LOCAL SEO QUESTIONS.

The map pack, or local pack, is the group of Business Profiles with a map that Google shows for many local searches. Google says those results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. The listings in it come from Google Business Profile, not from your website, which is why the profile is the first thing we check. Terms like this are explained in our local marketing glossary.

Google names three factors. Relevance is how well a Business Profile matches what someone searched for. Distance is how far each business is from the person searching. Prominence is how well known a business is, which takes in information from across the web such as links, articles and directories, plus review count and rating. Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Our local SEO checklist works through the parts you can influence.

Because Google says results are specific to the time, place, device and recent history of the person searching. That matters even more for local searches, where the searcher's location moves the map pack around. Searching for yourself from your own shop tells you very little. Search Console shows average position across real searches, which is a better view; see Search Console for local business.

Local SEO adds a Business Profile and reviews to the usual website work. The map pack draws on your profile, while the regular results draw on your website, so both need attention. Google's own advice for its AI features and for ordinary search is the same set of basics: be indexed, keep important content in text, keep your profile current. Nothing in local SEO replaces those basics. Start with the local SEO checklist.

They are two different systems. Maps and the map pack show your Business Profile. The regular results show pages from your website, and a page Google has not indexed cannot appear. Search site: followed by your domain, or check the Page indexing report in Search Console, to see which pages Google is keeping. Our Search Console guide explains the usual reasons a page is left out.

No. Google says advertising with Google will not have any effect on your site's presence in its organic results, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking. Ads and local SEO can work side by side, but buying ads does not lift the free listing and good SEO does not lower your ad costs by itself. Our guide compares local SEO vs Google Ads.

Google describes prominence as how well known a business is. It says that draws on information from across the web, including links, articles and directories, and on review count and ratings. In practice that means accurate listings on the platforms that matter, honest reviews from real customers, and a website worth linking to. There is no shortcut Google allows for it. See business listings and citations and getting more Google reviews.

Appearing costs nothing. Google says it costs nothing to appear in organic results and that you cannot pay for a better local ranking. The work is what costs: your time or an agency's, plus a website that loads fast and says clearly what you do and where, and a steady routine for earning real reviews. We quote after a strategy call once we know the scope. See local SEO.

Google describes relevance as how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. Google says categories help it judge relevance, and that businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up. In practice that is the right primary category, a few honest additional categories, every real service listed, a plain description, correct hours and a service area that reflects where you go. It is the part of local ranking you control most directly.

A citation is a mention of your name, address and phone on another site, such as a directory or map app, whether or not it links to you. A link is a clickable path from another site to yours. Google lists both, along with articles and directories, under prominence. Citations are about accuracy across the platforms customers use; links are about being worth referring to. Neither is a lever you can buy. See business listings and citations.

Only as far as distance allows. Google says distance is one of the three main local factors, so a profile tends to show for searches near where the business is based, and pages for places you do not serve will not make up for it. If you need calls from a town where your profile does not show yet, ads let you choose the areas you target while the organic work builds. See local SEO vs Google Ads.

Google defines doorway abuse as pages created to rank for specific, similar searches that lead people to a less useful destination. Its examples include multiple pages targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page, and substantially similar pages that are closer to search results than a clear, browsable hierarchy. A set of city pages with only the town name swapped fits that description. See local landing pages.

Details that differ by place: jobs you have done there, the neighborhoods you cover, travel times, local permits or conditions you actually deal with. Your own photos of your crew, trucks and finished work, and only reviews customers really left. A way to book on the page itself. LocalBusiness schema that matches the page and your profile, and a spot in a clear hierarchy such as Services, then Areas we serve.

No. Google's spam policies give blocks of text listing cities and regions a page is trying to rank for as an example of keyword stuffing. Trim the list to the areas you genuinely serve, written as normal sentences, and keep it consistent with your Business Profile service area. Our note on Google's spam policies covers the other habits local sites trip over.

Check Search Console first. If a page has had no impressions after a few months, it may be too similar to another page or have nothing linking to it. The usual fix is to merge thin pages into one useful page per service, or rewrite the town page with real local detail. Deleting is a last resort, and we look at what the page was meant to do before touching it.

