The Google map pack: what it is and how to get into it

The Google map pack is the box of three local businesses that appears with a map near the top of Google search results when someone searches for a local service, such as "plumber near me" or "roof repair in Mahwah." It's also called the local pack or the 3 pack. For most home service businesses, it's where a large share of calls from Google come from, because it sits above the regular results and each listing has a call button.

What shows in the map pack

Each listing in the map pack comes from a Google Business Profile, not from a website. A listing usually shows:

• The business name, star rating and number of reviews
• The business category and the address or service area
• Hours and whether the business is open now
• Buttons to call, get directions or visit the website

A link under the three listings opens the full list in Google Maps, but most people choose from the first three.

How Google chooses the three businesses

Google says local results are based mainly on three things:

• Relevance: how well a profile matches what the person searched for. Categories, services and the business description all feed into this.
• Distance: how far the business is from the person searching, or from the location named in the search.
• Prominence: how well known the business is. Google looks at reviews, links, articles and directory listings, and says that a business's position in regular web results also counts.

Google also states that there's no way to pay for a better local ranking. The ads that sometimes appear above the map pack are separate and are labeled as sponsored.

Why your ranking changes from town to town

Because distance is part of the formula, a business doesn't have one map pack ranking. It can be first when someone searches from down the street and not appear at all a few towns away. Searching from your own shop shows you the best case, not what most customers see. We wrote more about this in why you rank first at your shop and nowhere across town. A rank grid, which runs the same search from many points across your service area, is the most accurate way to measure it.

How to get into the map pack

1. Claim and verify your Google Business Profile. A business without a verified profile can't appear.
2. Choose the right primary category. It should name the main service you want calls for. Add secondary categories only for work you actually do.
3. Fill in every section of the profile. That includes services, service areas, hours, a plain description of the business and photos from real jobs. Our list of five Google Business Profile fixes covers the ones that matter most.
4. Keep your name, address and phone number the same everywhere. Your website, your profile and your directory listings should match exactly.
5. Build a page for each service and town you cover. Your website supports your profile. A page for each main service and for the towns you serve gives Google more reasons to connect your business to those searches.
6. Ask every satisfied customer for a review. A steady flow of new reviews helps your ranking and the number of people who call. Here's how to ask for reviews without it feeling awkward.
7. Reply to your reviews, including the negative ones, and keep adding new job photos.

Mistakes that hurt map pack rankings

• Adding services or town names to the business name. This breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
• Using a virtual office or mailbox address.
• Creating more than one profile for the same business.
• Choosing a broad category instead of the one that matches your main work.
• Leaving the profile untouched for months at a time.

How long it takes

There's no set timeline. Fixing categories and profile details can change results within a few weeks. Moving up in busier towns farther from your address usually takes months of steady reviews, website pages and local links, and it also depends on how active the other businesses in your area are.

Getting help with map pack rankings

Map pack visibility is what our local SEO services are built around. We measure it with a rank grid across the towns you serve and report it every month alongside the calls it brings in. If you want to see where you stand now, request a free audit and we'll check your profile and your rankings and tell you what we'd fix first.