Local business articles: where the business data comes from

When your keyword has local intent, like "best cafes in bendigo", SEOBetter fills the article with real businesses from map and places databases. It never invents a business name.

The places waterfall

The plugin works through its data sources in order and stops at the first one that returns at least two verified places. Sources without a key are skipped:

• Google Places: optional key, the most complete and accurate source, checked first when configured
• OpenStreetMap + Wikidata: free, no key needed, always active
• Foursquare and HERE: optional free keys, better coverage
• Perplexity Sonar: optional key, a web-search AI used as a last resort

You configure the optional keys under Settings → Places Integrations. All keys are optional. The plugin works out of the box with the free sources.

Why a Google Places key helps small towns

Coverage depends on your setup. With only the free sources, about 40% of local keywords get enough data. Large cities work, small towns often fail. Adding free Foursquare and HERE keys raises coverage to roughly 85%. Adding a Google Places key raises it to roughly 99%, including small towns and villages.

Without Google Places, articles about towns under about 50,000 people will often come back with a "places insufficient" notice instead of a listicle.

What happens when data is thin

If no source returns at least two verified businesses, the plugin does not fake it. It switches to a general informational article about the topic and shows an amber notice above the preview explaining why. A green notice means real places were found and used.

A note on accuracy

Google Places data is checked first when you add a key because it never fabricates businesses. The Sonar backup has the widest reach but can occasionally surface a business that does not exist in very small villages, which is why it sits behind the map databases.