For a local business, most of SEO is local SEO. That means being found when someone nearby searches for what you do. It rests on a few plain things: a website that says clearly what you do and where, a complete Google Business Profile, and your name, address and phone number written the same way everywhere they appear online.
Beyond that, SEO work ranges from a one-off tidy-up of a new site to a monthly retainer for content, links and reporting. Some firms below lead with search. For others it comes as part of building the site. Several now also mention visibility in AI assistants, the same work aimed at a new kind of search.
Be wary of anyone who guarantees a ranking: nobody controls Google’s results. Ask instead what they will do each month, how they will report it, and which searches they think you can realistically win.