Google Business Profile: how to show up in the map pack

For most local businesses, the map pack is the most valuable spot on Google. It’s the map and three business listings that appear for searches like “pilates Burleigh Heads” or “web designer Gold Coast”. Your Google Business Profile is what decides whether you’re in it. Here’s how to optimise it properly.

How Google picks the businesses in the map pack

Google says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence.

• Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched for.
• Distance is how close you are to the searcher, or to the location they searched.
• Prominence is how well known your business is, based on things like reviews, links and how established you are online.

You can’t move your premises, but you can improve relevance and prominence a lot.

Set up the profile properly

Categories

Your primary category is the strongest relevance signal you control. Choose the most specific option that describes your main service, then add secondary categories for other genuine services. Don’t add categories for things you don’t actually do.

Services and description

List each service individually with a short description. Write your business description for people, not robots: what you do, who you do it for, where you work and what makes you different.

Service areas

If you travel to customers, set the suburbs and regions you actually cover. Keep it realistic. Listing the whole of Queensland won’t help you rank anywhere.

Hours, phone and website

Keep your hours accurate, including holiday hours. Link to the most relevant page on your website, which is usually your home page or main service page.

Photos and updates

Real photos build trust far more than stock images. Add photos of finished work, your team, your vehicles and your premises, and keep adding new ones over time. Posting updates about recent projects, offers or news shows Google and customers that the business is active.

Reviews: the biggest lever most businesses ignore

Reviews influence prominence and whether people choose you once they see you. The businesses that win in the map pack usually have a steady flow of recent, detailed reviews.

1. Copy your review link from your profile.
2. Send it personally after every finished job, by text or email.
3. Reply to every review, thanking people by name and mentioning the job.
4. Respond calmly and helpfully to negative reviews. Future customers read the reply as much as the review.

Never buy reviews or offer incentives for them. It breaks Google’s policies and can get reviews removed or your profile suspended.

Make your website back it up

Your profile and your website work together. Your website should list the same business name, phone number and service areas, have a dedicated page for each main service and load quickly on mobile. Structured data on your site helps search engines connect the two. We set this up as part of every website build.

Track the results

Your profile shows how many people found you, called you, asked for directions or visited your website. Check it monthly and compare with your website analytics. If calls are rising, keep doing what you’re doing. If views are flat, look at your categories, reviews and photos first.

Need a hand?

Google Business Profile setup and local SEO are part of our SEO and digital marketing service. For the full picture, see our local SEO checklist, or book a free intro call and we’ll take a look at your profile with you.