Primary category
The single most powerful relevance signal. Choosing "Dental clinic" over "Dentist", or "Roofing contractor" over "Contractor", changes which searches you are eligible for. We test against the pack, not guess.
Google Maps SEO
Google Maps SEO from people who have done it for over ten years
The map pack is where local customers decide. We optimise every signal Google uses to order it — profile, categories, reviews, photos, citations and behaviour — and show you the result on a ranking grid, not a screenshot.
What Google rewards
The signals we work on, and what each one does
Services, products and attributes
Google matches long-tail searches ("emergency boiler repair Croydon") against your service list and descriptions. Most profiles list five services; the leaders list forty with descriptions.
Reviews: count, velocity, content
Rating and quantity matter, but so does steady velocity and whether reviews mention your services and location. We build the system that produces them month after month.
Photos and posts
Profiles with regular, geotagged, category-relevant photos see more actions and hold rankings better. Posts keep the profile active and feed Google fresh service signals.
Citations and NAP
Consistent name, address and phone across UK directories confirms to Google that you exist where you say you do. Inconsistency is the most common silent ranking killer we find.
Landing page and links
The page your profile links to, its local content and schema, and links from local sites all feed prominence — the factor that separates position one from position four.
Our process
A Maps SEO engagement, month by month
Month 1 — Audit, baseline, fix
Grid ranking baseline, competitor profile teardown, category and service overhaul, NAP corrections, suspension risk review, landing page and schema fixes.
Months 2–3 — Build
Review system live, first citation batch, photo and post cadence, product and service descriptions, Q&A seeded with real customer questions.
Months 4–6 — Prominence
Local links, content for secondary services and areas, review response programme, competitor monitoring and further category expansion.
Ongoing — Hold and grow
Monthly grid reports, profile maintenance, Google updates handled, and a plan for wider radius or additional locations.
What a grid report shows you
A 7×7 grid of points across your service area, each showing your position for a keyword. Green means you are in the pack, red means you are not. Month on month you watch the green spread outward from your address — or you see exactly where a competitor is beating you.
It is the only honest way to report local rankings, because the pack is different for every street.
Common problems we fix
Bring us the messy profile
Suspended profile
Evidence-led reinstatement appeals. Suspension recovery
Duplicate listings
Merging and removing duplicates that split your reviews and confuse Google.
Wrong map pin or address
Moving pins, fixing service areas and handling re-verification without losing history.
Fake or unfair reviews
Flagging, escalation and response strategy. Review management
Google Maps SEO FAQs
What is Google Maps SEO?
Google Maps SEO is the process of optimising a business's Google Business Profile and related signals so it ranks higher in Google Maps and in the map-based local pack shown in normal Google search results. It covers profile completeness, categories, reviews, photos, citations, the linked website and user behaviour.
How does Google decide the order of businesses on Maps?
Google states three factors: relevance (how well the profile matches the search), distance (how far the business is from the searcher or the place named in the search) and prominence (how well known the business is, measured through reviews, citations, links and web presence). Our work targets relevance and prominence, since distance is fixed.
Why has my Google Maps ranking dropped?
Common causes in 2026: a competitor changed their primary category or added services, your review velocity slowed, a new profile appeared closer to the search centre, Google removed reviews or photos, an address or category edit triggered a re-verification, or the profile was quietly suspended. A grid audit usually shows which one within a day.
Can you rank a service-area business with no shopfront?
Yes. Service-area businesses hide the address and set the areas they serve. They rank on the same signals but are more sensitive to the location of the registered address, so we advise on that before anything else.
How is Google Maps SEO different from local SEO?
Maps SEO is a subset of local SEO focused on the Business Profile and the map results. Local SEO also includes the organic results under the map, which depend more on your website. We do both because the same signals feed both.
Related services
Google Business Profile Optimisation
Categories, services, photos, posts, Q&A and attributes tuned to what your customers actually search.
Local Citations & NAP Consistency
UK directory clean-up and building so every mention of your business agrees with Google.
Multi-Location SEO
Scalable profile, page and reporting structure for chains, franchises and service-area businesses.