SEO · Gatineau and the Outaouais
Gatineau searches in French. Your site has to answer in French.
Quebec's language law, Quebec French and Google Maps results that cross the river: that's what's different about getting found in Gatineau. We do the work in French first, with English pages for the customers who want them.
Local SEO from $899 / month · SEO from $2,250 / month · month to month
Hull, Aylmer, the Plateau, Gatineau, Buckingham, Masson-Angers ·
Before you publish
The Quebec checklist for a business website
- If your business has a Quebec address and sells to Quebecers, your website needs a French version. English can sit beside it. Confirmed–Industry
- If you sell online, the French version must have everything a customer needs to buy. Confirmed–Industry
- French doesn't have to be the version that loads first, according to the OQLF. Confirmed–Industry
- Your social media accounts used to sell are covered too. Confirmed–Industry
- On your Google Business Profile, don't repeat your name in both languages. Google lists "repeated bilingual names" as not acceptable. Confirmed–Google
Quebec strengthened its Charter of the French Language with Bill 96 in 2022, so a quick machine translation is a risk, not a shortcut. Check your own situation with the Office québécois de la langue française.
Lunch hour in Vieux-Hull
On the Promenade du Portage, Google Maps crosses the river
The Portage Bridge lands in Hull right beside Place du Portage, the federal office towers where thousands of public servants work. At noon they spill onto the Promenade du Portage, Vieux-Hull's main street, phones out, searching for lunch.
Some search in French, some in English, and the results don't stop at the provincial border. A café on the Promenade is competing with restaurants on the Ottawa side, just across the bridge. When we searched "plombier gatineau," Google Maps covered both sides of the river. Tested by us
What wins those searches is ordinary work done well: the right category, real hours, a description in both languages without repeating the business name, photos of the food, and replies to reviews in the language they were written in. Our view
Sector by sector
Five old cities, still searched by name
Hull, Aylmer, Gatineau, Buckingham and Masson-Angers merged in 2002. People still type the old names, so your site and your service area should too.
- Hull
- Vieux-Hull, Place du Portage and the Terrasses de la Chaudière, the Canadian Museum of History, the Casino du Lac-Leamy. Office workers and visitors, in both languages.
- Aylmer
- Rue Principale and the marina, with a larger English-speaking community than the rest of the city. Where English pages earn their place beside the French ones.
- Plateau
- Newer neighbourhoods near Gatineau Park, full of young families. Home services and health care searched close to home.
- Gatineau
- The big residential east, along boulevards Maloney and de la Gappe. Everyday services, searched almost entirely in French.
- Buckingham
- With Masson-Angers, farther east along the Lièvre River. If you drive out, name these sectors: "Gatineau" alone suggests Hull.
Quebec French
Gatineau doesn't search like Paris
Keyword research in French has to start from how people here write. A few everyday words show the gap between Quebec and France: Our view
| English | In Gatineau | In France |
|---|---|---|
| A quote | une soumission | un devis |
| un courriel | un e-mail, un mail | |
| To go shopping | magasiner | faire du shopping |
| The weekend | la fin de semaine | le week-end |
| Parking | le stationnement | le parking |
A roofer whose French page offers a "devis" sounds like a company from somewhere else. Our keyword research guide shows how we find the words Gatineau actually types.
What we checked
19 Gatineau searches, one snapshot
19 of 19
Showed the Google Maps box
From "plombier gatineau" to "notaire gatineau."
17 of 19
Were French searches
The common searches here are in French.
1 of 19
Showed an AI Overview
Only "dentiste gatineau." Google Maps still matters far more.
How we checked: Semrush Canada database, results-page features, Oct 20, 2026. One snapshot per search. Tested by us
Gatineau questions
Before you call
I'm in Ottawa. Should I have a Gatineau page?
If you really serve Gatineau, a French page written for Gatineau customers is the way in. A copy of your Ottawa page with the city name changed is not: Google treats that as a doorway page. And don't add a Gatineau address you don't actually work from.
Aylmer and Hull are part of Gatineau. Do I need pages for them?
Not usually. People still search by sector, so your Gatineau page should name the sectors you serve and say something true about each. A separate page makes sense only when you have real work there to show.
What does it cost?
Local SEO starts at $899 a month and SEO at $2,250, in Canadian dollars, quoted after the free audit. French pages are part of the work for Gatineau businesses.
I'm Khalid Mohamed, and I do this work myself, in French and English. More about me. Across the river: SEO in Ottawa.
Is your French site ready?
The free audit checks your Business Profile, your listings and your French and English pages.
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