Google ranks businesses on Maps and in local results mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. You can't pay for a better local ranking. What you can do is make the profile complete and accurate, get verified, earn and answer reviews, and keep everything consistent with your website. This guide sticks to what Google itself says, from its local ranking help page and its Business Profile guidelines.
The three factors Google names
Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched, and Google's advice for it is complete, detailed business information. Distance is how far each result is from the location in the search, or from the searcher when they don't name one. Prominence is how well known the business is: Google says it draws on information from across the web, such as links and articles, and that your review count and rating factor in.
Distance is the one you can't do much about. The other two are mostly work you control.
What Google says improves your ranking
- Verify your business. Verified businesses are more likely to show up for relevant searches.
- Complete every field. Full address if customers visit, hours including special hours, the category that best describes the business, and details like parking.
- Ask for reviews, and reply to them. Google suggests asking with a review link or QR code. Replies are public, and Google recommends keeping them short.
- Add photos and videos that show the business accurately.
- Keep it current. Update hours, including holiday hours, whenever they change.
What gets a profile suspended
- Extra words in the business name. The name has to match your real-world name. Marketing taglines, service or product information, and location details aren't allowed, and Google can suspend a profile for them.
- Categories or addresses used as keywords. Pick the category that describes the business, and keep the address to the address.
- Paying or rewarding people for reviews. Google prohibits review incentives, and reviews must reflect a real experience.
How to check where you stand
- Open the Performance report. On Google Search, open your Business Profile and click Performance (or in the Maps app: Business, then Performance). The Searches section shows the terms people used to find you. It updates monthly, and you can't control which terms appear.
- Search the way a customer would. Run the five or ten searches that matter most to you from a phone in your service area, and note who shows up in the map results.
- Check what AI assistants say. Ask ChatGPT and Google the same questions and note who gets named and which sites they cite. Google says in its guide to AI features that a Business Profile helps your products and services show up in its AI responses too.
- Compare your details everywhere. Name, address, phone and hours should match on your site, your profile and the directories you're listed in.
Structured data on your website can tell Google your hours and other details for Search or Maps, but Google's LocalBusiness documentation makes no promise that it changes how you rank, so treat it as housekeeping rather than a ranking lever.
Where OpSpring fits
Business Profile work is part of our SEO and AI search program, and the one-time SEO and AEO sprint corrects the profile and your listings as part of a fixed-price project.
Key Takeaways
- Google ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and you can't pay for a better position.
- Verify the profile, complete every field, and ask for and reply to reviews.
- Don't add keywords to your business name or reward reviews; both break Google's rules.
- The Performance report shows the searches you appear for; check it monthly.