Tommy Seilheimer // SEO for Accountants & CPAs

SEO for Accountants & CPAs: get found on Google, Maps and AI.

When business owners and individuals need a accounting firm, they search Google, pick from the three businesses on the map, or ask ChatGPT who to call. This page is the exact playbook I use to put a accounting firm in all three places: the searches that make the phone ring, the Google Business Profile setup field by field, the pages the site needs, the reviews that rank, and what it costs. Built from 23+ years of ranking local businesses, including accountants & cpas across the Chicago suburbs.

Audit My Accountants & CPAs Profile Free See the Searches

23+

Years ranking local businesses

800+

Businesses ranked

775+

Five-star reviews

210

Communities served

What’s on this page

How business owners and individuals search for a accounting firm
What the Map Pack looks like for accountants & cpas
The Google Business Profile setup, field by field
The pages a accounting firm website needs
What AI says when someone asks for a accounting firm
Reviews that rank a accounting firm
Seasonality and timing
What SEO costs for accountants & cpas
Mistakes accountants & cpas make online
How accountants & cpas get found in your town
Accountants & CPAs SEO FAQ

// Search Intent

How business owners and individuals actually search for a accounting firm.

Every one of these is a real search pattern with a town swapped in. Money searches come first, then comparison, then research. A accounting firm needs a page or a profile signal built for each, never one generic page hoping to catch them all.

accountant near me
CPA Naperville
small business accountant Naperville
bookkeeping services near me
how much does a CPA cost
tax accountant for small business
best CPA in Naperville
accountant for real estate investors

Money searches (“near me,” town plus service) go to the Map Pack and the top service pages. Comparison and cost searches go to answer-first pages that state real ranges. Research searches earn featured snippets and AI citations. That split is the whole strategy in SEO, and it is how I map every accounting firm engagement in the first month.

// The Map Pack

What the top three have in common.

Accounting firms win on niche pages (industries served), pricing clarity, credentials, and reviews from named business owners. Burr Ridge Advisors and Riviera Capital Group are client examples. Industry-specific pages beat the generic "accounting services."

The three factors are relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot move your building, so the work is relevance (the right category, the right services, the right pages) and prominence (reviews, citations, photos, activity). I track every accounting firm on a geo-grid across their towns so we can see the Map Pack turn green block by block. The full method is in how to win the Google Map Pack.

// Google Business Profile

The accounting firm profile, field by field.

Field	What a accounting firm should set	Why
Primary category	Accountant	The main relevance filter. Wrong category, no Map Pack.
Secondary categories	Certified Public Accountant, Tax Preparation Service, Bookkeeping Service	A category match for each service search you want to win.
Services	Every service listed individually with a description: Small business accounting; Bookkeeping; Tax planning and preparation; Industries served; Pricing and consultation	Each one is a relevance match for a search.
Description	750 characters: what you do and where in the first sentence, then what makes you different, then the towns you serve	The part people read and machines extract.
Photos	Real work, real team, real trucks or space, added every two weeks with the town in the description	Engagement is a prominence signal and stock photos lose trust.
Reviews	Steady velocity, replies to every one, reviews that mention responsiveness, tax savings found, the accountant, and the town	Google reads the words in reviews.
Hours and attributes	Accurate hours, holiday hours, and every attribute that is true (emergency, licensed, financing, languages)	Attributes filter searches and AI engines use them.
Posts and Q&A	One post a week; the eight questions customers ask, seeded and answered	Activity signals and answer content.

The complete field-by-field method is in how I optimize a Google Business Profile completely, and the service itself is Google Business Profile optimization. If the profile has been suspended, reinstatement comes first.

Free profile audit

Want to see how your accounting firm profile compares to the top three?

On a free strategy call I pull up your profile next to the three accountants & cpas holding the Map Pack for your money search, field by field, and show you exactly what they have that you do not.

Audit My Profile

// The Website

The pages a accounting firm website needs to rank.

One page per service, one page per town you want more work from, and answers to the questions customers ask before they hire. Fast, mobile-first, and built so AI crawlers can read it.

