TikTok is used by around 20% of consumers when they’re looking for reviews, and 10% of Gen Z searchers use it for local searches. In fact, a recent survey found that TikTok was the dominant social media platform for teens. With 46% of 10,000 surveyed saying TikTok was their platform of choice.
If it’s not on your radar for getting in front of your customers, it should be.
Now, TikTok is expanding its role in local search with the Local Explorer Program, a new initiative that rewards users for posting place-based reviews. It’s another step toward making TikTok a destination for real-time discovery, giving users more ways to surface local recommendations directly within the app.
For SEOs, understanding how this program works is key to staying ahead of how visibility is shifting across platforms.
What is the TikTok Local Explorer Program
The TikTok Local Explorer Program is for people who love sharing authentic reviews of places they’ve visited. It works similarly to Google’s Local Guide program.
Whether it’s your favorite neighborhood restaurant or a hidden gem you stumbled across while traveling, TikTok wants to hear about it. By regularly posting meaningful, location-based reviews, you can earn experience points (XP), level up through the program, and unlock special perks that give your content more visibility.
This is a community-driven feature designed to help users discover trusted local recommendations on the app. As you contribute more helpful content, TikTok rewards you with perks that help boost your presence on the platform.
Requirements
To participate in the Local Explorer Program, you must be 18 years old or older and not be using a merchant account. This feature is only available in certain regions as of right now (Oct 2025), without specification of those regions in the TikTok documentation.
To get started, you must submit location-based reviews that follow TikTok’s standards:
- You must include text in your review
- Your review should reflect your real, personal experience
- Photos aren’t required but can earn you extra experience points
There are levels within the Local Explorer Program once you start submitting reviews. You’ll start at Level 0 and work your way up by earning experience points (XP) from your approved reviews. There are six levels total:
- Level 0
- Level 1 (20 XP required)
- Level 2 (80 XP)
- Level 3 (200 XP)
- Level 4 (500 XP)
- Level 5 (1,000 XP)
The more XP you earn, the higher your level and the more benefits you unlock, such as badges, access to exclusive communities, and monthly Promote coupons (available in the U.S. starting at Level 5). Another thing to note is that TikTok approves reviews before XP is applied; they state that it usually happens within 24 hours. So, it could take a little bit for the XP to show up in your account.
More on XP
XP is how TikTok tracks your contributions in the program. You earn it by submitting location reviews, and the amount depends on the length and quality of your content.
The maximum XP you can earn per review is 25 XP, which is reached by submitting a review with at least 200 characters and including a photo.
If you submit more than one review for the same location in a single month, they’ll count the highest-earning one and give you the difference as long as it doesn’t exceed the 25 XP cap.
Once you begin earning XP, you can work your way towards Perks. These are automatically unlocked as soon as you reach a new level. At higher levels, you gain access to exclusive communities, receive profile badges, and at Level 5 earn a $2 monthly Promote coupon in the U.S.
This system is designed to reward users who consistently contribute thoughtful, helpful content. So the more value your reviews offer, the faster you level up.
Why TikTok is Even More Important for Local SEO
The Local Explorer Program is one of the strongest signals yet that TikTok is investing in being a destination for local discovery. By encouraging users to post authentic, review-style content tied to specific places, TikTok is shaping how people explore and evaluate businesses in their area. From searchable place tags to location reviews and city-based content feeds.
For SEOs, this is something to pay attention to. The content coming out of the Local Explorer Program provides valuable signals:
- What types of businesses are getting visibility
- Which creators are influencing local discovery
- What language users are using to describe places and experiences
It also creates an opportunity to work more closely with social media teams. By tracking local tags, mentions, and review activity on TikTok, you can bring that data into your broader visibility strategy.
How to Use TikTok to Your Advantage
The Local Explorer Program opens the door for SEOs to take a more proactive role in how local businesses show up on TikTok. While a social media team may be managing the content itself, the insights coming from TikTok reviews and creator activity are valuable for shaping local visibility strategies.
This is where SEO and social can work in sync. TikTok gives you real-time data on what people are engaging with, how places are being described, and which businesses are gaining traction in discovery.
- Monitor what users are saying about your business
- Use reviews from TikTok on the site
- Learn from TikTok reviews and use language from there to write more compelling headings and conversion-friendly content
- Look for content opportunities within the app through filters, others searched for, etc
- Reuse TikToks for your GBP or embed on relevant pages on the site
Explore It, Don’t Ignore It
TikTok gives us direct access to how people are discovering and talking about local businesses. You can use that to your advantage by pulling insights directly from the app to strengthen your SEO strategy.
Just like you would monitor reviews from a GBP or Yelp and use that as social proof on a website, you can do the same with TikTok reviews. Highlight them on the site! Get an overall feel of what users are saying in their reviews and use that to write more conversion-focused content to urge users to take the next step.
Aside from review monitoring, you can use TikTok search itself as a research tool. Let’s use Voodoo Donuts as an example.
You’ll notice the app displays suggested filters under the search bar. Here we see “ASMR” and “Austin” which hint at how people are engaging with the brand. These behavioral patterns can help you uncover content opportunities tied to user intent that you won’t find in traditional keyword tools. In this instance it highlights they’re looking for satisfying sound-driven videos or trying to find information about the closest location.
You can also see “Others searched for” when looking up a specific business as well. This is similar to People Also Ask and can be another way to find content opportunities within the app. So for Sofi Stadium, people are often searching for the purse policy. They want to know what it is and what the actual size of an allowed purse looks like. That’s an opportunity for Sofi to create social and website content for.
Use these search features to better understand what people want to know before visiting a location, then apply that insight to your content. Whether that’s building out an FAQ, adding information to a Google Business profile, or creating website content to address potential concerns, TikTok is giving you real-time demand data.
You can also start by embedding relevant TikToks on high-intent service or location pages or uploading to a Google Business Profile listing to boost engagement, time on page, and to build trust and create social proof with content that feels authentic and relatable.
Set Your Sights Ahead
As search behaviors continue to evolve, SEO strategies can’t rely on Google alone to stay competitive. The rise of AI-generated results has created a growing demand for content that feels personal and trustworthy. People want that human connection, and TikTok allows users to have it.
With its emphasis on real experiences and community-driven content, the Local Explorer Program is just one example of how the platform is moving further into local search. SEOs need to pay attention.
By collaborating with social teams, tracking local activity, and using TikTok data to inform your strategy, you’ll be better equipped to keep up with how people are actually discovering and choosing local businesses today.
