How to rank higher on Google Maps

97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, according to BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (February 2026, 1,002 US adults).

How Google decides

Google’s own help page, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google, says local results are based mainly on three things.

Relevance is how well your profile matches what the person searched for. Distance is how far you are from them. Popularity is how well known your business is, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help.

What you control, and what you don’t

You can’t change distance. A customer searching from the other side of town is closer to someone else, and no setting alters that. We can’t promise you a particular position either, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Everything else is in your hands: a complete and accurate profile, the right categories, the areas you cover, your hours, photos, reviews and your replies to them, and details that match your website. That covers relevance and much of popularity, so it is where your effort counts.

1. Fill in every part of your profile, and keep it right

Google asks for the basics: what kind of business you are, your contact details and your business hours, including special opening hours. Check them against reality. Bank holiday hours, a new phone number and a changed website address are the usual slips, and Google’s advice is simply to keep your information up to date. Verify the profile too, so Google knows you’re entitled to manage it.

2. Choose your categories carefully

Your main category tells Google what your business mainly does. Extra categories describe the rest. Pick the one that matches the work you most want, such as “Plumber” rather than something broader, then add others only if they are true. Look at how well-established firms in your trade nearby have set theirs.

3. Use your real business name

Google’s guidelines for representing your business say your name should be the one you use consistently, on your signs, website and stationery, and that unnecessary information in the name isn’t permitted and could lead to your profile being suspended. Its examples of what to leave out include service details and locations. So “Smith Plumbing” is right, and “Smith Plumbing Cheap Emergency Plumber Hemel” is a risk.

4. Say where you work

If you travel to customers rather than serve them at your own address, Google asks you to remove that address and show the areas you cover instead. List the towns you actually work in, not every town in the county.

5. Add photos of real jobs

Google’s page has a section on adding photos and videos. Recent pictures of your work, your van and your team show a customer what they are getting. Add a few every month from your phone.

6. Collect reviews and reply to every one

Reviews are the clearest part of popularity you can influence. Ask each customer the day you finish the job, with a direct link to your review page. Then reply to every review, good or bad, in a sentence or two. In the same BrightLocal survey, 80% of consumers said they are likely to use a business that responds to all of its reviews.

Match your website

Your name, phone number, hours and services should read the same on your profile and your website. When they agree, there is less for Google, or a customer, to doubt. This is also what AI tools lean on: in our test of ChatGPT and Google’s AI, the details in their answers matched Business Profile fields.

What to do this week

• Check your hours, phone number and website link on your profile, including bank holiday hours.
• Review your categories: one main category that fits, and only true extras.
• Make sure your business name is the name on your van and invoices, with nothing added.
• Set your service area to the towns you really cover.
• Add five photos of recent jobs.
• Ask your last ten customers for a review and reply to the ones you haven’t answered.

If you would rather someone else kept it up week after week, that is what our Google Business Profile service does.