Long gone are the halcyon days of the ten blue links. Google has evolved into an all-encompassing search engine for shopping, images, video, and, of course, real-world businesses.
Google as a local search engine is hardly new — Google Maps celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2025! — so we have a pretty solid understanding of how it works. Let’s dig into Google’s local algorithm, from what they’ve explicitly told us to what we can infer.
A quick clarification: this post is focused on organic search, not paid search. Paid local search is a totally different world and one that we might write a post about in the future!
Google Maps and your Google Business Profile
Most of the time, when someone thinks of using Google for local search, they think of Google Maps. Any and everything that appears as an organic result in Google Maps (or the Google “Map Pack” in a Google.com search) is a Google Business Profile (GBP). Formerly known as Google My Business, a business’s GBP is something they have control over through the GBP Manager.
We’ve got a full guide on Google Business Profiles and how to optimize them over here.
Google is normally very tight-lipped about what ranking factors drive their proprietary algorithms, so the fact that they’ve outlined the “big three” for local rankings on Google is something we should pay close attention to. Google doesn’t specify which of these are most important, so let’s run through them in the order Google presents them.
1. Relevance
Relevance, in Google’s words, “refers to how well a local Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.” Relevance is arguably the broadest and deepest signal that you can work with to improve your local SEO rankings. There are a lot of levers you can pull to prove to Google that you really are relevant for the keywords your customers search with. Here are just some of them.
Google Business Profile Optimization
Again, we have an entire guide on how to optimize your GBP, so let’s just look at some of the most important elements for relevance.
- Business categories: Choose business categories from the options the GBP Manager provides you with. Your primary category should be the main thing your business does. If you have several equally primary categories (such as a home services business that provides HVAC and plumbing services), you can change your primary category seasonally or to match your business needs. Use as many additional business categories as makes sense.
- Business description: The primary goal of a GBP business description is to succinctly communicate what a business does, what makes it unique, and why customers should choose you. Include keywords logically (without sounding spammy) to improve your relevance. *There’s some debate as to whether or not a GBP description is considered a “ranking factor,” but there’s no reason to not accurately describe your business using relevant keywords.
- Services: The services section really lets you go ham. You can list out any and every service you provide. Here’s just a snippet of the services we have listed out for a locksmith we work with:
Website optimization
Good old-fashioned website optimization has a positive impact on your Google Business Profile’s relevance and (as we’ll see later) prominence.
Note that this is only effective as long as you’ve clearly connected your GBP and website! Link to your website from your GBP, and, if possible, embed or link to your GBP from your website.
2. Proximity/Distance
This is both the simplest to explain and the hardest to do anything about. Unsurprisingly, a local search engine will try to show you things that are close to you. The closer a business is to a searcher, the better that business will perform in the “proximity” category.
You can test this out yourself on Google Maps: search for any random type of business (I always go with “pizza”) and pay attention to how far away results are from your location or the center of your map. In this screenshot of a search for “pizza” performed in Oklahoma City, you’ll notice that a lot of the results are close to the center. No “near me” needed.
How to Optimize for Proximity
Unfortunately and unsurprisingly, you can’t. Your location is your location, and you can’t trick or fake your way into ranking better due to proximity. Of course, your business’s location matters in the real world, so you probably want to be where the people are, but you shouldn’t plan a relocation just to rank better in Google Maps.
3. Prominence
Google’s definition of prominence in this context is “how well known a business is” whether that’s in the offline world or online. Google relies primarily on online signals for its ranking algorithms, so how do they determine what real-world prominence looks like?
- Reviews: Customer reviews (especially positive ones!) are a good way for Google to understand how prominent a business is. Whether those reviews are on Google Maps or a third-party website like Yelp, they send the signal that people have opinions about a business.
- Citations: These aren’t the most reliable prominence signal because it’s possible to create citations for a business no matter how prominent or well-known it is. However, citations still matter for local SEO because they’re a great way to build links and reinforce a business’s name, address, and phone number consistency.
- Backlinks: Links from quality sources are even more important than links from citations because they are often earned from a legitimate website attached to a real-world business. There are all kinds of local link-building strategies you can pursue, and you can learn how to do it from us:
- Organic SEO: To quote Google’s guidelines one last time, “Your position in web results is also a factor, so search engine optimization (SEO) best practices apply.” That’s why:
Google organic search matters for local, too
The assumption we’ve been working with so far is that local SEO and Google’s local algorithm are all about getting a Google Business Profile to perform well in a Maps search. That’s a safe assumption, but local search doesn’t stop there!
On-site SEO is a prominence signal
As we saw in the above quote from Google, ranking highly in “regular” search (that is, a website’s appearance in Google.com searches) will improve its Google Business Profile’s prominence signals. On-site SEO is a win-win!
Local search happens on Google.com, not just Google Maps
According to a 2019 study, 46% of all Google searches have some kind of local intent. If that proportion holds true or is similar now, that means that several billion local searches happen on Google.com every day!
When a searcher wants to learn about businesses that offer a service in their area, they’re likely to start with Google.com, not Google Maps. They might then click on a map-pack result (the three GBPs and map seen in the screenshot above), or they might scroll further down and click on a website link. Ranking in the website links section is arguably as important as ranking in the map pack.
Search engines are more real-world-focused than ever
I’m sure you already understand the importance of Google search for local businesses, but here’s one more statistic to really drive things home: 98% of consumers used the internet to find information about local businesses in 2022. Virtually every single person turns to some form of online search when they have a local need, and it’s no leap of the imagination to assume that Google and its competitors know that fact.
Focus on relevance, distance, and prominence, and you’ll already have a leg up on your competitors. By applying these local algorithm principles —whether through optimizing your Google Business Profile or earning local links—you’re not just improving online rankings; you’re driving real-world traffic and sales for your business to thrive.
