Search for a plumber, a dentist or a bakery and the first thing Google shows is not a list of websites. It is a map with three businesses beside it. That box is the map pack, and for most local businesses it is worth more than the first ordinary result underneath it.
Earning a place in it is a different job from ranking a web page. This guide covers what Google says it looks at, what you can change this week, and how to measure the result properly.
What Google says decides local results
Google is unusually direct about this. Its own help pages say local results are based mainly on three things.
- RelevanceHow well your Business Profile matches the search. Your categories, your services and the words in your profile all count.
- DistanceHow far you are from the searcher, or from the place they named. You cannot change it, which is why the other two matter so much.
- ProminenceHow well known the business is. Reviews, links, mentions across the web and your ordinary search position all feed it.
Five fixes that move most profiles
Most profiles lose ground on the basics, not on anything clever. Work through these in order.
Pick the right primary category. It is the strongest relevance signal you control. Choose the most specific category that is true, then add secondary ones for the rest of what you do.
Finish the profile. Opening hours, services, attributes, a real description and recent photos. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are easier to match with the right searches.
Make your name, address and phone match everywhere. The same details on your site, on your profile and across the main directories. Every mismatch makes it harder to be sure these listings are all one business.
Ask for reviews, and answer them. Google says review count and review score are factored into local ranking. Replying to reviews also shows customers that someone is looking after the profile.
Give Google a page to match. A page on your site for each service and each area you serve, carrying the same details as the profile, gives the listing something solid to stand on.
Your rank is not one number
A local rank changes street by street. You can be first for someone standing outside your door and eighth for someone two kilometres away. Checking from your own office tells you almost nothing.
The honest way to measure is a grid: the same search run from a set of points across your area, with your position recorded at each one. A grid shows where you are strong, where a competitor takes over, and whether a fix moved anything at all.
A map pack rank checked from your own desk is the most flattering number in local SEO, and the least useful.
Where AI fits in
Local questions are now asked of AI as well: who is a good dentist near me, typed into ChatGPT or answered by an AI Overview. Those answers lean on much of the same raw material, which is your Business Profile, your reviews, and what directories and local sites say about you. The work above is not separate from AI visibility. It is the foundation of it.
Nalza treats local as one of its four signals. It audits the profile, flags the directories where your details do not match, tracks your rank across a grid, and drafts each fix for you to approve. To see where your site stands today, the free audit takes about a minute.
