i've hit a point in my career where i think I've been positioning myself completely wrong, and I'd really appreciate some outside perspective.

For context, I've spent the last 10 years in local SEO.

I've worked in-house at a multi-location retail chain, at a local SEO agency, as a freelancer, and for the last two years, as the founder of a small local SEO consultancy.

I've optimized for everything from single-location coffee shops to 200-location franchise groups. GMB profiles, local citations, review management, local content, Google Local Services ads, proximity-based targeting-you name it. I've built local link strategies, managed local SEO for service-area businesses, and even dabbled in hyperlocal PPC.

For the first five years, i was "just" a local SEO specialist.

But over time, my role naturally evolved beyond execution.

I've:

Built local citation and review systems for multi-location brands from scratch.
Developed local content strategies that tied into national campaigns.
Built strong local brand voices for service-area businesses.
Built a small personal brand on LinkedIn that brought in one of my dream clients inbound.
Led the local SEO function for a regional retail chain, where I managed a team of three, set the local search direction, and helped grow foot traffic through local content and GMB optimization.
Helped build their local community initiatives and local partnership programs.
Managed local SEO teams and freelancers.
Worked directly with founders and marketing directors to figure out what local search tactics should be prioritized, not just execute them.

The reason I'm asking this now is that I recently lost all my agency clients due to a health-related break, so I'm rebuilding from scratch while also applying for full-time jobs.

while updating my CV and portfolio, I had an uncomfortable realization:

I've been positioning myself as a local SEO specialist, even though my actual experience is much broader.

I've also been trying to win agency clients who simply outsource local citation building and GMB optimization.

The more i think about it, the less that positioning makes sense.

Local SEO execution is still my strongest tactical skill, but I don't think it's the highest-value thing I bring anymore.

my strengths today feel closer to:

Local search strategy and roadmap planning
Local brand voice and reputation management
Building local content systems that scale across locations
Newsletter and local email strategy for multi-location brands
Managing local SEO teams and freelancers
Translating business goals (foot traffic, local revenue) into local search execution
Making sure local optimization actually happens consistently

Maybe that's Head of Local Search, Local SEO Director, or Fractional Local SEO Lead. Maybe something else entirely.

I genuinely don't know.

This is where I'd love some advice.

my biggest question is:

1. if you looked at my experience, how would you position me in today's market?

Everything else stems from that.

2. Based on that positioning, who would you target?

Multi-location businesses?
Local SEO agencies?
Franchise owners?
Marketing directors at regional chains?
Someone else?

If I know my positioning, I must also know who to market myself to, else i will not know the pain points to address.

I'd really appreciate any perspective on how you'd position someone with my background today, who you'd sell to, and how you'd go about validating that positioning before doubling down on it.

even if your answer is, "I think you're looking at this the wrong way," I'd genuinely love to hear it