Built in Charlotte for Charlotte — practical tools that help local businesses win customers while funding the journalism our city needs.
Mercury Local is the commercial engine of The Charlotte Mercury. It’s our first project in a public search for a sustainable model that supports hyper-local journalism and local business—so neighborhoods get trustworthy coverage and storefronts get measurable results.
What we do
Answer Cards
Search-friendly business pages that answer real customer questions (hours, services, pricing ranges, FAQs, map, booking, policies). Your most accurate, always-on reference.
Story Studio
Useful features, guides, and explainers customers choose to read. Published on your site and syndicated across our network where it actually makes sense.
Local SEO & Listings
Google Business Profile care, citation cleanup, and on-site fixes so you show up for high-intent searches in your neighborhood.
Community Sponsorships
Underwrite reporting series, neighborhood pages, and evergreen civic explainers residents rely on. Build trust by funding coverage that matters.
Metrics that matter
Calls, directions, bookings, replies. If it doesn’t move customers, it doesn’t make the cut.
How it works
- Make you the answer
We publish a fast, accurate Answer Card that becomes the canonical source about your business on search, maps, and your site. - Tell a story worth choosing
We pair your Answer Card with service pages, buying guides, and neighborhood explainers that earn organic discovery and real affinity. - Measure, learn, repeat
We track first-party signals, tune what works, and remove what doesn’t. Simple.
Who it’s for
- Independent retailers & services that need steady, local demand without wasting budget.
- Neighborhood institutions that rely on public trust.
- Regional brands that want Charlotte-level authenticity, not generic content.
Why this matters
When local business grows, local reporting grows. Revenue from Mercury Local funds The Charlotte Mercury’s civic desk—meeting coverage, election explainers, zoning, schools, accountability. Stronger businesses and better information should reinforce each other.
Proof points
- Faster answers drive more calls and route requests.
- Useful content outperforms interruption ads and survives platform shifts.
- Clean listings beat “spray and pray” for local intent.
We focus on durable, helpful communication that respects attention.
Examples: real stories we’ve published
Neighborhood & partner features (Strolling Ballantyne)
- Welcome to Ballantyne — neighborhood hub
- Ballantyne Farmers Market: lunch-break local
- Libretto’s Pizzeria: NYC roots, neighborhood heart
- Libretto’s Pizzeria — Answer Card (menu, hours, address, order)
- Rise, Shine, Repeat: Einstein Bros serves more than breakfast
- Last Week in Ballantyne: nails, curls, seafood sense & a goose-chasing lab
Civic explainers & accountability (The Charlotte Mercury)
- Charlotte Future 2040: Council set to vote on Community Area Plans & revised Policy Map
- Charlotte’s 1% transit tax: what it does, what it costs, who runs it, and where candidates stand
- The Penny That Could Redraw Mecklenburg
- Unincorporated South Mecklenburg Plan: what the new policy map does and when you can weigh in
- District 3 flips to Joi Mayo; District 5 likely recount; a campaign reshaped by Iryna Zarutska’s killing
- National & city desk hub
These are representative of the mix we’ll build for you: Answer Cards for utility, narrative features for affinity, and civic explainers to strengthen the community you sell to.
About Mercury Local
Mercury Local is operated by The Charlotte Mercury. It is our first commercial experiment to find a durable way to fund slow, civic-minded journalism in Charlotte while helping local businesses grow.
Contact
General: hello@mercurylocal.com
Partnerships: partners@mercurylocal.com
Made in CLT. #LastToFirst #WeAreCharlotte