Learn · Local SEO
How Google ranks local businesses
Google ranks local businesses by three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. Reviews influence two of them — prominence directly (volume, rating and recency of reviews are strong prominence signals) and relevance indirectly (the words customers use in reviews reinforce which queries you're a good match for). Google's own local-search guidance names these three factors explicitly.
Last reviewed by the Reviews Widget product team.
The three-factor model
Google states that local results are ranked primarily on three factors: relevance, distance and prominence. The local pack — the map and business listings near the top of a local search — uses this model, which is distinct from how ordinary web results are ranked.
| Factor | What it measures | Your control |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well your profile matches the search | High — categories, services, description |
| Distance | How far you are from the searcher or search area | Low — location and service areas only |
| Prominence | How well known and well regarded you are | Medium to high — reviews, links, mentions |
Relevance
Relevance is largely a completeness problem. Google can only match you to a query using information it holds, so a thin profile is invisible for searches you could easily win.
- Set the most specific primary category available, then add genuine secondary categories.
- List every service or product individually rather than as one blanket description.
- Keep hours, attributes and the business description accurate and current.
- Make sure your website's own service pages match the services on the profile.
Distance
Distance is the factor you cannot optimise away. If a searcher is ten kilometres from you and two kilometres from a competitor with a comparable profile, they will often see the competitor. What you can do is define service areas honestly, and build genuine location-specific pages on your site for the areas you actually serve — see industry examples.
Prominence — where reviews matter most
Google explicitly names review count and review score as part of prominence. This is the one lever most local businesses can move deliberately, and it is why a steady flow of genuine reviews beats a one-off push every time.
| Input | Why it counts | Practical action |
|---|---|---|
| Review count on your profile | Named by Google as a prominence factor | Ask every satisfied customer, every time |
| Review score | Named alongside count | Fix service issues, respond to criticism |
| Review recency | A dormant profile looks like a dormant business | Aim for a steady trickle, not bursts |
| Owner responses | Google encourages replying to reviews | Reply within 24–48 hours |
| Links and mentions | Web-wide signals of a known business | Local directories, associations, press, sponsorships |
| Profile activity | Photos, posts, Q&A kept current | A short weekly maintenance pass |
Note the distinction that trips people up: reviews on your Google Business Profile feed local ranking; reviews embedded on your website feed conversion and content, not the local pack. Both are worth doing, for different reasons — see UGC and SEO.
What to do this month
- Complete the profile properly. Categories, services, hours, attributes, photos — an afternoon's work, and the cheapest relevance you will ever buy.
- Build a review request into the job. A link sent at the moment of delivery outperforms any later campaign.
- Reply to every review. Use the templates in responding to Google reviews.
- Make your site's service pages match the profile. Consistency helps Google connect the two.
- Embed your reviews where people decide. It will not move the local pack, but it converts the traffic that pack sends you.
Sources & further reading
- Google — improve your local ranking on Google — The relevance, distance and prominence model, in Google's words
- Google — read and reply to reviews — Owner response guidance
- Google Search Central — review snippet guidelines — Why on-site reviews do not produce star snippets