When someone searches for a restaurant, a hotel or a service nearby, Google shows a map with three businesses above all the others. Getting into those three depends on how relevant your profile is, the distance, and the reputation Google recognizes in your business.
North team · Updated October 7, 2026 · 3 min read
How Google ranks local results
Factor
What it measures
What can be done
Relevance
How well your profile matches what is being searched
Exact primary category, secondary categories, services, menu and a description with the words your customers use
Distance
How close you are to the searcher or to the place they name
It can’t be changed. That is why the address has to be exact and the pin placed correctly
Prominence
How well known and well rated your business is
Number and rating of reviews, replies, mentions and links on other sites
These are the three factors Google publishes in its help article on local ranking, where prominence appears as "popularity".
What your profile needs
Exact primary category"Seafood restaurant" instead of "Restaurant"
Special hours enteredholidays and seasons; wrong hours mean a lost visit
Attributesterrace, reservations, pet friendly, vegan options, accessibility
Menu, services or roomswith prices when possible
Your own recent photosthe front so people recognize it on arrival, the interior, the dishes, the team
Website link with UTM and booking linkto separate what comes from the listing in Analytics
Posts with offers and eventswith a date and a button
The business’s real nameadding keywords to it goes against Google’s guidelines and can get the listing suspended
Methods
A review system within the rules
Ask every customer, at the same moment, with the direct link the Business Profile provides: a QR code on the bill or at check-out and a WhatsApp message the next day.
Google prohibits offering discounts in exchange for reviews and asking only happy customers. Reply to all of them, with the person’s name and a concrete detail of the visit.
Next-day messagetext
Hi Ana, thanks for having dinner at Casa Aurora yesterday.
Would you leave us a review on Google? It helps us a lot:
https://g.page/r/XXXXXXXX/review
Recommendation. Reply within 48 hours, to negative reviews too: people who read reviews look at how the business responds.
Measuring what the listing brings in
The Business Profile reports searches, calls, direction requests and website clicks. With a UTM on the website link, those visits are also separated in Analytics.
Outdated hours: the mistake that loses the most customers.
A category that is too general.
Old or poorly lit photos.
Negative reviews with no reply.
Case analysis
Kokono’: helping diners find you again
Kokono’ · San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas
The restaurant of Tsotsil chef Claudia Ruiz Sántiz reopened after the pandemic and used its Google profile to bring diners back. It is a story without figures, but it shows how an independent restaurant actually uses the tool.
What they did, step by step
Kept hours and news up to date on its Google profile.
Showed its cooking with photos.
Used the profile as the main point of contact for people looking for it.
"Essential tool"for bringing diners back, according to the restaurant
The mechanism
Business Profileindependent restaurant
Hours and updateskept current
Kitchen photosup to date
Dinersfind it and come back
Why it worked. People search on Google before going out to eat. Being well represented there means being part of the conversation.
There are ads on Maps, but the organic spot is earned with a complete profile, reviews and steady activity.
What happened to Google’s chat?
Google shut down Business Profile chat in July 2024. Today contact from the listing goes through a call, the website link or a booking link, so it is a good idea to have WhatsApp visible on the website.
Does having several listings help you show up more?
It goes against the guidelines: there should be one listing per real address where the public is served. Duplicate listings or listings with virtual addresses end up suspended.
Let’s start with a free diagnosis
30 minutes to see where your business is losing customers and what to do first. If you don’t see results in 30 days, we give your money back.
