How to rank higher in Google Maps as a local business
You rank higher in Google Maps by strengthening three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. A complete Google Business Profile, a steady stream of recent reviews and local backlinks make the biggest difference. This guide walks you step by step through tackling each part.
How Google Maps ranking works: the three pillars
Ranking higher in Google Maps starts with understanding how the algorithm works. Google uses three official ranking factors to decide which businesses appear in the local search result, also known as the Local Pack or Map Pack: relevance, distance and prominence. They do not all carry equal weight, and they do not work independently of each other.
The effort pays off, although the figures usually cited here are older than they look: the 76 per cent who visit a business within a day and the 28 per cent who go on to make a purchase come from Think with Google, 2016 and have never been repeated, and the 46 per cent local intent figure comes from a 2018 presentation by a Google employee, not from a Google publication. Read them as direction, not as a fixed measure.
It is tempting to think your location is the most important thing. That is partly true, but relevance and prominence can soften the impact of distance considerably. A business that is two kilometres further away but has a perfect profile and hundreds of positive reviews regularly beats a competitor that is closer but barely has an online presence.
Relevance: are you what the searcher is looking for?
Relevance is about how well your profile matches the search query. If someone searches for a plumber in Manchester for an emergency job, Google looks at whether your profile makes clear that this is exactly what you are. Relevance is determined by your business category, your profile description, the keywords in your reviews and the information on your website. Every category, every attribute and every sentence helps Google understand what you offer.
Distance: how far are you from the searcher?
Distance is the physical or virtual distance between your business location and the searcher. Google looks at the location entered in the search, the IP address and the device's GPS location. Someone in central London sees different results from someone on the edge of the city, even for exactly the same search. You cannot directly influence distance, but you can make the other two factors strong enough that distance becomes less decisive. Your service area setting in Google Business Profile also gives you room to manoeuvre if you work across a larger area.
Prominence: how prominent are you online?
Prominence is the most complex factor. Google itself describes prominence briefly: how well known a business is, based on how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have. Google says nothing about activity on your profile or about how long your business has existed, so do not count on those. This is the factor where local SEO does the most work, because links and reviews are something you build yourself.
Profile completeness: the foundation of your local ranking
Your Google Business Profile is the starting point for everything. It is the central place where Google pulls information about your business from, and the first thing potential customers see. An empty or half-filled profile is a missed opportunity, and often a direct reason why you do not appear in the Local Pack. Go to Google Business Profile and work through every section. Filling it in might cost you an hour, but the impact lasts weeks or months.
Business category: choose precisely
The primary category is the most influential field on your profile. Choose the most specific option that applies, not something generic such as service provider. Then add extra categories for secondary services. Do you run a bakery that also does catering? Choose Bakery as your primary category and Caterer as an additional category.
Business description: write for the searcher and the algorithm
The description can be up to 750 characters. Make clear what you do, for whom and in which area. Work your focus keyword in naturally, but write primarily for the reader. A description that reads awkwardly because a search term keeps getting crammed in does not inspire trust.
Opening hours, phone number and website
Make sure your opening hours are always correct and adjust them for public holidays and closures. Nothing irritates a customer more than arriving at a closed door while the profile says open. That kind of mistake also leads to negative reviews. Your phone number and address need to match your website and other directories: that is called NAP consistency, and it comes back in detail further on.
Photos and videos: visual proof
The pair of figures that circulates everywhere, 42% more direction requests and 35% more website clicks for profiles with photos, cannot be found in Google's help page on photos and videos and has therefore been removed here. Photos remain the best proof that you exist and deliver work. Add at least ten photos: exterior, interior, team, and products or services in action. Choose real, professional photos rather than stock images. Not because Google penalises stock photos, since it publishes nothing on that, but because your customer sees the difference too. Upload new photos regularly for the same reason: whoever opens your profile should be able to see that you are active.
Products, services and attributes
Add every product or service with a description and, where possible, a price. That increases your relevance for specific search queries. Attributes such as wheelchair accessible, wifi available or on-site parking help Google match visitors with specific needs to your business.
Review strategy: building trust that ranks
Reviews are one of the strongest signals for your Google Maps ranking. Google itself names review count and review score as part of prominence; it says nothing about keywords in the review text. For visitors, they are often decisive: in the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey 2026, 97 per cent of respondents say they read reviews of local businesses. That is a US survey of 1,002 consumers, so read it as direction rather than as a Dutch measure. Retrieved on 25 August 2026.
