We built an open-source Node.js script that pulls competitive market data from the Google Places API for any industry in any county. Here's how we use it to build SEO strategies for local businesses — and why raw data beats guesswork every time.
The Problem
Most local SEO agencies pitch services without knowing the competitive landscape. They'll tell an HVAC contractor "you need more reviews" without knowing that the market leader in their county has 15,720 reviews. Or they'll promise a med spa "page 1 rankings" without knowing there are 147 competing med spas in the county.
We wanted to fix that. So we built a tool that pulls real data from Google Places API for any industry in any geography.
What the Script Does
For each industry + county combination, the script:
- Searches multiple cities within the county to get comprehensive coverage
- Deduplicates businesses by name + address
- Filters to the target county using city name matching and lat/lng bounding box
- Sorts by review count (the strongest local SEO signal)
- Calculates averages: rating, review count, businesses per 100K population
- Groups businesses by city to show density distribution
Real Example: HVAC in Oakland County, MI
Here's what the data shows for HVAC companies in Oakland County, Michigan:
- 144 HVAC companies serving 1.27 million residents
- 86,092 total Google reviews with a 4.80 average rating
- Top provider: Thornton & Grooms with 15,720 reviews — 18% of ALL HVAC reviews in the county
- Average company has 598 reviews — but that average is skewed by the top 3
- Troy has the most providers (18), followed by Waterford (16) and Farmington Hills (14)
This data tells us exactly what an HVAC contractor in Oakland County needs to do:
- You can't out-review Thornton & Grooms county-wide (15,720 reviews is a decade-long moat)
- You CAN dominate city-specific searches with dedicated pages ("HVAC repair Farmington Hills")
- Emergency and seasonal terms have lower review thresholds to rank
- Northern Oakland County cities have fewer providers = less competition
Without this data, any SEO strategy is guesswork.
Data for 7 Industries Across 2 Counties
We've published free market reports for every provider in Macomb and Oakland County, MI:
| Industry | Macomb County | Oakland County |
|---|---|---|
| Med Spa | 31 providers, 5,377 reviews | 147 providers, 24,716 reviews |
| Dental | 130 providers, 52,545 reviews | 272 providers, 85,614 reviews |
| Chiropractic | 105 providers, 13,443 reviews | 193 providers, 22,661 reviews |
| HVAC | 81 providers, 35,726 reviews | 144 providers, 86,092 reviews |
| Roofing | 71 providers, 7,546 reviews | 112 providers, 11,759 reviews |
| Landscaping | 77 providers, 7,192 reviews | 126 providers, 9,370 reviews |
| Funeral Homes | 32 providers, 1,589 reviews | 53 providers, 2,824 reviews |
Every report includes: every business ranked by reviews, city-by-city density, average ratings, competitive analysis, and market gap identification.
The Technical Stack
- Google Places API (New) — Text search with field masks for name, address, rating, reviews, website, location
- Node.js — Simple async script with rate limiting
- Eleventy — Static site generator that renders the data into programmatic SEO pages
- Nunjucks templates — Render tables, stat cards, and analysis from JSON data
The script searches 8-16 cities per county to ensure comprehensive coverage, deduplicates by name+address, and filters using both city name matching and geographic bounding boxes.
Why This Matters for Local SEO
Local SEO is data-driven or it's guesswork. When we onboard a new client, we show them:
- Exactly how many competitors they have
- Who dominates reviews (and by how much)
- Which cities are oversaturated vs underserved
- What the realistic path to map pack visibility looks like
No hand-waving. No "trust us." Just data.
We publish all our market reports for free at webpossible.com. If you're a local business in Southeast Michigan, check where you stand.
We're WebPossible — local SEO and AI automation for small businesses in Macomb and Oakland County, MI.
Top comments (1)
This is solid. Most people guess in local SEO, but seeing real review gaps + city-level competition changes everything — makes strategy way more realistic and actionable.