How to Set Up Notifications and Alerts with Claude (Step-by-Step)

A client’s GBP categories got edited by a third party on Saturday. Their 1-star review sat unanswered for 5 days. Rankings dropped 3 positions and nobody noticed until the monthly report. These are the situations notifications prevent.

This guide walks through configuring Slack and email notifications so you know about issues when they happen — not when you happen to check.

What You’ll Need

  • LocalSEOSkills installed via Claude Code
  • Client brief already set up (notifications reference brief configuration)
  • Slack MCP connection configured (for Slack notifications)
  • Gmail MCP connection configured (for client email notifications, optional)

Step 1: Configure Your Notification Channel

Tell Claude where to send your alerts:

"Configure notifications for Peak Roofing:
send agency alerts to Slack #peak-roofing-alerts,
send client summaries to mike@peakroofing.com."

Claude updates the brand brief:

approval:
  reviewer: agency
  reviewer_channel: slack
  reviewer_contact: #peak-roofing-alerts
  client_notify: true
  client_channel: email
  client_contact: mike@peakroofing.com
  client_notify_format: summary

Agency alerts go to Slack — concise, technical, with file paths. Client notifications go to email — professional, jargon-free, with executive summaries.

Step 2: Set Alert Thresholds

Choose a preset or configure thresholds individually:

Option A: Use a Preset

"Use high-touch alert settings for Peak Roofing."

High-touch lowers all thresholds — more alerts, faster response. Good for active campaigns in the first 90 days.

"Use standard alert settings for Valley Plumbing."

Standard is the default — meaningful changes trigger alerts, routine fluctuations don’t. Good for established clients.

"Use minimal alert settings for the retainer clients."

Minimal raises thresholds — only significant changes trigger alerts. Good for clients on quarterly monitoring.

Option B: Configure Individual Thresholds

"Set Peak Roofing's alert thresholds:
alert on reviews 4 stars or below,
alert if ARP degrades 1.5+ positions,
alert on any GBP change,
alert if AI visibility drops 10+ points."

Claude updates the brand brief:

alerts:
  low_rating_threshold: 4
  new_one_star: true
  arp_degradation_positions: 1.5
  solv_drop_points: 10
  gbp_change: true
  ai_visibility_drop_points: 10
  review_velocity_drop_pct: 40
  lsa_rank_drop_positions: 3

Step 3: Verify Notifications Are Working

Test the Slack connection:

"Send a test notification to #peak-roofing-alerts."

Claude sends a test message:

🔔 Test — Peak Roofing Charlotte
Notifications configured and working.
Alert thresholds: ARP ≥1.5, SoLV ≥10, Reviews ≤4★, GBP changes: on
Channel: #peak-roofing-alerts

If the message doesn’t appear, check:

  • Slack MCP connection is active
  • Channel name is correct (including the #)
  • Bot has permissions to post in the channel

Step 4: Understand What You’ll Receive

Once monitoring tasks are running, you’ll receive notifications based on what happens:

Quiet day — nothing. No “all clear” messages. Silence means stability.

Ranking change detected:

🚨 Ranking Alert — Peak Roofing Charlotte
ARP degraded from 5.2 to 6.8 (1.6 positions)
SoLV dropped from 48% to 35%
→ Full scan: scans/2026-04-14-geogrid.md

New negative review:

⭐ 1-Star Review — Peak Roofing Charlotte
"Roof leaked 2 weeks after repair. Nobody returned my calls."
→ Draft response queued: drafts/2026-04-14-review-response.md
Reply APPROVE to post | REJECT to discard | EDIT [notes] to revise

GBP edit detected:

🚨 GBP Change — Peak Roofing Charlotte
Business hours modified: Saturday changed from 8AM-5PM to CLOSED
Source: Unknown (not from agency account)
Action: Verify this change was authorized

Task completion (no alert):

📊 Weekly Report — Peak Roofing Charlotte
Rankings stable. No new findings.
ARP: 5.2 (unchanged) | SoLV: 48% (unchanged)
→ Full report: reports/2026-04-14-weekly.md

Step 5: Tune Thresholds Over Time

After a few weeks, you’ll know if thresholds are too sensitive or too loose:

Too many alerts — normal fluctuations triggering notifications:

"Raise Peak Roofing's ARP threshold to 2 positions.
Their rankings fluctuate naturally by about 1 position."

Missing important changes — issues not surfacing:

"Lower Valley Plumbing's review threshold to 4 stars.
I want to know about any review that's not 5 stars."

Different needs per client:

"Peak Roofing should alert on all GBP changes.
Valley Plumbing can use standard GBP monitoring."

Thresholds are per-client. Tune each one to match the client’s situation and your management style.

Client-Facing Email Notifications

When client notifications are enabled, certain events trigger professional emails:

  • Monthly report summaries
  • Quarterly business review highlights
  • Post-execution confirmations (after you approve a Tier 3 action)

These emails are automatically formatted for business owners — no SEO jargon, no internal terminology, no mentions of Claude or AI unless agreed upon.

Subject: Peak Roofing — Monthly Performance — April 2026

Your local search performance improved this month.

Key metrics:
  Visibility: 48% (up from 41%)
  Ranking position: 5.2 (improved from 6.1)
  New reviews: 3 (all positive)

Recommended next step: Continue review generation campaign —
  momentum is building.

Troubleshooting

Not receiving Slack alerts: Verify the Slack MCP connection is active. Check that the channel name matches exactly. Ensure the bot has posting permissions.

Client emails not sending: Verify the Gmail MCP connection is active. Check that the client email address is correct in the brand brief.

Too many notifications: Switch to a less aggressive preset or raise individual thresholds. Start with standard and adjust from there.

Alerts firing but not actionable: If you’re dismissing most alerts, the thresholds are too sensitive. Raise them until alerts consistently require action.