The goal is not as many reviews as possible, but a steady stream of quality, recent reviews
A business with 200 reviews where the most recent one is six months old often scores worse than a business with 80 reviews, half of which are from the last three months.
How do you ask customers for a review?
The most effective way is simply to ask, but the timing and the method make the difference. Ask right after a positive customer experience, not days later. Make it as easy as possible: send a direct link to your review page via WhatsApp, text message or email, or put up a QR code to your review page in your shop, on your packaging or on the receipt. Our guide on getting more Google reviews NL covers more proven methods.
Always reply to reviews
Google itself advises replying to reviews, because it shows you value their feedback; it says nowhere that your position rises as a result. Reply to every review. For positive reviews, a short, personal reply that names the type of service and the location is enough, not for the algorithm, but for the next reader who is still deciding. For negative reviews, respond professionally and constructively: acknowledge the problem, offer a solution and invite the customer to get in touch.
Dealing with negative reviews
Negative reviews are unavoidable and not necessarily harmful: a mix of reviews looks more trustworthy than a run of five stars only. What is harmful is ignoring criticism or responding defensively. Treat every negative review as a chance to show your customer service in public. Want to rank higher in Google Maps faster? Our local SEO specialists analyse your Google Business Profile and build a concrete action plan to increase your visibility in the Map Pack.
Building local backlinks for more prominence
Backlinks have been a core factor in organic SEO for years, but in local SEO it is less about quantity and more about local relevance. A link from a local newspaper, a regional trade body or the council's website is a strong signal to Google that you are a relevant business in that area. Start with the obvious sources: professional associations and trade bodies almost always have a member list. Check that the link to your website there is correct.
Local press and blogs
Get in touch with local online newspapers, community newsletters and regional bloggers. Send a press release for a newsworthy moment: an anniversary, a refurbishment, a new product or an interesting partnership. Local media are usually glad to have relevant local content and happy to link back. You can also write a guest post for a local platform yourself: that earns you a link and brand awareness.
Partnerships and sponsorships
Local partners are an excellent source of mutual links: a builder who works with an interior designer, a restaurant that caters for an events agency, a gym that refers clients to a nearby physiotherapist. Also sponsor a local event, a sports team or a charity drive; many organisations list their sponsors on their website with a backlink.
- Do not count on the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) for links: registering is a legal obligation under article 5 of the Dutch Trade Register Act 2007, not a tactic, and the Trade Register does not show a website
- Make sure you are listed on the website of your local business association
- Use events and trade shows as a chance to be linked to by the organiser
- Ask satisfied business clients for a testimonial on their website with a link to you
- Create a free tool or local guide that other sites are happy to share
Google Posts: staying active on your profile
Google Posts are short updates you publish directly to your Google Business Profile. They appear visibly on your profile when someone looks up your business. Standard posts are usually visible for seven days. Google never names posts or posting frequency as a ranking factor: the page on local rankings lists only relevance, distance and prominence, checked on 25 August 2026. So post them as evidence for the visitor opening your profile, not for ranking gains. You can post almost anything relevant to your audience: an offer, a new product, an event or a tip from your field. The combination of a good image, a catchy headline and a clear call to action works best.
Types of posts and when to use them
Google distinguishes several types. Offers are ideal for temporary discounts and get a start and end date. Events suit workshops and open days. News is the most flexible category for general updates and tips. Post at least twice a month. More is fine, as long as the quality stays high: a muddled post that makes visitors switch off works against you with the reader, because there is no Google formula that weighs posts.
Google Posts and keywords
Work relevant local keywords into every post. Do not just write that there is a new offer, but something like: new offer on car valeting in Bristol, 20% off until Friday. That specificity mainly helps the reader who sees the post; Google never says that posts improve your local ranking.
NAP consistency and citations: what Google does and does not say about it
NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone number. NAP consistency means that information is exactly the same everywhere on the internet: on your website, in your Google Business Profile, in directories and on social media. Imagine this: your website says 45 High Street, your profile says 45a High Street and an old directory says 45 High St. To a human, that is the same address; to an algorithm, they are three different data points. Google then cannot establish with certainty what is correct. Google never names that consistency as a separate ranking factor, but prominence is listed, and prominence rests on certainty about who you are and where you are.