Small business accountingAnswer-first, with the searches it targets in the first sentence, real photos, and FAQ schema.
BookkeepingAnswer-first, with the searches it targets in the first sentence, real photos, and FAQ schema.
Tax planning and preparationAnswer-first, with the searches it targets in the first sentence, real photos, and FAQ schema.
Industries servedAnswer-first, with the searches it targets in the first sentence, real photos, and FAQ schema.
Pricing and consultationAnswer-first, with the searches it targets in the first sentence, real photos, and FAQ schema.

If the current site can hold these pages and loads fast, I build on it. If it cannot, I say so; that is the website design conversation, and a rebuild designed to rank is usually cheaper than years of patching. Every page gets Service and FAQ schema and answer-first structure, which is answer engine optimization applied to a accounting firm.

// AI Search

What AI says when someone asks for a accounting firm.

These are the kinds of prompts business owners and individuals are already typing into ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Mode. Each names two to seven businesses and cites its sources. Being one of them is worth more than a page-one ranking.

“best small business accountant in Downers Grove”
“how much does a CPA charge for small business taxes”
“bookkeeper vs accountant vs CPA”

Getting named is generative engine optimization: answer-first pages the engines can quote, business facts consistent everywhere, AI crawlers allowed, reviews and citations that corroborate you, and a prompt set tracked monthly so you can see it happen. I run it with EZY.ai and explain the loop in how I get businesses cited by AI. For a accounting firm, the fastest wins are the cost and comparison questions, answered honestly on your own site.

// Reviews

The reviews that rank a accounting firm.

Google reads review text, so the words matter more than the stars. For a accounting firm, the reviews that move rankings mention responsiveness, tax savings found, the accountant, and the town. The ask is simple and compliant: every customer, at the moment of highest satisfaction, with a one-tap link and a nudge to mention what you did and their town. Reply to every review naming the service and the neighborhood. Keep a steady pace rather than bursts, and protect what you build; fake and competitor reviews get reported under the correct policy and removed. The full system, including removal, is in Google reviews and reputation, and the protection service is the GBP Reputation Shield.

// Timing

Seasonality and when to start.

January through April, and Q4 planning. Rankings take weeks to months to build, so the accounting firm that starts in the off-season owns the peak. Starting during the peak means watching a competitor take it.

// Straight Talk

What SEO costs for accountants & cpas.

Business clients run $2,000 to $20,000 a year for years; one search-driven client a month is the program. Accounting SEO typically runs several hundred to a few thousand dollars a month. I build custom plans rather than packages, and I will tell you if a smaller scope makes sense. Full pricing for every package and add-on is on the packages and pricing page. What you are paying for is leads, and I report on leads with geo-grid tracking and monthly video, which is the detailed reporting every client gets. Documented outcomes are on the results page.

Honest numbers

Want a real number for your accounting firm?

Tell me your towns and your money services. On a free call I will show you the competition, the work required, and what it costs, and I will say so if you do not need something.

Get My Number

// What Goes Wrong

Mistakes accountants & cpas make online.

No industry pages.
No pricing guidance.
Credentials not on the profile.
Buying a monthly report instead of monthly work. If nothing on the site or profile changed, nothing is happening.
Ignoring AI search. The engines are already naming accountants & cpas; the question is whose.
Quitting at month three, right before the compounding starts.

// Your Town

How accountants & cpas get found in your town.

Rankings are decided town by town. Every community in DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall and Cook counties has its own page on this site with the local market, the competition and the searches that matter. Start with yours.

Chicago Naperville Aurora Joliet Elgin Bolingbrook Schaumburg Wheaton Downers Grove Oak Park Evanston Orland Park Plainfield Yorkville St. Charles Hinsdale

