Many businesses think local SEO platforms are basically the same. Big mistake. 👀
Synup and BrightLocal both support review management, listing control, and performance tracking, but they take different approaches.
One focuses on operational efficiency by automating review generation and listing management through CRM, SMS, and email. It’s all about saving time and streamlining workflows.
The other goes deeper into SEO with tools like local citation builders, comprehensive site audits, and detailed review monitoring to boost local search visibility.
Trying to decide which one fits your strategy better? This side-by-side breakdown highlights how they stack up across performance and scalability.
Let’s explore the key features and prices of both platforms and introduce a third option built for businesses that need a complete, scalable local SEO solution. ⚡
What Is Synup?
Synup is a local marketing platform designed for multi-location businesses and agencies, focusing on enhancing digital presence across search engines and directories.
It helps businesses manage their local SEO by ensuring consistent listings and profiles across various platforms.
With features like keyword tracking, local rank visualization, and reputation management, Synup enables businesses to gain insights into their local performance.
The platform also supports social posting and performance tracking, offering a comprehensive view of how users interact with the brand across multiple channels.
Synup Popular Features
Synup enhances various aspects of local SEO management, enabling businesses to efficiently track and optimize their online visibility:
- AI-Driven Content Creation: Generate compelling captions for various platforms using Synup’s AI tools, customizing them to match your desired tone and length.
- Centralized Content Publishing: Manage and distribute branded content across various digital outlets with just one click, allowing for precise control over your brand’s messaging across regions and websites.
- Automated Listing Updates: Simplify the process of updating business information across directories, reducing the need for manual input and ensuring greater consistency.
- Listing Creation Tool: Build structured profiles on high-traffic platforms like Yelp, Bing, and other relevant industry sites to improve local discoverability.
- Ranking Insights: Track the performance of targeted keywords and monitor local ranking fluctuations, providing a clear view of where improvements can be made.
- Listing Management System: Synup offers a more comprehensive and intuitive approach to maintaining accurate business details across multiple platforms, ensuring better visibility and higher search rankings.
Synup Pricing
Synup offers a free trial with access to a limited number of directories, allowing businesses to get a feel for the platform before committing:
- Free Trial: $0 for 14 days – 15 listings, Google & Facebook review monitoring, daily AI posts, review suggestions, basic analytics.
- Standard: $34.99/month – 70 listings, tools for Google setup, monitor 10 sites, email/SMS review requests, AI posts/replies, advanced analytics, Synup SECURE.
- Premium: $89.99/month – 80 listings, monitor 20 sites, CRM-integrated reviews, review widgets, custom attributes, agency tools & white-label dashboard.
For companies with multiple locations, Synup provides tailored pricing plans designed to meet the needs of larger, more complex businesses.
What Is BrightLocal?
BrightLocal is a comprehensive local SEO platform designed for businesses of all sizes that provides a range of tools to manage and optimize local SEO efforts.
The platform allows businesses to evaluate their SEO performance, monitor rankings, and offers in-depth insights into Google Business Profile (GBP).
With features like automated workflows and guided tools, BrightLocal makes it simple for users to stay on top of local rankings, manage listings, and track customer interactions.
It also provides auditing capabilities to assess both technical and on-page SEO aspects, helping businesses resolve issues and improve local search performance.
BrightLocal Popular Features
BrightLocal provides essential tools for businesses to effectively manage and improve their local SEO strategies:
- Local Search Grid: Visualize how your business appears in different local areas, helping you understand geographic visibility trends and performance.
- Local Rank Tracker: Monitor keyword performance across multiple search engines and platforms, spotting ranking changes and identifying opportunities for growth.
- Citation Builder: Create and manage consistent listings across various directories, helping businesses strengthen their local SEO presence.
- Google Business Profile Management: Maintain and optimize GBP listings with tools for scheduling posts, reviewing analytics, and managing customer feedback.
- Reputation Manager: Track and respond to customer reviews from a unified dashboard, improving customer engagement and brand reputation.
- Local SEO Reports: Generate customized reports that highlight local SEO performance and provide actionable insights for optimization.