Citations: what are they and why do they count?
A citation is any mention of your business on another website, even without a backlink. Directories such as Yell, Yelp, Trustpilot, Houzz and Thomson Local all count. They confirm for Google that your business exists, where it is located and which sector it operates in. Start with the large, general directories and then look for niche-specific platforms: a dentist wants to be listed on healthcare-related directories, a restaurant on Tripadvisor and OpenTable.
Cleaning up existing citations
Check all existing listings with tools such as BrightLocal or Moz Local and correct any discrepancies. Watch out especially for these common inconsistencies:
- Use of abbreviations (St. versus Street, Ltd versus Ltd.)
- Variations in the phone number (with or without country code or spaces)
- Old addresses still online after a move
- Name changes that have not been updated everywhere
- Duplicate listings in the same directory
Schema markup: structured data for local SEO
Add LocalBusiness schema markup to your website: structured data in JSON-LD format with your name, address, phone number, opening hours and geographic coordinates. It does not replace a good profile, but it strengthens the signal considerably. Use the local SEO checklist 2026 to check that your schema is set up correctly, because a faulty piece of schema does more harm than good. If you would rather not write that markup by hand, our LocalBusiness schema plugin NL sets out the fields a Dutch business actually has, with a check that name, address and phone number match everywhere.
To a visitor, this is the same building three times over. To an algorithm, they are three data points that do not match, and that moment of doubt costs you exactly the certainty that prominence rests on. A citation without a link still counts, provided the name, the address and the number match down to the full stop.
Monitoring: measuring is knowing in local SEO
You cannot improve what you do not measure. Local SEO is an ongoing process, and without monitoring you do not know what works and where you are leaving opportunities on the table. Fortunately, Google offers free tools with valuable data.
Google Business Profile Insights and Search Console
In the Insights or Performance tab of your profile, you see how many people viewed your profile, how often people clicked for directions, how many calls you received and which search queries people found you through. If you see relevant queries where you are not yet ranking optimally, that is a signal to strengthen your profile and website on those terms. Google Search Console also shows local keywords where your website already gets impressions but still few clicks: low-hanging fruit for targeted optimisation.
External rank tracking and behaviour on your site
For direct position data in the Map Pack, you need an external tool. BrightLocal, Whitespark and LocalFalcon track your position in the Local Pack by search term and location, including how you move relative to competitors. If you also want to see what visitors do on your website after arriving via Maps, take a look at our comparison of Hotjar, Clarity and Mouseflow.
Structure in your upkeep
Set up a Google Alert for your business name and check your review profile monthly: new reviews, average score and unanswered negative reviews. Build a calendar with recurring tasks: check your profile (monthly), upload new photos (fortnightly), post Google Posts (weekly), check citations (quarterly) and run a competitor analysis (twice a year). Structure creates consistency, and consistency stops a customer from calling an old number. Finally, tie your activity to business results using Google Analytics 4 and UTM parameters on the links in your profile: how many calls lead to an appointment, and how much revenue comes in through Google Maps?
Frequently asked questions about ranking higher in Google Maps
How long does it take before I rank higher in Google Maps?
That differs by situation. With a new profile facing little competition, improvements can be visible within two to four weeks. In competitive or urban markets, it takes three to six months. Consistency is decisive: anyone who works actively on their profile, reviews and citations every month sees considerably faster results than someone who optimises just once.
Does having more reviews always help you rank higher?
Google writes that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local position, and it does not go further than that: it says nothing about frequency, about the spread of reviewers or about keywords in the text. So choose a structural approach because a fresh, credible run of reviews convinces the reader, not because any one of those four is a provable lever.
Can I rank higher in Google Maps without a physical location?
Yes. Service-area businesses that work at the customer's home can set a service area in Google Business Profile without showing an address. Competing with businesses that do have a physical location is harder, but with a strong profile, plenty of reviews and good citations, ranking is certainly possible.
What is the difference between the Local Pack and organic search results?
The Local Pack consists of the three business results with a map that Google shows for searches with local intent, based on your Google Business Profile. Organic results are the regular links underneath, based on your website. Whoever appears in both dominates the search page and generates considerably more traffic.