Yes, if you really serve it. A service-area business travels to customers, so a town page can describe the work you do there without any street address. What you must not do is invent a local address or open a virtual office there. Use your real base, or no street address at all if you travel to customers.

In a clear hierarchy people can browse: Services, then an Areas we serve page that links to each town page and back to the services. Google's doorway examples include pages that are closer to search results than a browsable hierarchy, and pages hidden in the footer or only in the sitemap look like that. A new page with no internal links pointing at it also tends to sit unindexed.

Structured data on your website that tells Google details such as your hours, departments and reviews. Google does not guarantee that structured data will show up in results even when correct, and it does not replace your Business Profile, which is where Maps gets most of your details. Google also says no special markup is needed for AI Overviews. We add it as part of every site. See LocalBusiness schema markup.

Google lists name and address as required, and telephone, url, openingHoursSpecification, geo and priceRange as recommended, with menu and servesCuisine for restaurants and department for separate departments inside one location. Use the most specific type that fits, such as Restaurant, Store or HomeAndConstructionBusiness. Google's list can change, so we check the current help page before publishing.

Run the page through Google's Rich Results Test and fix any critical errors, then use URL Inspection in Search Console to see how Google reads the page. Compare the name, phone and hours in the markup with your Business Profile and listings. Google says spammy structured data can lead to a manual action, so check that report too.

It can. Google says not to mark up content that is not visible to readers of the page, or content that is irrelevant or misleading, and that spammy structured data can lead to a manual action. Marking up an address you do not operate from, or reviews that were never left, is exactly that. Markup must match the page and the profile.

Google lists links from across the web as part of prominence, so links from real local sources help. Buying links, exchanging goods or services for links, automated link building and partner pages created only to cross-link are all named in Google's spam policies. Google's AI guidance adds that seeking inauthentic mentions is not as helpful as it seems. We do not buy links.

It may. In April 2026 Google said it may use spam report submissions to take manual action, and its policy page says violating sites may rank lower or not appear at all. Google also says it must send the report text to the site owner, and will not process a submission containing personally identifying information, so write it factually and leave people out.

Open the Manual actions report in Search Console; that is where Google tells you a reviewer has acted. Then compare the site with Google's spam policies: hidden text, keyword-stuffed town lists, near-duplicate city pages, bought links. Remove the old vendor's access to Search Console and your profile. If you would like a second pair of eyes, our local SEO team can review it on the call.

Be careful. Google says you can ignore llms.txt and other special AI files, chunking content into tiny pieces, rewriting content just for AI and seeking inauthentic mentions, and it clarified in May 2026 that its spam policies apply to AI responses too. Ask the vendor exactly what they do. If it is mass pages, bought links or planted mentions, that is on Google's list. See AI search for local business.

No. Google says it does not evaluate third-party services and that no tool has access to its internal ranking data, so any prediction is the tool's own. It encourages Search Console, which gives data directly from Google. When a proposal quotes a tool score, ask which Google documentation supports the recommendation. See our note on Google's guidance on SEO tools.

Read access to Search Console, and nothing more, at that stage. That is Google's own advice, and Google also says you are responsible for the actions of any company you hire. Never hand over primary ownership of your Business Profile or admin on your Ads account for an audit. Remove the access afterward if you do not go ahead.

Guaranteed rankings, a claimed special relationship with Google, secret methods, out-of-the-blue emails promising page one, review schemes, and a suggested address in a new town. Google names the first four itself, the FTC's rule covers fake reviews, and Google does not allow virtual offices on a profile. Our guide on choosing a local SEO agency lists the questions to ask instead.

No. Google says local search ads are different from your organic listing, and that a wrong address or map pin is a Business Profile issue. Fix it in the profile, then keep the address identical on your site, schema and listings. Google also says you cannot serve ads exclusively in Google Maps; chosen campaigns may run on other surfaces too. See Google Maps ads.

Yes. In the Google Maps app, use Suggest an edit, then Report business conduct, for a business incentivizing reviews. Individual reviews that break policy go through the Reviews Management Tool. Report genuine violations only, keep it factual, and expect Google to decide; a report does nothing for your own ranking. Buying reviews is also named in the FTC's rule, and the FTC points to ReportFraud.ftc.gov for bad business practices.

