How to Rank in the Google Map Pack | How-to Guide

How Google picks the three businesses shown above the regular results for local searches, using its own stated factors of relevance, distance and prominence, and the practical work a small business can do on each one.

The map pack is the small map with three businesses that appears when someone searches for a local service. Google publishes the broad rules for it, and they are shorter than most agencies make them sound. You cannot buy a place in the organic part of it, but you can make your business a stronger match.

What Google itself says

Google's Business Profile Help page "How to improve your local ranking on Google" names three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the place named in the search, or from the searcher if no place is named. Prominence is how well known you are, which Google says draws on information such as how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.

That page also says plainly that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Ads can appear above or inside the map results, but those are labelled as sponsored and sit outside the ranking itself.

Distance: the factor you cannot fake

You cannot move closer to every searcher, and creating extra addresses to try is against Google's guidelines for representing your business. Virtual offices and mailboxes that are not staffed during business hours are not eligible. Accept that you will show more often near your real location and work harder on the other two factors.

Relevance: tell Google exactly what you do

  • Primary category. Pick the most specific category that describes the core of the business. "Emergency locksmith" tells Google more than "Service establishment".
  • Secondary categories. Add the other real services, and nothing you do not offer.
  • Services and products. Fill in the services list with the names customers actually type.
  • Your website. Link the profile to a page that clearly states the service, the town and how to book. A site with a separate page for each main service gives Google more to match against.

Keep the business name as it appears on your sign and paperwork. Google's guidelines forbid stuffing keywords or locations into the name, and competitors do report it.

Prominence: earned over time

Prominence is where steady habits pay off. Ask every satisfied customer for a Google review and reply to the ones you get. Make sure your name, address and phone are the same on directories in your trade and country. Look for genuine local mentions: a supplier listing, a club you sponsor, a local news story. None of these are quick, and none can be safely bought in bulk.

Keep the profile alive

Accurate hours, holiday hours, fresh photos and prompt review replies all help customers, and Google says complete, accurate information helps it match you to searches. A profile last touched two years ago with wrong hours loses clicks even when it does appear.

Check where you stand

Map rankings change with where the searcher stands, so one search from your office tells you little. Ask a few customers in different parts of town what they see, or use the Performance view in your profile to see which searches led to calls and direction requests.

A website that keeps adding useful pages about your actual services feeds the relevance side of this. SEO God Mode suggests those topics each week from the services already on your We.Inc site.

Frequently asked questions

Can I pay Google to rank higher in the map pack?

Not in the organic results. Google states there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Local ads exist, but they are marked as sponsored.

Does adding my city to my business name help?

It breaks Google's guidelines unless that is your real, legal trading name, and it can get the profile suspended. Use the description, services and website for location words instead.

Why do I rank in one part of town but not another?

Distance is one of the three factors Google names, so results shift with the searcher's location. Relevance and prominence help widen the area where you appear.

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