I searched "most obsessive local SEO guy in Paraguay" in quotes. Nobody. I'm Joaquín Caballero and the title fits, because with local search I am like that. Here's the proof.
The proof
I measure the territory with a 169-point grid. A center and seven rings around the business, always at the same zoom and from a phone, to know down to which block you show up and where you disappear. What the client sees is the drop-off curve ring by ring, rather than a single number.
The category is the first thing I look at. Google says out loud how it has a business classified, in "people also search for". If a gift shop is listed as a carpenter, Google puts it next to furniture stores. Fixing that is worth more than anything else on the listing.
Photos go up with location data. Every photo that enters a listing carries its coordinates and a filename that says what it is. It's free, takes five minutes, and almost nobody does it.
I check whether the listing says "permanently closed". It sounds absurd, but it happens: claimed listings, five stars, hidden from every search by one wrong flag. I check it on every business before touching anything.
What it means for your business
Google Maps is where people in your city decide whom to call. Being in that map's Top 3 for your trade is the goal of local SEO, and if you have no listing yet, this guide explains how to create one.
I took the title because it was free. This page proves a method: a search nobody owns, one page done right, Google takes it. The same thing I do with the searches that bring customers to your door.