How do I deal with fake reviews from competitors?
Report a clearly fake review through the Google Business Profile dashboard: click on the review and flag it as a policy violation, with a clear explanation. Google handles reports by hand, so it can take a while. In the meantime, reply professionally, so readers see that you take the situation seriously but that the review is not accurate.
Want to learn more about local visibility? In our knowledge base you will find dozens of practical articles, including our guide on ranking higher in Google in Tilburg for anyone looking to grow regionally.
What to start with on Monday if you want to rank higher in Google Maps
The eight chapters above are not an order in which you do everything at once. They are an order in which you begin. Relevance first, because a profile that does not say what you do cannot be rescued by any review. Then distance, because your service area and your categories decide which searches you appear in at all. Prominence last, because reviews, citations and local mentions grow by the month, not by the day. Anyone who reverses that order buys links while their opening hours are still wrong.
So start with the baseline measurement. The local visibility check NL takes a few minutes and shows what can currently be found about your business. Then, in one sitting, go through your profile with the guide getting your Business Profile in order, and put the recurring tasks from chapter seven in your calendar. That is the free part, and for most local businesses it is also the part where most of the gain lies.
If you cannot work out which of the three pillars is weakest in your case, put that question to us. Tell us your location, your trade and the search you want to be found for, and we will look at your profile, your review profile and your current position in the Local Pack before you put time or money into anything. You can do that through the contact page, where you pick a slot in the calendar yourself. If you would rather have it carried out afterwards, that runs through our Improve your SEO service. The first call comes with no price tag and no obligation.
Partnerships with other local businesses
Sponsor a local event, a sports team or a charity drive. Many of these organisations list their sponsors on their website with a backlink. This is an investment that delivers local goodwill, brand awareness and an SEO signal all at once.
- Register your business with the Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KVK) (the listing is public and gets picked up by directories)
Google Posts are short updates you can publish directly to your Google Business Profile. They appear visibly on your profile when someone looks up your business. Posts are visible temporarily, usually seven days for standard posts, but they are a signal of activity that Google values.
What can you post as a Google Post? Almost anything relevant to your audience: an offer, a new product, an event, an update about your opening hours, or simply a substantive article or tip from your field. The combination of a good image, a catchy headline and a clear call to action works best.
Google distinguishes several types of posts. "Offers" are ideal for temporary discounts or promotions and can be given a start date and an end date. "Events" suit workshops, open days or other activities. "News" is the most flexible category and works well for general updates and tip articles.
Try to post at least twice a month. More is better, as long as the quality stays high. A badly written post without relevance does more harm than good: visitors who switch off after reading a muddled update create negative engagement signals.
Work relevant local keywords into every post. Do not just write "New offer this week", but "New offer on car valeting in Bristol: 20% off until Friday." That extra specificity helps Google understand what your post is about and matches your profile to relevant searches in that area.
NAP consistency and citations: the silent ranking factor
NAP stands for Name, Address and Phone number. NAP consistency means those three details are exactly the same everywhere on the internet: on your website, in your Google Business Profile, in directories, on social media and in other listings. Discrepancies in this information, however small, create confusion for Google and can affect your ranking negatively.
Imagine this: your website says "45 High Street", your Google Business Profile says "45a High Street" and an old directory says "45 High St." To a human, these are all the same address, but to an algorithm, they are three different data points. Google then cannot establish with certainty which information is correct, and that moment of doubt costs you ranking strength.
A citation is any mention of your business on another website, even without a backlink attached. Directories such as Yell, Yelp, Trustpilot, Houzz, Thomson Local and sector-specific sites all count as citations. They help confirm for Google that your business exists, where it is based and which sector it operates in.
The more consistent, quality citations you have, the stronger the signal. Start with the large, general directories. Then look for niche-specific platforms in your sector. A dentist does well to be listed on healthcare-related directories. A restaurant wants a presence on Tripadvisor and OpenTable.
Check all existing listings of your business on the internet. Use tools such as BrightLocal or Moz Local to get an overview of where your business is already listed. Identify discrepancies in name, address or phone number and correct them. This is a one-off job that only needs maintenance after that.
