How Do I Rank on Google Maps?

Where this comes from

Google publishes how local ranking works on a Business Profile help page called "Tips to improve your local ranking on Google". Everything below is from that page and Google's other Business Profile help articles, read on 21 October 2026, plus the ACCC's rules on online reviews. All are linked at the bottom. We've added what we've seen setting up profiles, and said so where we have.

Google's three ranking factors

The Business Profile steps, in order

1. 1

   Claim and verify your profile

   Google says verification tells it you're authorised to represent the business, which makes the profile more likely to appear in search results.

2. 2

   Use your real business name

   Google's guidelines say to use the name on your signage, website and stationery, without taglines, phone numbers, service descriptions or locations. "Smith Plumbing" is right. "Smith Plumbing Best Plumber Geelong" breaks the rules and can get the profile suspended.

3. 3

   Pick a specific primary category

   Google says the categories you select affect your local ranking. Choose the most specific one that fits, so "Nail salon" rather than "Salon". Add a few more only for real parts of your business, and pick ones that finish the sentence "This business IS a".

4. 4

   Set your address or service area

   If customers come to you, show the address and keep signage there. If you go to them, like most tradies, hide your address and set a service area. Google says that area shouldn't stretch past about two hours' drive from your base.

5. 5

   Fill in hours, phone and website

   Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show in local results. Use a local phone number you control, keep hours current including public holidays, and link to the page on your site that matches the profile.

6. 6

   Add real photos

   A logo, a cover photo and photos of your work, your premises or your team. Google asks for JPG or PNG between 10 KB and 5 MB, at least 250 × 250 pixels and ideally 720 × 720, in focus and well lit.

7. 7

   Ask every customer for a review, and reply

   Send your Google review link or a QR code after each job. Reply to reviews, good and bad, briefly and personally. Google calls offering a discount or a freebie for a review "strictly prohibited".

The rules on reviews in Australia

Two sets of rules apply, and Google's is stricter:

• Google bans incentives outright. Free or discounted goods or services in exchange for posting, changing or removing a review count as fake content on Google.
• The ACCC bans fake and misleading reviews. It's against the law to write fake reviews or arrange for others to write them, including staff and family without saying so.
• Hiding bad reviews is misleading too. The ACCC says suppressing or removing genuine negative reviews can mislead consumers. A reply is the safer answer to a review you disagree with.
• Only ask, never script. Ask every customer, not just the happy ones, and let them write their own words.

Where your website comes in

Google's prominence factor counts how many websites link to your business, so your own site and the sites that mention it both matter. In our experience the profile ranks better when the website it links to backs it up: the same business name, address and phone number as the profile, a page for each service you listed, and your suburbs named on the pages where they belong. A profile that says "electrician" linking to a one-page site with no mention of electrical work gives Google little to go on.

What you can't change, and what to skip

Distance is the hard limit. Someone searching from the other side of the city will usually see businesses closer to them first, and no profile setting changes that. Skip anything that promises to get around it: keyword-stuffed names, extra profiles at addresses you don't work from, virtual offices and bought reviews all break Google's guidelines and risk a suspension. Google says plainly that you can't pay for a better local ranking. Ads can buy a spot above the map results, but that's an ad, and it stops when the budget does.

Sources

1. Google: Tips to improve your local ranking on Googlehttps://support.google.com/business/answer/7091

   Relevance, distance and prominence, read 21 October 2026.

2. Google: Guidelines for representing your business on Googlehttps://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177

   Names, addresses, service areas and categories.

3. Google: Business Profile categorieshttps://support.google.com/business/answer/7249669
4. Google: Manage your Business Profile photos and videoshttps://support.google.com/business/answer/6103862
5. Google: Tips to get more reviewshttps://support.google.com/business/answer/3474122
6. ACCC: Online reviews for products and serviceshttps://www.accc.gov.au/business/advertising-and-promotions/online-reviews-for-product-and-services

Where to next

• Step 06 of The Climb: set up a Google Business Profile →

  Who qualifies, and what happens if you force it.

• Step 04 of The Climb: putting your city in the right places →

  The website side of local ranking.

Get a site that backs up your profile