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To rank higher on Google Maps, find out why the three businesses above you are there and close the gap on the things you control. Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence, and you can’t pay for a better spot. So check, for each competitor in the top 3, how well their profile matches the search, how close they are to the person searching, and how well known they are online (reviews, ratings and links). Then fix your weakest factor first and leave the ones you can’t change.
Business owners ask this in almost these words. On Reddit, r/SEO has a thread titled “[Question] How to rank on Google Maps?” and r/GoogleMyBusiness has one called “Google maps ranking”. Google’s own search box suggests “how to rank top 3 in google maps as a local business” and “why is my competitor ranking higher”. If your business doesn’t appear on Maps at all, start with why your business isn’t showing on Google Maps, because ranking only matters once the listing is live.
What decides who ranks higher on Google Maps?
Three things, according to Google’s page on how to improve your local ranking: relevance, distance and prominence.
- Relevance is how well your Business Profile matches what someone searched for. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results, and your category is part of that.
- Distance is how far you are from the searcher, or from the place named in the search. If the searcher doesn’t name a place, Google uses what it knows about their location.
- Prominence is how well known you are. Google bases it partly on how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have.
The same page says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Anyone who offers to “get you into the top 3” through a Google contact is selling something Google says doesn’t exist.
Why is my competitor ranking higher on Google Maps than me?
Usually because they win on one of the three factors by a wide margin: they’re closer to where the searches happen, their category matches the search better, or they have far more reviews and links than you. Sometimes it’s because their profile breaks Google’s rules, most often with keywords or a town stuffed into the business name.
You can check all of this in about 20 minutes from Google Maps, without any paid tool. Search the exact phrase a customer would use (“emergency electrician”, “roof repair”, “family dentist”) from inside the area you want work from, open each of the top 3 listings, and fill in a table like the one below for them and for yourself.
| What to compare | Where to find it | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Shown under the business name on the listing | If theirs matches the search and yours is broader or different, that’s a relevance gap you can fix today |
| Distance from the searcher | Their address or pin, compared with where you searched from | If they’re based in that suburb and you’re 30 minutes away, you’re unlikely to outrank them there, whatever else you do |
| Review count and average rating | Under the name on the listing | A large gap here is a prominence gap; it closes slowly, one job at a time |
| Business name | The listing title, compared with their website, signage and van | “Smith Electrical” on the van but “Smith Electrical Emergency Electrician Leeds” on Maps breaks Google’s name rules |
| Website | The website button on the listing | Whether they have a page about that service and that area, and whether other local sites link to them |
| Completeness | Hours, photos, services and description on the listing | Gaps in your own profile are the quickest relevance fixes |
An example, with made-up details: an electrician based on the edge of a town searches “electrician” from the town centre and finds three businesses above them. Two are based within a mile of the centre and have three to four times the reviews. The third is based a similar distance out with fewer reviews, but its category is “Electrician” while theirs is “Electrical installation service”, and its name includes “24 Hour Emergency Electrician”. The first two are winning on distance and prominence, which will take months to narrow. The third is beatable: change the primary category to the one that matches the search, and if that business’s real name doesn’t include those words, report the name through Google Maps.
Can I rank on Google Maps in an area where I’m not based?
It’s hard, and the further you are from the searcher, the harder it gets. Distance is one of Google’s three main factors, and you can’t change where your business is.
A service area doesn’t remove that. Google’s page on managing service areas lets you add up to 20 areas (towns, postcodes or similar, not a radius) and says your overall area shouldn’t extend more than about 2 hours’ drive from your business. It says a service area helps people find your profile. It doesn’t say it changes where you rank, so don’t expect a profile listing 20 towns to rank equally in all of them.
What you can do:
- Hide your address if customers don’t visit you. Google’s guidelines for representing your business say a plumber working from home, for example, should remove the address and set a service area instead.
- Build a page on your website for each service and each main area you cover, with real jobs and photos from there. That helps your normal search rankings in those places even when the map pack is out of reach.
- Don’t rent a virtual office in the town you want. Google says virtual offices aren’t eligible for a Business Profile, and that a business showing its address should have permanent signage there. Breaking those rules can get your information changed or removed.
If you genuinely operate from more than one base, with staff at each, each one can have its own profile. Our guide to multi-location local SEO covers that set-up.
How do I rank in the top 3 on Google Maps?
Work through the factors in the order that pays back fastest: fix relevance first, then build prominence steadily, and accept the distance you have. This is the order we’d follow for a small service business:
- Verify the profile and keep it that way. Google says verification tells it you’re authorized to represent the business, so the profile is more likely to show up in search results.
- Pick the primary category that matches the searches you want. Google’s guidelines say to use as few categories as possible, choose the most specific one for your main business, and describe what the business is rather than listing services. Our guide to choosing a Google Business Profile category walks through it.