Google does not set a number. It does archive posts older than 6 months unless they carry a date range, so post whenever you have real news or an offer and keep at least something current. Posts containing phone numbers might get rejected, so leave the number out. Google lets you schedule posts and repeat them, and publish to several profiles at once. Posting is part of our monthly local SEO work.

Eligibility and ownership first, because everything builds on the profile. Then the name, category, address or service area and hours. Then the website: confirm it is indexed and that each core service has a page. Then a simple, fair routine for asking every customer for a review, and tracking so calls and forms are counted. That order is our local SEO checklist.

No. Posts are archived after 6 months, hours change, listings drift and need a yearly check, reviews keep arriving and need replies, and Google changes its guidelines. The foundations are done once; the upkeep is monthly. That upkeep, plus reporting on calls, clicks and customers, is what the Growth plan covers. See local SEO.

No. Your profile, listings, website and reviews stay, because they are in your name, and the work compounds rather than switching off. That is the difference from ads, which stop showing when you stop paying. What you lose is the upkeep: replies, posts, listing checks and reporting. Export anything you want to keep before cancelling, as our Terms of Service explain.

Not much. Photos or news when you have them, a quick yes or no on anything we send to review, a heads-up when hours or phone numbers change, and a fair review request sent to every customer through the channel we set up together. Accurate details and prompt approvals are what keep timelines honest.

Google suggests waiting a few weeks after changes before assessing them. For local SEO we suggest looking at non-branded clicks in Search Console over 3 to 6 months, and at calls, forms and bookings rather than impressions. You see the numbers monthly and can cancel anytime, so there is no reason to wait for a contract to end.

The same place as everyone: an eligible, verified profile with your real name, the right category, correct hours and real photos, a site with a page per service, and a fair review request to every customer from day one. Reviews are part of prominence, but Google says accurate, complete information is what makes a business more likely to show up at all. There is no timeline we can promise.

They are separate services, though they overlap. Local SEO is your profile, your website, your listings and your reviews. Social media is content written and posted for you on the platforms where customers look you up, which the Growth plan includes as monthly content and the Dominate plan expands to full management. Neither feeds Google's local ranking directly, but both give people who find you a reason to come in. See social media.

The Growth plan includes monthly content, written and posted for you. Google's advice is that unique, useful content from your own first-hand experience will influence your visibility more than anything else, and it warns against mass-producing pages for every search variation. So one real page a month about the jobs you actually do beats many thin ones. You review everything before it goes live.

The Google side does: the same profile guidelines, the same three ranking factors, the same Search Console. The rules around it differ. The FTC's review rule applies in the United States; messaging consent falls under the TCPA in the US and CASL in Canada; surcharge rules vary by province and state. We work with businesses in both countries and check what applies to your location. Confirm anything legal with your own advisor.

No. Local SEO and ads are run online. What matters is that the agency understands your market, keeps your accounts in your name and answers when you call. We are a remote agency working with local businesses across the US and Canada, and the people doing the work are the ones you speak to. See about us.

Manager access on your Google Business Profile, editor-level access on Search Console and Analytics, standard access on Google Ads if ads are involved, and a login to your website. Every one of those accounts stays owned by your business. If a profile or account does not exist yet, we create it under a Google account you control. That list is on our agency guide.

Yes. Bring it to the strategy call and we will check the recommendations against Google's own documentation, which is what Google now tells owners to do before acting on a third-party audit. If it is built on meta keywords, word counts, FAQ schema or AI files, we will say so. See our note on Google's guidance on SEO tools.

You see it first. Copy for your site, your profile description and any location page comes to you for review before it goes live and you can change it afterward, with a direct line to the people who wrote it. We will not publish claims you have not confirmed, and we will refuse anything that breaks a platform's rules, as our Terms of Service allow.

Businesses that serve customers in person, at a storefront or at the customer's location: restaurants, retail shops, med spas, grocery stores and home services. If you never meet customers in person, Google will not allow a Business Profile, so the Maps side does not apply. We check that first and tell you on the call.