In reality, albeit I like to ask this question to gauge SEO competence, the answer to the question is not that important and in 99% of cases has little bearing on whether I can help them grow their business or not.
Until such the time longer tail keyword research & clustering has been undertaken and the business is better understood from a growth and ambition standpoint I won’t actually know if I can help them.
That’s why I encourage companies to take advantage of my paid 60 min strategy sessions, keyword research studies & SEO audits in advance of going all out on their SEO strategies which I can help them execute if we’re a good fit etc.
I hasten to add this is for those companies & businesses with a national and beyond focus.
Different rules typically apply for local SEO unless the city in question is the size of a small country etc.
What is a T-shaped marketer?