- Complete everything else on the profile. Google’s ranking page names full address (if customers visit), hours including special hours, category and attributes. Add the services you actually do and real photos of your work.
- Get reviews from every customer, consistently. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and that replying to reviews shows customers you value their feedback. Our guide on getting more Google reviews has a process that stays inside Google’s rules.
- Give your website a page for each core service, with your name, address and phone number matching the profile, and earn links from real local sources: suppliers, trade bodies, local news, sponsorships. Google lists links among the information it uses for prominence.
- Check results from the right place and on a schedule (next section), and change one thing at a time so you can see what moved.
None of these steps has a fixed timeline. Google reviews profile edits before they go live (approved service area changes can take up to 48 hours to appear), and reviews and links build over months. If a competitor is closer to your customers and has many more reviews, you may not pass them for the shortest searches. You can still show up in more searches by matching more specific ones (a particular service, or a suburb you’re based in).
Does putting keywords in my Google Business Profile help me rank?
Not in the business name. Google’s guidelines say the name should be the one you use in the real world, on signage, stationery and your website, and that adding unnecessary information to the name can get the profile suspended. That includes services, locations and marketing taglines.
It’s tempting when the business beating you has “Plumber [Town]” in its name. Copying them risks a suspension, which takes you off Maps entirely while you appeal; see why Google Business Profiles get suspended. Their name is also something you can report. Our guide on reporting a fake or misleading business on Google Maps shows how to suggest an edit to the name and what evidence to include.
Where words do belong is in the parts of the profile meant to describe your work: the services you add, your description, your replies to reviews and your website. Write them for customers, in the words they use, and don’t repeat a town name in every sentence.
How do I check where I rank on Google Maps?
Search on a phone while you’re physically in the area you want work from, and write down the top 3 each time. Searching from your own office mostly tells you how you rank next to your own address.
A simple routine for a small business:
- Pick five searches that bring real jobs, such as “boiler repair” or “emergency electrician” (no town name, the way people type them on their phones).
- Pick three or four places that matter: your base, the town centre, and the suburbs you most want work from.
- Once a month, when you or a technician is at a job in each place, run the searches and log the top 3 in a spreadsheet.
Then check what your profile is actually found for. Google’s Performance report (open your Business Profile on Google Search, select Performance, then pick a time period) shows the search terms people used when your profile appeared, along with calls, website clicks and direction requests. Google says the searches figure updates at the start of each month and can take up to 5 days to appear. If nearly every term is your own business name, new customers aren’t finding you yet, and the comparison table above tells you why.
Common mistakes that hold Google Maps rankings back
- Choosing a broad category, or the one a competitor uses, instead of the most specific one for your main work. Fix: pick the category that matches the searches that bring your best jobs.
- Adding the town or service to the business name. Fix: use your real trading name; put services in the services section.
- Listing 20 service areas and expecting to rank in all of them. Fix: focus on the areas near your base and use website pages for the rest.
- Asking for reviews only “when it feels right”. Fix: ask every customer, the same way, with your review link, as soon as the job is done.
- Creating a second profile or a new address to cover another town. Fix: one profile per real location, which is all Google’s guidelines allow.
- Judging rankings from your desk. Fix: test from the places your customers search from.
- Paying someone who promises a guaranteed top 3 spot. Google says local ranking can’t be bought.
If you’d rather have someone do the comparison and the fixes for you, it’s part of our local SEO service: profile set-up and categories, a review process your team will actually use, service and area pages, and monthly ranking checks from the places your customers search. The first two months come with no management fees. For what that kind of work usually costs elsewhere, see how much local SEO costs.
FAQ
How long does it take to rank higher on Google Maps?
Google doesn’t publish a timeline for ranking. Profile fixes count once Google approves the edit, while reviews and links build over months, so judge progress by your monthly checks and the search terms in your Performance report.
Do I need a website to rank on Google Maps?
No, a Business Profile can rank without one. A website helps because Google counts links to your site as part of prominence, and service pages give you a way to show up for searches the map pack doesn’t cover.
Can I pay Google to rank higher on Google Maps?
No. Google says there’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Treat anyone selling a guaranteed top 3 spot with suspicion.
Why does my business rank in one part of town but not another?
Distance. Google ranks local results partly on how far each business is from the searcher, so the same search gives different results a few miles apart. That’s why you should check rankings from each area you care about.
Will posting on my Google Business Profile help me rank?
Google’s ranking page doesn’t list posts as a factor. Posts can still help people who find your profile decide to call, so use them for offers and recent work, but don’t expect them to move you past a closer competitor with more reviews.
Sources: 1. Tips to improve your local ranking on Google (Google Business Profile Help). 2. Guidelines for representing your business on Google (Google Business Profile Help). 3. Manage your service areas for service-area and hybrid businesses (Google Business Profile Help). 4. Understand your Business Profile performance and insights (Google Business Profile Help).
