Google Maps SEO
Google Maps SEO that shows you, block by block, where your business appears in the Map Pack across your service area, then works on the reasons you drop out.
What's included
- A grid rank scan of your service area for each of your main searches
- A list of the businesses that beat you in each part of town, and what they do differently
- Category and service changes on your Google Business Profile based on the grid results
- Review work aimed at the gaps between you and the top three
- Service and area pages on your website to support the neighborhoods where you are weakest
- Citations and local links that connect your business to the towns you serve
- Monthly grid reports so you can see coverage grow or shrink over time
Who it's for
Google Maps SEO is for businesses that win or lose work based on whether they appear in the three-business box at the top of local searches. That includes emergency trades like locksmiths, plumbers and towing, where people call the first name they see, and businesses people compare on the map, like restaurants, urgent care clinics, gyms, pet groomers and auto shops.
The typical complaint sounds like this: "We're in the Map Pack when I search from the shop, but we get almost no calls from the north side, and that's where most of our customers live." That's not bad luck. It's how local results work. Google weighs how relevant your profile is, how prominent your business looks online and how far you are from the person searching. The further out the searcher is, the stronger your profile has to be to stay visible.
You'll get the most from this service if:
- You serve an area of several miles or several towns, not a single block
- A few competitors dominate the map in parts of your area
- You've already got a Google Business Profile, but it isn't pulling its weight
- You want proof of what's changing, not a single screenshot from one location
If you haven't set up or cleaned your profile yet, that comes first; see Google Business Profile optimization.
How we do it
- 1
Scan the grid. We use map ranking grid scans to run your main searches from a grid of points laid over your service area. The result is a map with your position shown at each point, so you can see exactly where you are visible and where you disappear. We scan each keyword separately, because "roof repair" and "roof replacement" often produce different maps.
Map ranking grid scans - 2
Name the competition in each zone. For each weak area, we note which businesses hold the top three spots. Then we compare their profiles with yours: categories, number and freshness of reviews, photos, how complete their services list is and whether their website has a page for that service or town.
- 3
Check the websites behind the pins. With competitor traffic research, we look at which pages and search terms bring traffic to the competitors who beat you. If the leading business in the east side has a dedicated page for the service in that area and you don't, that gap is worth closing.
Competitor traffic research - 4
Tune the profile. Based on the grid, we adjust your primary and secondary categories, fill in missing services, refine your description and add photos tied to the work you want more of. We don't add keywords to your business name, since it breaks Google's rules.
- 5
Close the review gap. If the top three have far more recent reviews than you, we set up a simple request routine so more of your happy customers leave one, and we reply to each. The detail is on our review management services page.
- 6
Support weak areas on your website. Where there is a real reason, like jobs you do there often, we build or improve service and area pages with genuine local detail. We don't create dozens of near-identical city pages; they rarely help and can hurt.
- 7
Strengthen local signals. We add or correct listings on directories relevant to your trade and region, and on higher plans we earn editorial links from local and industry sites.
- 8
Rescan and compare. Each month we run the same grid with the same settings, so the comparison is fair, and we decide the next priorities from what changed.
What you receive
Your first report is the baseline: a grid map for each tracked keyword, a list of competitors holding the top spots in each part of your area, and our plan of what to fix first.
Each month after that, you receive:
- Updated grid maps for every tracked keyword, next to the previous month's
- An average position across the grid, so you have one number to watch alongside the map
- A work log of profile changes, posts, reviews answered, pages edited and listings built
- Notes on competitors when a new business moves into your area or an existing one jumps ahead
You can forward the grid maps to a partner or manager as they are. They are easy to read without SEO knowledge. If a zone that matters to you stays weak after several months of work, the report says so plainly and explains what we think is causing it, whether that's distance, a very strong competitor or something we can still change.
Pricing
Map rank tracking and the work to improve it are part of every monthly plan. Local Starter tracks 10 keywords with a Google Maps ranking report; Growth and Authority track more keywords and add pages and editorial backlinks. See the Pricing page for details.
- Local Starter $397 /month
- 1 location
- Google Business Profile management (weekly posts, photos, review replies)
- 5 citations a month
- On-page fixes on up to 5 pages a month
- 1 SEO blog post a month
- 10 keywords tracked with a Google Maps ranking report
- Monthly report
- Most popular Growth $797 /month
- Everything in Local Starter
- 25 keywords tracked
- 2 blog posts a month
- 4 editorial backlinks a month
- 1 new service or city page a month
- Technical fixes every month
- A monthly check of how the business shows up in ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews
- A monthly call
- Authority $1,497 /month
- Everything in Growth
- 50 keywords
- Up to 2 locations
- 4 blog posts a month
- 8 editorial backlinks a month
- 2 new pages a month
- AI search work (schema, llms.txt, citations)
- Competitor tracking
- Quarterly strategy review
- Custom Custom quote
- 3 or more locations
- Online stores
- Nationwide campaigns
- No setup fee.
- 3-month minimum, then month to month. Cancel with 30 days' notice before the next billing date.
- One-time package customers who upgrade within 30 days get what they paid credited to their first month.
- The website chatbot is free with any monthly SEO plan.
Frequently asked questions
Something else? Call (866) 571-4320.
Why do I show up in the Map Pack when I search, but my customers say they can't find me?
Google's local results change with the searcher's location. If you check from your office, you see the results for your own block, where you are closest. A customer ten minutes away gets a different set of three businesses. That's why we use grid scans, which check your ranking from many points across your area instead of one.
What is local pack SEO?
The local pack, also called the Map Pack or 3-pack, is the box of three businesses with a map that Google shows for many local searches. Local pack SEO is work aimed at getting into that box more often and in more places. It overlaps heavily with Google Maps SEO, since the same profile powers both.
Can you get me into the Map Pack in a town where I don't have an address?
Distance to the searcher is one of the factors Google weighs, and we can't change where your business is. What we can do is make your profile, reviews and website as strong as possible, so your reach extends further. Results in towns far from your address are limited for every business, and we'll tell you honestly which areas look realistic.
Should I open a virtual office in another city to rank there?
No. Google doesn't allow profiles at virtual offices or addresses where you don't actually operate with staff during stated hours, and those profiles get suspended, sometimes along with your real one. If you genuinely open a new location, we can set it up properly.
What do the colors on a grid report mean?
Each dot on the grid is a point in your service area where we ran the search. The number in the dot is your position in the local results from that spot, and the color shows whether that's strong, middling or not visible at all. Comparing the grid month to month shows where your coverage is growing.
How is this different from your local SEO services page?
Our local SEO program covers everything, including citations, reviews, the website and your profile. Google Maps SEO services focus on one outcome: your visibility on the map across your area, using the grid to decide what to work on. Most clients get both through the same monthly plan.
See where you appear on the map across your service area
Tell us about your business in a short chat. We review your website and contact you within one business day, with no obligation.