DuPage CountyAddison, Bensenville, Bloomingdale, Clarendon Hills, Glendale Heights, Hanover Park, Itasca, Oakbrook Terrace, Roselle, Wayne, West Chicago, Winfield, Wood Dale... All DuPage County communities →
Will CountyBeecher, Braidwood, Channahon, Crete, Elwood, Frankfort, Godley, Manhattan, Mokena, Monee, Peotone, Rockdale, Steger, University Park, Wilmington, Bolingbrook, ... All Will County communities →
Kane CountySt. Charles, Algonquin, Big Rock, Burlington, Campton Hills, Carpentersville, East Dundee, Elburn, Elgin, Geneva, Gilberts, Hampshire, Huntley, Kaneville, Lily ... All Kane County communities →
Kendall CountyBoulder Hill, Lisbon, Millbrook, Millington, Minooka, Newark, Plano, Sandwich, Yorkville, Oswego... All Kendall County communities →
Cook CountyTinley Park, Alsip, Arlington Heights, Barrington, Barrington Hills, Bartlett, Bedford Park, Bellwood, Berkeley, Berwyn, Blue Island, Bridgeview, Broadview, Bro... All Cook County communities →

The full list is on the service areas hub, and the flagship market guide is Chicago SEO. Outside Illinois, I work with accountants & cpas nationwide with the same process.

// Related Playbooks

Other professional services I rank.

// Where I Work, and How to Reach Me

Serving accountants & cpas across DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall and Cook.

Home base is Bolingbrook, 30 miles southwest of the Loop. Every community on this map has its own page, and every accounting firm in it gets the same process, the same reporting and the same direct line to me.

Call me(224) 600-4353Same-day answer, 7 days a week. You get me, not a call center. Text me(224) 600-4353Send your website and your town. I will reply with where you rank. Email meFree Visibility CheckUse the form below. It lands in my inbox and I reply the same day. Book a strategy call30 minutes, freeI pull up your accounting firm live: rankings, Map Pack, AI. You leave with the plan.

// Free Visibility Check

Tell me what you do and where. I will tell you where you stand.

Two minutes to fill out. I review every submission personally and reply the same day with your rankings across Google, the Map Pack and AI search, and what it would take to pass the accountants & cpas above you.

// Accountants & CPAs SEO FAQ

Questions accountants & cpas ask me.

What Google category should an accounting firm use?

Accountant or Certified Public Accountant as the primary with Tax Preparation Service and Bookkeeping Service as secondaries.

Do industry pages rank for accountants?

Yes. "Accountant for contractors" or "for dentists" are specific searches with high intent and thin competition.

Should accountants publish pricing?

Ranges, yes. It answers the top question and filters mismatched leads.

How long does SEO take for a accounting firm?

Google Business Profile fixes, starting with the primary category, usually move Map Pack rankings within two to six weeks. Competitive organic terms take six to twelve months. Service-specific and town-specific searches move faster because the competition is thinner.

How much does SEO cost for accountants & cpas?

Business clients run $2,000 to $20,000 a year for years; one search-driven client a month is the program. Accounting SEO typically runs several hundred to a few thousand dollars a month.

Do you work with accountants & cpas outside Chicagoland?

Yes. I serve every community in DuPage, Will, Kane, Kendall and Cook counties and clients across 16 states remotely, with the same process and monthly video reporting.

Which reviews help a accounting firm rank?

Reviews that mention responsiveness, tax savings found, the accountant, and the town. Google reads the words, and those words are relevance signals for the searches that matter.

Can a accounting firm show up in ChatGPT and AI Overviews?

Yes, when the site answers customer questions plainly, the business facts are consistent everywhere, AI crawlers are allowed, and reviews and citations corroborate the business. I measure it with prompt-level tracking in EZY.ai and report the screenshots.

What is the first thing you fix for a accounting firm?

No industry pages. That, or the primary category, is almost always the fastest win.

Do accountants & cpas need a new website to rank?

Not always. If the site is fast, crawlable and can hold a page per service, I improve it rather than rebuild it. If it cannot, I say so and we talk about a rebuild that is designed to rank from the first line of code.

How do I get started?

Book a free strategy call. I will show you where your accounting firm ranks across Google, the Map Pack and AI search, who is beating you in your towns and why, and what it would take to pass them.

Ready to be the accounting firm people find first?

Free strategy call. I will show you where you rank across Google, the Map Pack and AI search in your towns, who is beating you and why, and exactly what it takes to pass them. No pitch. You leave with the plan.

Book My Free Strategy Call