Google decides which businesses appear in the map results by three things it names publicly: relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot change distance, and there is no way to pay Google for a better local position. What you can work on is relevance (how well your Business Profile matches the search) and prominence (how well-known Google judges your business to be, from information such as reviews and links). Before changing anything, find out where you actually appear, because the result you see from your own desk is the result for that one spot.
What Google says it ranks on
Google's help page on local ranking describes the three factors this way, in short:
- Relevance: how well your profile matches what someone searched for. This depends on your category, description, services and the details you fill in.
- Distance: how far your business is from the person searching, or from the location named in the search. If they don't share their location, Google uses what it knows about where they are.
- Prominence: how well-known your business is. Google mentions how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have, and says more reviews and positive ratings can help.
The same page says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Anyone who sells a "guaranteed top 3" is selling something Google says doesn't exist.
Why the result depends on where you search
Because distance is one of the three factors, the local pack is different on every street. A customer two miles north sees a different set of businesses from a customer at your door. A competitor further from the town centre can appear above you for searches made near them, and you above them near you.
That is why checking from your own desk is misleading. You see the result for your own location, where distance works in your favour.
Check where you actually appear
The free method gives you a rough picture:
- Pick three to five searches customers really use: "plumber Leeds", "emergency plumber", "boiler repair near me".
- Ask a few people in different parts of your service area to search on their phones and send you a screenshot. Or search the town name with the service ("boiler repair Headingley") for each area.
- Note, for each search and area, whether you appear in the top three map results, and who does.
A record like this is more useful than any single check:
| Search | Town centre | North side | East side |
|---|---|---|---|
| plumber leeds | 2 | not in top 3 | 3 |
| emergency plumber | 1 | 3 | not in top 3 |
| boiler repair | not in top 3 | not in top 3 | not in top 3 |
Here the business appears for "plumber" and "emergency plumber" near its base and fades with distance, which is expected. "Boiler repair" missing everywhere is the more interesting finding: that points to relevance, not distance. Maybe boiler repair isn't listed as a service, or the profile category doesn't cover it.
The profile checklist
These are the things you control. Google's own advice is to enter complete, accurate information and keep it current.
- Primary category. It should describe what the business is, not every service. Google's profile guidelines say to use as few categories as possible. Since relevance is judged partly on category, a primary category that doesn't match what people search for is the first thing to check when you are missing from a whole type of search.
- Business name. Your real-world name, as on your sign and website. Google's guidelines don't allow adding keywords or locations to it.
- Address and map pin. If your pin is in the wrong place, Google's help on managing your business address explains how to move it: in your profile, edit Location, then adjust the pin on the map. Edits may be reviewed before they appear.
- Hours, including holiday hours.
- Services and description. List what you actually do, in the words customers use. "Boiler repair" if that is what people search, not only "heating solutions".
- Photos of your premises, work or products.
- Attributes that apply, such as parking or Wi-Fi.
Reviews
Review count and rating are part of prominence. What helps is a steady habit: ask every customer, at the moment the job is done, with a direct link to your review form. Reply to reviews, including bad ones, factually and briefly.
Google's rules on fake engagement set clear limits. You may not offer discounts, free goods or payment in exchange for reviews, or ask only happy customers to review while discouraging others. Reviews from current or former staff, family or anyone with a conflict of interest also break the policy. Google says incentivised and biased reviews are removed from Maps.
Service-area businesses
If you visit customers rather than receiving them, Google's service-area rules apply:
- Remove your address from the profile if you don't serve customers there. A home-based electrician should not show their home as a storefront.
- If you serve customers at your premises and also visit or deliver, you are a hybrid business and keep the address.
- You can add up to 20 service areas, and the overall area shouldn't extend more than about two hours' drive from your base.
The service area describes where you work. Google's page doesn't say it widens where you rank, so don't expect a bigger service area to put you in the 3-pack in towns far from your base. Distance still counts.
What doesn't work or breaks the rules
- Adding the town name or "best plumber" to the business name.
- Listing a virtual office or a mailbox as your address to appear in another town. Google's guidelines don't allow either.
- Buying reviews or offering incentives for them.
- Creating more than one profile for the same location. Google's guidelines allow one per location.
- Paying for a "local SEO package" that promises a position. Ask what it will change on your profile and website; if the answer is vague, it is probably the list above.
Where a tracking tool fits
The manual check above works for a few searches. If you want the same picture regularly, across a grid of points and over months, a tool does it faster.
Semrush Local includes a Map Rank Tracker that checks your position in Google Maps for chosen keywords at each point of a grid around your business and shows it as a heatmap. Higher tiers add listing management across directories and fuller review management; the entry tier already includes automatic replies to Google reviews. Be clear about what it is: a way to measure and manage your listings, not something that ranks you. Your position still comes from relevance, distance and prominence.
Pricing matters here because it is per location. Semrush Local is its own subscription, charged per location per month, whether you add it to an existing Semrush plan or buy it on its own. Check which tier includes the features you need, and the current price per location, before you decide. For one location that you check monthly, the free method is enough. For several locations, or if you need to see changes week by week, the tool saves time.