SEO is one of the services we offer.
Most Billings clients work with us on more than one.

Strategy & Audit.

Brand strategy, audits, and full engagements.

Senior-led, Framework-based. The work when you need clarity.

Strategy →

Marketing Services.

When the brand strategy is in place.

SEO, PPC, web design, content, conversion rate optimization, and outsourced marketing team support. Project or retainer based.

Services →

Studios.

Production, video, and film.

Brand films, commercials, documentaries, and social video. Senior-led from concept to delivery.

Studios →

Fractional CMO.

Senior marketing leadership.

Marketing leadership on a monthly partnership basis. Mostly remote with quarterly on-site presence in the client’s market.

CMO Leadership →

Our office

Where we are

Our office is in downtown Billings, Montana. The same Billings everything else on this page is about. We do SEO for Billings businesses because we live and work in Billings ourselves. We know what people here actually search for, who the major employers are, where the foot traffic moves, and how seasonality from Yellowstone and the energy sector shapes the local economy.

The Rimrocks are visible from most of downtown. The Beartooth Highway is two hours south. The Northern Hotel is two blocks over. That kind of context matters for local SEO, and it’s hard to fake from out of town.

Common questions

Billings SEO FAQ

Local SEO results usually start showing in 60 to 90 days for Google Business Profile improvements and 4 to 6 months for organic rankings. The early wins are usually GBP-related (more calls, more direction requests). The compounding wins come later.

Yes. Our national SEO work runs through /services/seo/. The work overlaps with local SEO on the technical and content side, but national SEO targets different keywords, different intent, and a different competitive landscape.

SEO retainers start at $2,000 per month, depending on scope, business size, and the amount of technical and content work involved. Most Billings engagements start with a one-time audit before moving to monthly work.

Yes. GBP setup, optimization, posts, photo strategy, review management, and ongoing monitoring are all part of the engagement.

es. Multi-location SEO is a different scope (each location needs its own GBP, citations, and local content), but the work runs on the same engagement model.

We don’t require long-term contracts, but we’ll be honest about what’s realistic in 90 days versus 12 months. Most SEO retainers run four to twelve months because the work compounds over time.

Next step

Ready to start the conversation?

Free 30-minute fit call with Brian Murnion, our co-founder and Chief Strategist.
He’ll listen, ask questions, and tell you whether we’re a good match. If we’re not, he’ll say so directly.

Brand Strategy

406-998-7901
team@letscanoe.com
119 N 29th St
Billings, MT 59101

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Let’s Canoe is a brand-led marketing agency in Billings, Montana. We start with brand strategy and build the marketing around it. The Let’s Canoe Framework™ guides every engagement we run.