Massive sells local SEO to small firms at $13 a month

Massive charges small businesses ₦18,000 ($13.37) a month to manage their visibility on Google Maps, a price its founder says undercuts international rivals by more than 70%.

Segun Olaiya launched the AI-powered local SEO platform in 2026 after four years in local search optimisation in the United States, where he worked with large operations including AT&T and businesses in San Diego and Texas. He noticed the marketing technology industry ignored smaller players.

"Most of this kind of industry, which is marketing technology, is usually focused around big organisations that have multiple locations across cities and states that want to be as visible as possible. But small businesses are not always really paid attention to," Olaiya told TechCabal.

He began manually optimising Google Business Profiles for small business owners. Some reported a jump in calls from organic search rather than paid ads. "They were like, 'Oh, now I get more calls,'" he recalled. That feedback produced the idea: "Maybe I can actually just make this into a proper thing and then automate it."

Why does a Google listing alone not work?

Google says local search results rest on three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. A listing guarantees nothing. Olaiya says businesses can improve visibility by writing accurate profile descriptions, keeping information consistent across platforms and encouraging customer reviews.

The gap is wide in Nigeria. A 2024 Research ICT Africa survey of 718 Nigerian microenterprises found only 13% used the internet for business activities, just 0.3% had their own websites and 6.7% had a social media presence. Some 37% lacked the digital skills to use the internet productively.

The payoff is real. A study commissioned by Google and conducted by Public First, covering 140 Nigerian business leaders, found businesses reported that 11% to 20% of their new customers found them through Google Search.

Google's constant algorithm shifts compound the problem. "Typically, the problem is that Google usually changes the rules. More often than not, they usually change what they really care about," Olaiya said. Many owners outsource the task to specialists.

How does Massive manage local search?

The service starts with a free visibility scan on TryMassive.ai. Owners enter a business name and a search term such as "barber near me". The platform then simulates the search from 49 points around the business by default, mapping where it appears in Google Maps results across the area. Businesses can expand the scan to 81 or 100 points, and Massive calculates an average ranking.

"The Massive system goes and simulates that search across, by default, 49 points in the city," Olaiya said. "We simulate it as if somebody physically went to that physical location and then opened their phones and they search for that keyword."

Subscribers book a 30-minute call with an account manager who reviews results, goals and recommended changes. Olaiya calls it a "done-for-you experience" and adds: "We literally do everything for you."

The AI reviews profile descriptions, flags inconsistencies between websites and social pages, and can generate a website for businesses without one. When a customer leaves a Google review, the system drafts and publishes a response directly without the owner logging in. Human account managers still handle flagged content, such as images Google may reject. "We believe that a person should talk to another person instead of us just running a system that AI is talking to the person," Olaiya said.

Massive runs scans every two weeks. If rankings stall, the team changes strategy. After three to four months, profiles stabilise and the system runs largely autonomously.

Who is the platform for?

Olaiya identified four target categories: physical outlets like restaurants, gyms, salons and law firms; service-area businesses such as electricians and lawn-care companies; multi-location businesses; and new entrants competing in established markets. Businesses in less dense areas hold an advantage, he said, because they face fewer competitors and can cover a bigger area.

Online-only businesses, software firms, newsrooms and blogs don't need the service.

Annual subscriptions cost ₦216,000 ($160.47), including weekly profile updates, review management, map-rank tracking and a dedicated account manager, with a 14-day free trial. Massive has more than 20 active customers.

The company competes with Poland's Localo, San Diego-based SOCi and New York-headquartered Yext. Localo's $49 Single Business plan, falling to $39 with annual billing, offers software tools businesses run themselves — a different model from Massive's managed service. SOCi and Yext hide pricing behind demo requests.

Massive is bootstrapped, which Olaiya says limits outreach. "One of the things that can drive the product is to educate business owners to say, 'You need this,'" he said. "We are currently bootstrapping, and it is quite limiting how far we can go in terms of reaching out to the business owners. But we are on it."

His benchmark for the next year: "Over the next year, I need to have at least 100 businesses who can attest to the fact that Massive has helped them expand their businesses." For Olaiya, real impact means customers using visibility data to open another outlet or enter a new area — not just ranking higher on Google Maps.