Pay particular attention to the following common inconsistencies:
Add LocalBusiness schema markup to your website. This is a piece of structured data in JSON-LD format that you add to your website's source code. It gives Google structured information about your business: name, address, phone number, opening hours, geographic coordinates and more. Schema markup does not replace a good Google Business Profile, but it strengthens the signal considerably.
Use the local SEO checklist 2026 to check that your schema is set up correctly and that every essential field is filled in. A faulty piece of schema does more harm than good.
In your Google Business Profile you will find the "Insights" or "Performance" tab. Here you see how many people have viewed your profile, how many have clicked for directions, how many calls you have received from the profile and which search queries brought people to you. These are crucial data points for adjusting your strategy.
Look in particular at the search queries people used to find you. Do you see queries that are relevant to your service but where you are not yet ranking optimally? Then that is a signal to strengthen your profile and your website on those terms.
Google Search Console for local organic results
Google Search Console also shows you data on local organic search results. Look at the keywords with local intent where your website already gets impressions but still few clicks. Those keywords are low-hanging fruit: with targeted optimisation you can improve the click-through rate.
Google Search Console and Business Profile Insights do not give you direct position data in the Map Pack. For that you need an external tool. BrightLocal, Whitespark and LocalFalcon are popular options that track your position in the Local Pack by search term and by location. They also show how you are doing relative to your competitors and track movement over time.
Set up a Google Alert for your business name. That way you are automatically notified whenever someone writes about you online. Combine this with a monthly check of your review profile: how many new reviews have been posted, what is the average score, are there negative reviews you have not replied to yet?
Also build a calendar with recurring tasks: check your profile is up to date (monthly), upload new photos (fortnightly), post Google Posts (weekly), check citations (quarterly), and run a competitor analysis (twice a year). Structure creates consistency, and consistency is what Google rewards.
Connecting conversions and revenue to local SEO
In the end, it is not just about rankings, but about customers. Connect your local SEO activity to concrete business results. How many calls through the profile lead to an appointment? How many direction requests result in a visit? How much revenue can be traced back to customers who found you through Google Maps? You answer those questions by setting up proper tracking through Google Analytics 4 and UTM parameters on the links in your profile.
More reviews certainly help, but quality and regularity matter at least as much as quantity. A high volume of reviews from long ago carries less weight than a steady stream of recent reviews. Google looks at the frequency with which reviews come in, the average score, the diversity of reviewers and the content of the reviews (keywords in the text). So aim for a structural approach, not a one-off action.
Yes, that is possible, but it needs a different approach. Businesses without a public physical location, such as service-area businesses that work at the customer's home, can set a service area in Google Business Profile without showing an address. Google displays this type of business based on the service area set. The competitive position relative to businesses with a physical location is harder, but with a strong profile, plenty of reviews and good citations, ranking is certainly possible.
The Local Pack (also called the Map Pack or Google Maps results) is the three business results Google shows with a map when a search has local intent. Those results are based on your Google Business Profile. Organic search results are the regular blue links below the Local Pack and are based on your website itself. Both matter: whoever appears in both the Local Pack and the organic results dominates the search page and generates considerably more traffic than someone who only appears in one of the two.
Fake reviews are a real problem. When you come across a review that is clearly fake, you can report it through the Google Business Profile dashboard. Click on the review in question and use the flag or the menu to report it as a policy violation. State clearly in your report why you think it is a fake review. Google handles reports by hand, which means it can take some time. In the meantime, reply professionally to the review, so other readers see that you take the situation seriously but that the review is not accurate.
Want to rank higher in Google Maps faster?
Our local SEO specialists analyse your Google Business Profile and build a concrete action plan to increase your visibility in the Map Pack.
Backlinks have been one of the core factors in organic SEO for years, but in local SEO they play a slightly different role. Here it is less about the absolute number of links and more about local relevance. A link from a local newspaper, a regional trade body or the council's website is a strong signal to Google that you are a relevant business in that specific area.
How do you build local backlinks without a big budget? Start with the obvious sources. Professional associations and trade bodies almost always have a member list on their website. As a member, you and your business are already listed there, but check that the link to your website is correct. If not, that is a simple change to ask for.
You can also write content yourself for a local platform or a guest post. If you are a specialist in your field, offer your expertise as a guest writer. That earns you not just a link, but also brand awareness with a local audience.
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