BrightLocal Pricing
BrightLocal offers flexible pricing plans with a focus on providing valuable local SEO tools at different levels:
- Track Plan: $29/month – Essential Local SEO tools.
- Manage Plan: $36/month – Track Plan features plus Listings Management.
- Grow Plan: $44/month – Manage Plan features plus Review Management.
- Citation Builder: Pay-as-you-go starting at $2 per site.
Synup vs. BrightLocal: Which One Puts Small Businesses on the Map?
In this comparison, we’ll break down their unique approaches to help you choose the local platform best suited to your needs.
1. Review Management
Synup simplifies multi-platform review management with a centralized dashboard that supports real-time monitoring, intelligent response templates, and advanced analytics.
Businesses can track customer sentiment, respond promptly using tailored suggestions, and maintain a consistent tone across platforms.
The tool also encourages ongoing engagement by helping teams manage feedback loops that shape public perception.
BrightLocal’s Reputation Manager consolidates customer reviews from various platforms into one dashboard, giving businesses a clear overview of public sentiment.
The system is structured to support regular engagement, users can respond directly, identify trends in feedback, and prompt satisfied customers to leave new reviews.
Winner: Synup
Unlike BrightLocal, which emphasizes collection and basic engagement, Synup supports strategic response management and reputation building by combining real-time response tools, intelligent templates, and deep analytics in a single platform.
2. Citation Management
Synup automates citation management by creating, syncing, and updating business information across major directories like Google, Yelp, Bing, and Facebook.
The platform keeps data consistent by instantly pushing updates to all connected listings, reducing manual work and helping prevent outdated or mismatched information.
It also supports citation building on niche directories, offering added visibility in industry-specific spaces.
BrightLocal gives businesses full control over citation management with its Citation Tracker and Citation Builder tools.
Citation Tracker monitors existing listings and flags inconsistencies, while Citation Builder handles manual submissions and updates across hundreds of directories.
For those managing 20 or more locations, the Campaign Manager simplifies the coordination of high-volume citation updates.
Winner: BrightLocal
BrightLocal offers greater control and visibility into citations compared to Synup’s approach. The option to manage citations at scale makes it especially useful for businesses with many locations.
3. Local Rank Tracking
Synup offers local rank tracking through a system that monitors keyword performance across Google Search and Google Maps.
Businesses can bulk-add keywords and assign them to specific locations, making it easier to assess visibility in targeted areas.
Support for local, voice, and social search trends gives users broader visibility into how their brand appears in location-based search results.
BrightLocal delivers a complete view of local search rankings by tracking keyword positions across Google, Bing, maps, organic, and mobile results.
The platform supports multi-location tracking and competitor analysis, helping users uncover ranking gaps and opportunities.
It includes automated reporting, sending scheduled updates to users’ inboxes, and provides roll-up reports for organizations managing many locations.
Winner: BrightLocal
BrightLocal excels by offering more depth in rank tracking with its ability to monitor multiple search types, compare competitor data, and deliver automated multi-location reporting.
4. Listing Management
Synup’s Local Listing Management platform automates the creation, distribution, and updating of business listings across multiple online directories, ensuring consistent, accurate information everywhere from Google to Yelp.
It also offers performance analytics and review management tools to help businesses track visibility and maintain a strong online presence.
BrightLocal provides a structured listing management system that includes tools like Local Citation Builder for listing creation and correction, and GBP Post Scheduler for managing profile content.
For multi-location brands, the platform supports bulk management and provides visibility into listing performance.
Its focus on ongoing updates and integration with Google tools supports strong listing health and presence across the web.
Winner: BrightLocal
While Synup offers strong listing control and bulk editing, BrightLocal stands out with more stable directory connections and a broader toolkit.
User feedback indicates occasional issues with Synup’s listing sync, whereas BrightLocal’s Active Sync provides consistent updates across platforms.
5. Grid Rank Tracking
Synup’s grid rank tracking tool provides a visual map of how a business ranks for selected keywords across a defined area.
Users can track their own location or a competitor’s, view ranking positions across a 9×9 grid, and monitor changes over time.
