Proximity, relevance and prominence — the three things local results are built from, and which you can influence.
6 min read · free, no sign-up
The three ingredients
Google describes local ranking as a mix of relevance (does this business match the search), distance (how near is it to the searcher), and prominence (how well known and well regarded is it).
Distance you cannot change without moving. Relevance and prominence are ordinary work you can do this month.
Relevance is completeness
Relevance improves when your categories, services, description and website say clearly and consistently what you do. Most local businesses lose here through vagueness, not competition.
Prominence is reputation, made legible
Prominence comes from reviews, mentions elsewhere on the web, links from local sources, and general recognition. A well-run directory listing, a local newspaper mention, a sponsored junior football team with a link from the club site — these are ordinary, legitimate signals.
Note what is not on that list: buying links. It is against Google's spam policies, it is detectable, and the downside is a manual action that costs far more than the links ever bought.
In practice — Two barbers on the same Birmingham high street
Same distance from the town centre, similar prices. One appears in the map pack for "barber Birmingham", the other does not.
The difference is unglamorous: the visible one has a complete profile with the right primary category, 60 reviews answered by name, photos updated this year, and a website page that says "barber shop in Birmingham" in plain text. The other has a profile created by a customer in 2018 and never claimed.
Action checklist
Confirm your primary category is the most specific accurate one.
List every service on your profile and your website using customer vocabulary.
Ask recent happy customers for reviews — see module 7 for how, lawfully.
Find three genuine local link opportunities: a supplier, a club you sponsor, a local news story.
List in directories that real people use, and keep those entries accurate.
Never buy links or reviews.
Free tool for this lesson
Listing completeness checker does this lesson's work in your browser. Nothing is stored and no sign-up is needed.
Exercise
Pick your single most valuable buying phrase. Search it from your town and study the top three map results as a customer: categories, review count, photos, hours, website. Write down every gap between them and you.
Time needed: 30 minutes
Read the source
Primary documentation, so you can check anything here rather than take our word for it.