How do you build local backlinks for a local business?

Local links come from relationships you already have, not from outreach campaigns. Suppliers, associations, sponsorships, and local press are reachable in a week. Generic guest post outreach to strangers is not, and for a local business it rarely pays for the effort.

Where the links actually are

• Suppliers and manufacturers. Many run dealer, installer, or certified partner locators. These are among the strongest and most relevant links a local business can get, and you usually qualify already. Ask your rep.
• Trade associations and licensing bodies. Member directories you are entitled to be in.
• Chamber of commerce and local business groups. Modest authority, genuine local relevance.
• Sponsorships. Youth sports, school programs, charity events, local festivals. Ask for a link on the sponsor page before you pay, and confirm it is a real link rather than a logo image.
• Local press and community sites. Reachable when you have something real: a hire, an expansion, a community project, or expert comment on a local story.
• Partner and vendor pages. The accountant, the contractor, the agency you work with. Reciprocal partner pages are fine when the relationship is real.

Citations are not links

These get confused constantly. A citation is a mention of your name, address, and phone that Google uses to confirm who and where you are. A link is a hyperlink that passes authority. Some listings are both. Many citations are not links at all. Both matter, for different reasons, and a vendor selling citation building as link building is selling you one thing twice.

How to ask

Short, specific, and low friction. Name the exact page you want to appear on, provide the URL and the anchor text you would like, and give them a reason that serves them. Follow up once. Then check the link once it goes up, because logo only placements and nofollowed script based directories are common.

Related: What are local citations?, Build a free broken link checker, SEO services.