Key takeaway
The map pack is the three local businesses shown at the top of a local search, and where the calls come from. Google picks them on relevance, distance and prominence. You can't move your business, so the work goes into the other two: a verified, complete Google Business Profile, the right primary category and a steady flow of genuine reviews.
When someone in your town searches "landscaper near me" or "emergency plumber Derby", the first thing they see isn't a website. It's a little map with three businesses pinned to it. That box is the map pack, and for a local business it's the best spot on the page.
The three businesses in it get the calls. Everyone below fights over the scraps.
Getting into it comes down to your Google Business Profile: whether Google trusts it, how it's set up, and how complete it is. Here's how the map pack works, how Google picks the three, and what to change on your profile so you're one of them.
What the map pack actually is
Search anything with local intent and, right at the top under the ads, sits the map pack (also called the local pack or the "3-pack"): three business listings, each showing a name, a star rating, a category, and buttons like Call, Directions and Website.
It sits above the normal blue links, and it changes with where the person searching is. Your website still matters, but for local searches the map pack is the shop window, and your Google Business Profile is what puts you in it.
First, get verified
Nothing in this post works until Google has verified your profile. For a van-based business with no shopfront, that's often the hardest part. In early 2026 Google's video check held up MIW Patios & Landscaping, a Derby landscaper we work with, through several rounds of review before it was approved. Our guide to creating and verifying a Google Business Profile covers what a profile is, what to film for the video, and the mistakes that get new profiles suspended.
How Google decides who gets in the map pack
Once you're verified, three things decide your spot. These are Google's own words, from its guide to local ranking:
- Relevance. How well your profile matches what someone searched. This is mostly your primary category and the services and content on your profile.
- Distance. How close you are to the searcher, or to the area they searched. You can't move your business, which is why you'll rank for some nearby towns and not others.
- Prominence. How well known you are. Google says reviews and links to your business count here, along with what it finds about you across the web.
You can't do much about distance. Relevance and prominence are where the work pays off.
The optimisation checklist
Here's what moves you up, starting with what we'd do first.
1. Nail your primary category. In our experience this is the biggest single lever. Pick the most accurate primary category for what you do ("Landscaper", not "Gardener", if you build patios), then add relevant secondary categories. The wrong primary category quietly caps how often you show up.
2. Get reviews, and keep getting them. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking. A review from last month also tells a customer more than ten from two years ago, so a steady trickle beats one big burst. Ask every happy customer, reply to every review, and don't panic over the odd bad one. We've written up the exact system we use to get more Google reviews.
3. Complete every single field. Services with descriptions, a proper business description, opening hours, attributes, service areas. Google says complete, detailed information helps it match you to the right searches.
4. Keep your name, address and phone consistent everywhere. This is where your Business Profile and your local citations meet. If your details don't match across the web, it dents Google's confidence in you.
5. Add photos regularly. Real photos of your work, your team and your van. They show customers you're a real, busy business, not a listing someone set up once and forgot.
6. Use Google Posts. Offers, updates, recent jobs. They show on your profile, so anyone checking you out can see you're busy.
Do the first two well and you're most of the way there. The rest builds up over time. If you'd rather have it handled, this is exactly what our Google Business Profile and local SEO work covers.
Does it actually work?
Yes, when it's done properly and given time. Once MIW's profile was verified, we set it up fully alongside the new website: categories, service areas, photos and descriptions.
Google Search Console counts how often a website appears in Google's results. MIW's site went from 210 appearances in March 2026 to 2,532 in June. It brought in six enquiries from Google between April and June, with no paid ads. Those are website figures, so they don't count calls made straight from the profile. The month-by-month numbers are in the MIW case study, and we broke the curve down here.
Here's the profile in July 2026, when this post first went up: 5.0 stars, and set up to serve Derby and the towns around it.
The honest summary
Get verified first, then win on the things that count: the right primary category, a steady flow of real reviews, and a profile that's complete and consistent with the rest of the web. It isn't quick and it isn't magic, but it's the highest-leverage local SEO you can do.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get into the Google map pack?
Get a verified, complete Google Business Profile, choose the most accurate primary category for what you do, and build a steady flow of genuine Google reviews. Google then ranks you in the map pack based on relevance, distance and prominence. There is no shortcut or payment that puts you in it; it is earned through an optimised profile and a real reputation.
Why isn't my business showing on Google Maps?
The most common reasons are that your profile is not verified, it is incomplete or has the wrong primary category, or you are simply too far from where the person is searching. A brand new profile can also take a little time to appear. Check first that you are verified and that your name, address and category are correct, then look at reviews and completeness.
How long does it take to rank in the map pack?
Once you are verified, a well-optimised profile can start showing for less competitive local searches within a few weeks, but competitive terms and larger areas can take a few months of steady reviews and activity. Distance plays a big part too, so you will often rank in your immediate area long before you rank across a wider region.
Can I optimise my Google Business Profile myself?
Yes, most of it. Choosing the right primary category, completing every field, adding photos and asking for reviews are all things you can do without any technical skill. The parts people find hardest are passing video verification and staying consistent over time, which is where getting help can save a lot of frustration.
Struggling to get verified, or stuck outside the map pack? We set up and fix Business Profiles for local businesses, painful video verifications included (we've got the scars to prove it). Book a free call and we'll look at your profile and tell you straight what's holding it back.
