Search for “dentist near me” or “web designer Panchkula” and Google shows a map with three businesses under it, before the normal results. This is the map pack, and for most local businesses it brings more calls than everything else on the page.
There is a lot of advice about how to get into it. Much of it is guesswork. This guide sticks to what Google itself says about local ranking, adds what we have seen while working on profiles in the Tricity, and separates what you can change from what you can’t.
The short answer
Google says local results are based mainly on three things (Google’s explanation):
- Relevance: how well your Business Profile matches what someone is searching for.
- Distance: how far your business is from the person searching.
- Prominence: how well-known your business is, online and offline. Reviews and links count towards this.
Google also states that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Ads can appear above the map, but they don’t change where your profile ranks.
Distance: the factor you can’t change
The map pack is worked out from where the searcher is, not just what they type. A search for “web designer near me” from Sector 17, Chandigarh and the same search from Phase 7, Mohali can show completely different businesses.
This matters more in the Tricity than in most places. Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali sit next to each other, and many people live in one city and work in another. A business in Panchkula will usually find it easier to appear for searches made in Panchkula than for searches made across the city line, even when the two places are only a few kilometres apart.
What this means in practice:
- You can’t move closer to every customer, so don’t try to fake it. Google’s guidelines don’t allow a profile at an address you rent only for mail, a “virtual office” or a P.O. box (Business Profile guidelines). Profiles like these get suspended.
- Service areas tell customers where you work. They don’t put your business on the map in those places. Google also advises keeping them within about two hours’ drive.
- Check your pin. When we filled in our own profile in October 2026, Google placed the pin at Mauli Jagran instead of our building in Industrial Area Phase 2. A pin in the wrong place affects which searches count you as “near”. Open your profile, look at the map and drag the pin onto your door if it’s wrong.
Relevance: the factor you control most
Relevance is about whether Google understands what you do. The most important setting is your primary category.
- Choose the category that matches what customers search for, not the broadest one. You can add secondary categories for other services.
- Categories differ by country. In India, for example, Google offers “Web Designer” but not “Website designer”. Type a few words and pick from the suggestions; you can’t invent a category.
- Fill in services and the description in the words customers use: “root canal treatment”, “GST registration”, “eCommerce website”, rather than a slogan.
- Your website counts too. A clear page for each main service, naming the areas you serve, helps Google match your profile to those searches. Link the profile to the most relevant page, and keep your name, address and phone number the same on the website and the profile.
Don’t add keywords or locations to your business name. Google’s guidelines say the name must match your real-world name and must not include service details or location details, unless they are genuinely part of your name. “Sharma Dental Clinic” is fine; “Sharma Dental Clinic Best Dentist Chandigarh” can get the profile suspended.
Prominence: reviews, links and mentions
Prominence is how well-known Google thinks you are. Google says it looks at information from across the web, including links to your business and your reviews, and that more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking.
Reviews
- Ask every customer, not only the happy ones. Google’s policy bans selectively asking for positive reviews, as well as discouraging negative ones (Google’s review policy).
- Never offer anything in return, such as a discount, a gift or a free service. That is banned too, and reviews obtained this way can be removed.
- Make it easy. Share your profile’s review link on WhatsApp right after the work is done, when the customer is happiest.
- Reply to every review, especially the critical ones. Calm, specific replies show future customers how you treat people.
Links and mentions
- List your business in the directories people in your city use, such as Justdial, Sulekha and IndiaMART, with exactly the same name, address and phone number as your profile.
- Get mentioned locally: trade and industry associations, the local market association, colleges you hire from, events you sponsor, and suppliers or clients who can link to you.
- Publish things worth linking to, such as guides, local data or tools. One genuine mention from a respected local site does more than dozens of low-quality directory listings.
What doesn’t work
| Tactic | Why it fails |
|---|---|
| Paying Google or an “insider” for a better map position | Google says there is no way to pay for local ranking |
| Keywords or city names in the business name | Against the guidelines; can lead to suspension |
| A profile at a virtual office or rented mailbox | Not eligible; profiles get suspended |
| Bought, fake or incentivised reviews | Against Google’s policy; reviews can be removed |
| Asking only happy customers for reviews | Selective soliciting is also against the policy |
| Several profiles for the same business at one address | Only one profile per real location is allowed |
How to see where you actually rank
Because results depend on where the searcher is, searching from your own office tells you very little.
- Search from different places: your phone while you are in Sector 17, Mohali or Zirakpur, or ask staff and friends who live there to send screenshots.
- Use the Performance section of your Business Profile. It shows how many people found you, which searches they used, and how many called, asked for directions or visited your website.
- Track the website side in Google Search Console and Analytics. Use a tracked link on your profile so visits from Maps appear separately.
- Optional: paid “local rank grid” tools show your position across a map of points, which makes the distance effect very clear.
A 30-day starting plan
| Week | What to do |
|---|---|
| 1 | Check the profile is verified, the pin is on your door and the primary category is right. Remove anything from the business name that isn’t your real name. |
| 2 | Complete services, description, hours, photos and the website link. Make sure your website has a page for each main service. |
| 3 | Ask every customer from the last three months for a review, without incentives. Reply to all existing reviews. |
| 4 | List the business on the main directories with identical details, and note which local organisations could mention you. |
Then keep going: new reviews every month, photos when something changes, and a look at the Performance numbers to see what is working.
If you haven’t set up your profile yet, start with our step-by-step Google Business Profile guide.
Want help getting into the map pack?
We work with businesses across Panchkula, Chandigarh, Mohali and Zirakpur on their Business Profile, website and reviews, and we report what changes in plain numbers. See our SEO services and local SEO packages.