How to Get Your Business to Show Up on Google Maps

When someone searches "plumber near me" or "pizza in Clifton", Google shows a map with a short list of businesses under it, and Google Maps shows a similar list. Getting into that list comes down to three things Google names on its local ranking help page: relevance, distance and prominence.

Nobody can promise you a place in that list, us included. Google states plainly that there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. What you can do is give Google complete, accurate information and give customers reasons to talk about you. This guide shows how, one step at a time.

How Google decides who shows up

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched. You control most of this, through your categories, services, description and website.
• Distance: how far your business is from the person searching. If they don't share their location, Google uses what it knows about where they are. You can't change this, and it's why a business closer to the searcher can appear above you.
• Prominence: how well known the business is. Google says this is based partly on how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help.

Every step below works on relevance or prominence.

1. 01

   Choose the right categories

   Categories are one of the few settings Google ties directly to ranking: its category help page says the categories you select affect your local ranking.

   • Make the primary category the most specific one that fits. Google's own example is choosing "Nail salon" over "Salon".
   • Add extra categories only for real parts of the business. Google's guidelines ask for the fewest categories that describe the core business, not one per product.
   • Search for your main service in your own town and look at the category shown under each business in Maps. It tells you which categories the businesses already showing up for that search have chosen.
2. 02

   Complete every part of the profile

   Google's ranking tips say businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. Go through the profile section by section:

   • Services, each in the words a customer would type. "Water heater replacement" matches a real search. "Plumbing solutions" matches nothing anyone types.
   • Hours, including special hours for holidays and closures.
   • A description that says what you do and the towns you serve, in plain sentences.
   • Attributes that apply, such as wheelchair access or the payment types you take.
   • Service areas that match where you really work.
3. 03

   Get reviews steadily, and answer them

   Reviews count toward prominence, and they decide whether the person reading your listing calls you or the next business down.

   • Ask every customer, at the moment they're happiest: when the job is finished or the order is handed over. Google's review tips suggest a review link or a QR code.
   • Make it one tap. Put the link in the invoice email, the receipt or the follow-up text.
   • Reply to every review, and keep it short. For a bad one, name the specific problem, own any mistake and offer to sort it out offline. Google's tips also ask you to keep deals and promotions out of replies.
   • Never pay, discount or trade for reviews, and never write your own. Google treats reviews given in exchange for a reward as fake content, and the Federal Trade Commission's rule on consumer reviews, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews and paying for reviews that take a particular side.
4. 04

   Add real photos, and keep adding them

   Photos and videos are on Google's list of ranking tips because they show customers what you offer. Use your own: finished jobs, before and after, the van, the dining room, the crew. Google's photo guidance asks for pictures that represent reality, without heavy filters or AI changes. Adding a few new ones each month also tells customers the business is active.

5. 05

   Make your website back up the profile

   The website button on your profile is where many people decide whether to call. Give each main service its own page that names the towns you serve, keep your name, address and phone number the same on the site and the profile, and make sure the page loads quickly on a phone. Our free website speed test checks that in about a minute, and our guide to checking your website's speed explains what to fix first.

6. 06

   Earn mentions from local websites

   Since links to your website count toward prominence, look for the ones you can earn honestly close to home: your chamber of commerce, a trade association, a supplier's list of installers, a team or event you sponsor, and local news when you do something worth covering. Skip anyone selling links, which Google's spam policies treat as spam. Our local SEO checklist covers links and directory listings in more detail.

7. 07

   Check what's working each month

   Your profile's Performance view shows how many people saw it on Search and Maps, which searches they used to find you, and how many called, asked for directions or clicked through to your website. Google's performance help page says the list of searches updates at the start of each month and can take up to 5 days to appear. Compare a month with the same month last year where you can, since many trades are seasonal.

What nobody can promise you

• A fixed position. The list changes with where the searcher is, what they typed and when. Two people in different towns see different businesses.
• Results by a date. Reviews and links build up over months.
• A paid shortcut. Google Ads can put an ad, marked as sponsored, above the map. That's advertising, it stops when the budget does, and it doesn't change where you appear in the unpaid list.
• Showing up everywhere. Distance counts. A business based in one town will usually find it harder to appear in searches made far away, however good its profile.

Be wary of anyone who promises a top-three spot on the map. Google's own advice on hiring help with search warns against exactly that kind of promise.

When to get help

If you've worked through these steps and a competitor still appears above you in your own town, compare what they have that you don't: more reviews, a closer address, more specific categories, a page for each service. Some of that takes time rather than money. If you'd rather hand the work to someone, our local SEO service looks after the profile, a review routine, your service pages and local mentions, and reports what was done each month.