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OpenSEO: Run SEO Audits and Monthly Scorecards for Local Businesses
Pro-level SEO data for pocket change: sell a $499 audit and a $199 monthly scorecard.
Local businesses pay for SEO and ads but rarely know whether they are winning. OpenSEO gives you pro-level SEO data for pocket change, so you can sell a $499 audit and a monthly scorecard. Of the five tools, it is the easiest first offer.
What OpenSEO is
OpenSEO is an open-source SEO platform, pitched as "an SEO tool for the people". It is the pay-as-you-go alternative to Semrush and Ahrefs, which run into hundreds of dollars a month. It has 21.5k GitHub stars and an MIT license.
- Keyword research: what customers search for and how hard it is to rank.
- Rank tracking: where a site shows up on Google, week to week.
- Competitor and backlink analysis: who outranks the client and why.
- Site audits: technical problems holding a site back.
- AI visibility: whether the business shows up in AI answers, which many owners now worry about.
- Works with AI assistants: connects to agents like Claude through MCP.
How the pricing works: the SEO data comes from DataForSEO, which you pay per request. The hosted version is $10 a month plus a 28% markup on those requests; self-hosting removes the markup.
The service: an audit, then a monthly scorecard
Step 1, the audit ($499): a one-time check of the client's search presence. It gets you paid to find out what to sell them next.
Step 2, the monthly scorecard ($199/month): a two-page report with:
- Rankings for 30 keywords
- Clicks from Google
- Their top three competitors
- A Google Business Profile check
- Three recommended fixes
The client learns whether they are winning or losing in local search and exactly what to fix, for less than a Semrush subscription alone.
Who buys it: local service businesses already paying for SEO or ads without clear reporting, such as dentists, law firms, HVAC companies and med spas with 5–30 staff.
Pricing and costs
| Clients | Audit revenue | Monthly recurring |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $499 | $199 |
| 10 | $4,990 | $1,990 |
Tools cost about $10 a month plus data usage. The video estimates about 10 hours a month to serve 10 clients.
How to find clients
- List dentists, law firms and HVAC companies with 5–30 staff in metro areas.
- Run each website through OpenSEO before you reach out.
- Open your email with their three worst findings, with real numbers. Proof first earns you the pitch.
Getting started
- Get a DataForSEO API key.
- Run OpenSEO with Docker for yourself, or deploy it on Cloudflare's free tier to share with a team.
- Audit your own site or a friend's business first and turn it into your sample report.
Watch-outs
- Data usage grows with every client; watch your DataForSEO balance.
- Sell outcomes, not rankings you can't guarantee: promise the report and the fixes, not position one.
Sources
- OpenSEO on GitHub, checked September 28, 2026
- 5 Github repos that print $$$, Corey Ganim (offer, pricing and client-finding ideas)