When someone searches "electrician near me" or "best physio in Coquitlam," they rarely scroll past the map pack. The three businesses that show up in that box - with the star ratings, hours, and click-to-call buttons - capture the majority of clicks on that search.
Your website might be beautifully designed. If your Google Business Profile is incomplete or underoptimized, it doesn't matter. Most of your prospective customers will never get there.
How Local Search Actually Works
Local search results have two distinct components. The map pack - three businesses shown alongside a Google Map - appears above the organic results on most local queries. Below the map pack are traditional web results.
Most customers click on the map pack. For mobile searches on service-category terms - which is the majority of local service searches - the map pack results are often the only ones visible without scrolling. The businesses in that pack get the calls.
Getting into the map pack is determined by your Google Business Profile, not primarily by your website. Your GBP is the direct data source Google uses to populate those results - your category, your reviews, your hours, your location, your service area. A well-maintained GBP with strong review signals will rank above a competitor with a better website but a neglected profile.
What Actually Moves the Needle on Your GBP
Primary category. This is the single most important GBP field. Google uses your primary category to decide which searches your business is eligible for. "HVAC Contractor" and "Air Conditioning Contractor" return different results. "General Contractor" and "Plumber" return different results. If your primary category is too broad or slightly off, you're competing for the wrong searches.
Review count and recency. The businesses at the top of local map packs almost always have more reviews, more recent reviews, or both. Google uses this as a prominence signal. A business with 150 reviews and a 4.8 average, with consistent fresh reviews coming in, will outrank a business with 30 reviews and a 4.5 that hasn't gotten a new review in six months.
Photos. GBPs with more photos - real photos, not stock - get more engagement. Google tracks this engagement and factors it into ranking. A profile with recent photos of your team, your vehicles, your work, and your shop looks more active and more credible than one with two photos from three years ago.
Hours accuracy. Nothing erodes customer trust faster than showing up at a business that Google says is open and finding it closed. Inaccurate hours generate negative signals - customers report them to Google, they trigger complaints, and they signal to Google that the profile is unmanaged. Keep your hours current, including holidays and seasonal changes.
Questions and answers. The Q&A section of your GBP is visible to anyone searching for your business. Many businesses don't know it exists and have unanswered customer questions sitting there, sometimes for years. Seed the Q&A with questions your customers actually ask - and answer them - and you're adding relevant search content directly to your profile.
Weekly posts. Google Business Profile lets you post updates, offers, and events that appear in your listing. Most businesses never use this feature. A short weekly post - a completed job, a seasonal promotion, a team update - signals to Google that your profile is actively maintained, which is a positive ranking factor.
The One Metric That Matters Most
If you only look at one number on your GBP, look at your conversion rate - specifically, how many people who view your profile call, request directions, or visit your website.
Google's business profile insights show you impressions (how many people saw your profile in search results), clicks, calls, direction requests, and website visits. The ratio of impressions to calls tells you whether your profile is doing its job.
A high impression count with low conversions means people are seeing you but not choosing you. That's usually a review signal problem (low star rating, insufficient reviews, stale reviews) or a profile problem (no photos, missing information, wrong category).
A low impression count means you're not showing up in enough searches. That's a prominence problem - not enough reviews, not enough citations, profile not complete enough for Google to surface you confidently.
GBP and AI Search
Your Google Business Profile is also a primary source for AI search. When someone asks Google's AI Overviews or a conversational AI tool about local businesses in your category, your GBP data is one of the main signals they draw from.
A complete, active, well-reviewed GBP doesn't just help you rank in the map pack. It feeds the AI systems that are increasingly how people discover local businesses. The effort you put into your GBP compounds across both traditional and AI search.
Where Most Businesses Are Falling Short
The most common GBP gaps we see for BC local service businesses:
- Wrong or too-broad primary category
- Review count under 50, or no reviews in the last 90 days
- Missing or outdated service descriptions
- No photos added in the last year
- Hours not updated (especially statutory holidays)
- No responses to existing reviews (positive or negative)
- Q&A section with unanswered questions
Any one of these is a gap a competitor is likely filling. Together, they add up to a significant ranking disadvantage that a focused two-hour session could largely close.