It highlights top-3 ranking percentages, average position, and coverage, helping businesses identify strong and weak zones in local visibility.
BrightLocal’s geo grid tracker lets users monitor keyword rankings across specific neighborhood points and performance changes and evaluate local SEO campaigns over time.
It generates visual grids to assess visibility in local areas that support historical comparisons through live dashboards, showing how rankings shift month to month.
Winner: BrightLocal
BrightLocal is better for grid rank tracking when you need to manage ongoing client reporting and track multiple locations with a more scalable setup.
6. Pricing
Synup offers a tiered pricing structure, with a basic plan for businesses just starting out and a higher-tier option for advanced features. The entry-level plan covers simple needs, while the full feature set requires upgrading.
BrightLocal is budget-friendly for small operations managing limited locations. However, costs tend to rise when managing more brands or expanding coverage, since each new profile adds to the setup.
Winner: None
While both platforms suit small businesses, neither provides the full range of SEO capabilities needed for a strong local strategy. Relying on extra tools becomes necessary, which often leads to a higher total spend.
Synup vs. BrightLocal: There’s One More Worth Your Attention
If Synup and BrightLocal offer useful features but still fall short for your specific needs, there’s another option worth considering.
Search Atlas provides a more complete and affordable solution by integrating keyword research, content workflows, and local SEO automation in one place. 📍
Search Atlas Features
Search Atlas keeps your business information consistent and accurate across directories, while giving you full control to update and optimize whenever needed.
Instead of relying on multiple platforms, you can manage listings, citations, and reviews from a single, centralized system.
It also comes with Google Business Profile management automated by OTTO SEO, the AI assistant, which handles updates, review management, and maintains consistency across listings.
Local Citation Builder
Search Atlas offers a centralized approach to citation management, whether you’re handling one location or several.
The platform uses OTTO to automate submissions to top directories through one-time purchases valid for 12 months.
Review management
Search Atlas simplifies the review management process by consolidating all customer feedback connected to your Google Business Profile.
With OTTO SEO, responses to reviews are automated across all your locations. This keeps interactions active while reducing the manual effort required.
You can quickly review, edit, or approve replies, helping you stay engaged and professional, even when managing multiple profiles.
Listing Management
Control and optimize every GBP listing from a single dashboard. This setup is especially effective for agencies managing multiple clients.
Instead of logging into different accounts or using separate tools, all listing updates, performance metrics, and client information are centralized in one place.
Local Heatmap
Search Atlas provides a detailed geo-grid view that shows exactly where a business appears in search results across different neighborhoods.
You can track changes in visibility over time and identify the strongest and weakest spots in your client’s local presence.
It presents keyword performance across the area, highlighting opportunities to improve exposure and drive local traffic.
Add any keywords you want to monitor, and the tool will track their average, best, worst, and center positions.
Search Atlas Pricing
Compared to Synup and BrightLocal, Search Atlas offers a more scalable and cost-efficient pricing model with greater automation included from the start.
All plans come with free OTTO SEO activations, giving you immediate access to automated citation building, GBP management, and review responses.
| Starter plan | Growth plan | Pro plan | Enterprise | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price: | $99 monthly | $199 monthly | $399 monthly | Custom |
| Free OTTO Activation | 1 | 2 | 4 | Custom |
| User Seats | 2 | 3 | 5 | Custom |
| Automated GBP Accounts | 3 | 10 | 25 | Custom |
| Local SEO Heatmaps/Geogrids | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Aggregator Network Local Citations | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Data Aggregator | 5 networks for $100, updated for 12 months | |||
One Platform, Every Local SEO Tool You Need
Synup manages listings, and BrightLocal covers the basics, but both fall short when it comes to in-depth insights and scalability. 😔
Want to streamline citation management, review automation, keyword research tracking, content optimization, and reporting in one place? Search Atlas crushes it!
With this all-in-one SEO platform, you don’t need to juggle multiple local tools. Thanks to OTTO SEO, many tasks are automated, reducing the manual effort and streamlining your process. ⚙️
Choose a platform designed to grow with your business. Start your free trial today! No commitment, and cancel anytime.
