Most agency websites ask visitors for contact information before giving them anything. The form sits on a page the visitor may or may not find, in exchange for the vague promise that someone will get back to them. For a visitor who arrived skeptical, that exchange asks for too much too soon. They close the tab.
An embedded audit tool inverts the sequence. The visitor gets something specific and valuable about their own business first. The contact information comes second, at the moment their interest is highest. This guide covers how to set one up using F! Insights, a self-hosted WordPress plugin that runs live Google Business Profile scans, scores them across eight categories, and captures lead data directly into your own WordPress database. No SaaS subscription. No platform cut. Your data stays on your server.
In This Article
What You Need Before You Start
- A WordPress site on any theme. F! Insights works with any WordPress installation running PHP 8.0 or higher.
- A Google Places API key to pull live Google Business Profile data, competitor listings, and business details.
- An Anthropic API key to power the AI analysis that converts raw GBP data into plain-language findings and prioritized recommendations.
Both API keys are pay per use with no monthly minimums. A typical scan costs between $0.01 and $0.05 in combined API usage. You pay each provider directly at their published rates. F! Insights applies no markup.
Getting Your Google Places API Key
- Go to console.cloud.google.com and sign in.
- Create a new project.
- In the left sidebar go to APIs and Services, then Library. Enable Places API (New) and PageSpeed Insights API.
- Go to Credentials. Click Create Credentials and select API Key. Copy the key.
Key Restriction Setting: F! Insights makes server-side calls. If your key uses Website (HTTP referer) restrictions, calls will fail. Set restrictions to None or IP addresses only.
| Usage Level | Estimated Monthly Cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Under 100 scans per month | Under $3 | Google offers $200/month free credit for new accounts |
| 100 to 500 scans per month | $3 to $15 | Varies by data depth per scan |
| 500+ scans per month | $15 to $50+ | Set a monthly spend cap in the console |
Getting Your Anthropic API Key
- Go to console.anthropic.com and create an account.
- Under Billing, add a payment method.
- Go to API Keys and click Create Key. Copy it immediately. Anthropic shows the full key only once.
Use Claude Haiku 4.5 for the Report Model: roughly $0.01 to $0.03 per scan. Use Claude Sonnet 4.5 for Admin Intelligence tasks like pitch generation and market analysis.
Installing and Configuring F! Insights
- Download F! Insights. The free tier is fully functional for lead capture and scanning.
- In your WordPress admin go to Plugins, then Add New, then Upload Plugin. Upload the zip file and activate.
- Go to F! Insights, then Settings, then API Config.
- Paste your Google Places API key into the Google field and your Anthropic API key into the Anthropic field.
- Select your preferred AI models. Save settings. F! Insights validates both keys on save.
Setting Up the Audit Page
Create a new WordPress page with one job: get the visitor to run the scan.
To learn more about building a local SEO prospect pipeline, visit Build a Prospect Hit List From Local Scan Data. Turn Website Traffic Into Local SEO Leads Automatically Each Day and Win Local SEO Clients With Data-Backed Prospecting cover adjacent steps in detail.
- Headline: “Find Out How Your Google Business Profile Compares to Your Competitors”
- Subheadline: “Enter your business name and city. We pull your live Google data and show you exactly where you stand.”
- Shortcode:
Nothing else on the page. No testimonials, no service descriptions, no pricing. Publish it. That URL is now your primary lead capture mechanism.
What Visitors See When They Scan
The visitor enters a business name and city. F! Insights queries the Google Places API, identifies the business, pulls its full GBP data, and runs a PageSpeed audit against its website. Claude analyzes all of that and generates a scored report across eight categories.
| Category | What It Measures |
|---|---|
| Online Presence | Profile completeness, visibility signals, verified status |
| Customer Reviews | Rating, volume, recency, response patterns |
| Photos and Media | Photo count, recency, type coverage |
| Business Info | Hours, phone, address, website, attributes |
| Competitive Position | Comparison against up to 3 nearby named competitors |
| Website Performance | Core Web Vitals via PageSpeed Insights on mobile and desktop |
| Local SEO Signals | Category specificity, NAP consistency, keyword positioning |
| Page Speed | FCP, LCP, TBT, CLS, Speed Index, TTI with AI interpretation |
The competitor comparison is the most consistently engaging element. Seeing that a specific named competitor has three times their review count makes the gap personal.
What You Receive and How to Use It
When a visitor submits their contact information, their record lands in your F! Insights pipeline dashboard inside WordPress: business name and location, overall score and category breakdown, named competitor, lowest-scoring categories, and the timestamp.
Your first follow-up is not cold. It references the specific findings from their scan. For the full follow-up sequence, see How to Follow Up After a Free SEO Audit Request.
Driving Traffic to the Audit Page
| Channel | Time to First Lead | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Cold email with audit page as CTA | Days | “Run your business through our free audit” converts better than a calendar link as a first touch |
| LinkedIn posts for local business owners | Days to weeks | Post about a specific scan finding and link to the audit page |
| Local business associations and chambers | Weeks | Offer the audit tool as a free member resource |
| Organic search for GBP and local SEO queries | Months | Blog content linking to the audit page compounds over time |
| Referral partners | Weeks to months | Web designers, accountants, and business coaches can refer clients |
Ready to set it up? Download F! Insights and have your first scan running in under 15 minutes.