If your business isn't appearing in Google's local map pack, you're handing free customers to your competitors every single day.

The map pack is the cluster of three local businesses that appears near the top of Google search results, sitting above the standard organic listings. Research consistently shows these three spots capture around 70% of all clicks and calls from local searches. The businesses paying for Google Ads above them? They're spending £20 to £50 or more per click for the privilege.

Ranking in the map pack costs nothing. Getting there requires knowing exactly what Google is looking for, and making sure your Google Business Profile (GBP) delivers it.

This guide walks you through every optimisation step, from initial setup to the finer details that most business owners overlook entirely.

Why the Map Pack Matters More Than Paid Ads

Consider a solar panel installation company spending £5,000 to £10,000 a month on Google Ads. Every time someone clicks their listing, money leaves their account. Now consider the solar installer sitting just below those ads in the map pack, paying nothing per click, receiving a comparable volume of enquiries, and keeping every penny of margin.

The map pack is driven primarily by your Google Business Profile: how complete it is, how many reviews you have, how active the profile looks, and how well your website backs it up. These are all factors within your control, and they compound over time.

Step 1: Setting Up the Foundation Correctly

Business name and category

If your business name naturally includes your primary service, such as "Midlands Solar Installations" or "Birmingham Solar Panel Services," that is a genuine advantage. Google treats keywords in your business name as a relevance signal. If your trading name doesn't currently reflect your service, it is worth exploring whether a legitimate DBA (Doing Business As) registration could allow you to update it.

When selecting your business category, choose the most accurate primary category and then add every relevant secondary category available. A solar panel installer, for example, might also add "Renewable Energy Company" or "Electrician." The broader your category footprint, the wider the range of searches you can appear for.

Address vs service area

Businesses with a verified physical address consistently rank more easily than service area businesses, which display only as a radius on the map. If you have a registered address, even a home address used for correspondence, get it verified. For service area businesses, the process is more challenging but still very achievable with the right approach.

Phone number and contact details

Use a local area code where possible. It reinforces geographic relevance. If you have a number that accepts text messages, add that too. Every contact option you provide reduces friction for potential customers.

Step 1 summary

• Include your primary service keyword in your business name if possible

• Select one accurate primary category and add all relevant secondary categories

• Verify a physical address if you have one, even a home address

• Use a local area code phone number and enable text if available

Step 2: Fill Out Every Section of Your Profile

Completeness is a confirmed ranking factor. Google rewards profiles that are fully filled out because they signal a legitimate, active business. Go through every available field.

Opening date

Set this as far back as accurately possible. Google pulls this into your listing and displays "X years in business," which builds immediate trust with searchers. A solar installation company with 10 years of experience looks very different to one with 10 months.

Social media profiles

Add every relevant profile you have: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn. This isn't just about visibility on those platforms. Google uses the presence of linked social profiles as a legitimacy signal. More profiles mean a more credible business in Google's eyes.

Attributes

Work through the attributes section and select everything that accurately applies: whether you offer online quotes, your accessibility features, ownership identifiers, language options, and communication preferences.

Special hours

Update these quarterly for bank holidays and seasonal closures. It signals to Google that someone is actively managing the profile, which matters.

Step 2 summary

• Set your opening date as far back as accurately possible

• Link every social media profile you have

• Work through the attributes section and select everything that applies

• Update special hours quarterly for bank holidays and closures

Step 3: Get Your Opening Hours Right

This is one of the most commonly overlooked ranking factors, and it costs businesses a significant number of leads.

If your listed hours are 9am to 5pm, you are essentially invisible to anyone searching outside of those times, and those people are often the most motivated buyers. Someone looking into solar panels at 7pm after seeing their energy bill has real intent. If your profile says you're closed, Google will deprioritise showing you to them.

Extending your hours to something like 6am to 10pm, if that genuinely reflects your availability for enquiries, can meaningfully improve your visibility during high-intent search windows. For service businesses where customers don't visit your premises, there is considerable flexibility here. The goal is accurate hours that reflect when you are actually reachable, not artificially inflated ones that lead to poor customer experiences.

Step 3 summary

• Extend hours beyond the standard 9am to 5pm to capture high-intent evening searches

• Aim for something like 6am to 10pm if it genuinely reflects your availability

• Avoid claiming 24 hours unless it is accurate

Step 4: Services, Products, and Descriptions

Services

Add every service relevant to your business. Use a tool like Claude or ChatGPT to generate a comprehensive list of 50 or more services, then add them individually through your profile. Where Google doesn't offer a pre-set option, create a custom service. Each service entry should include an SEO-optimised description: a concise, keyword-informed paragraph explaining what the service involves.

Including location-specific terms within service names, such as "Birmingham solar panel installation," can provide a modest but measurable ranking benefit.

Products

Treat the products section as an extension of your services. A solar installation business might add "Residential Solar Panels," "Commercial Solar Installation," "Battery Storage Systems," and "Solar Panel Maintenance" as individual product entries. Each one should link directly to the relevant page on your website and include a real photograph where possible.

For businesses targeting multiple locations, you can create location-specific product entries, such as "Solar Panel Installation in Coventry" or "Solar Installation in Solihull," each linking to a dedicated landing page. This is a more advanced tactic but one that delivers genuine results.

Step 4 summary

• Use AI tools to build a list of 50 or more relevant services and add them all

• Write an SEO-optimised description for each service entry

• Add products that mirror your services and link each to its dedicated website page

• Create location-specific product entries if you target multiple areas

Step 5: Images and Posts

Images

Upload real photographs. Google is increasingly effective at identifying AI-generated images, and consumers are too. Stock imagery and AI visuals reduce trust and reduce the number of people who actually call you after finding your profile.

Upload photos of your team, completed installations, your premises if applicable, and your equipment on-site. Aim to add new images consistently over time rather than uploading everything at once and going quiet.

Posts

Posting to your Google Business Profile works similarly to posting on a social media page. It isn't a major direct ranking factor, but it signals activity to Google and provides additional content for searchers who find your profile. Offers and promotions posted through GBP tend to perform better than standard updates. A consistent cadence, even fortnightly, is more valuable than sporadic bursts.

Step 5 summary

• Upload real photos of your team, completed work, and equipment

• Add new images consistently rather than in one batch

• Post to your profile at least fortnightly, prioritising offers and promotions

Step 6: The Website Behind the Profile

Your Google Business Profile landing page is the page users reach when they click your website link from the profile. It is one of Google's primary signals for determining what to rank your business for. A poorly optimised landing page limits how high you can realistically rank, regardless of how good your profile is.

Title tag

Include your primary service and your primary service area. "Apex Solar -- Solar Panel Installation in Birmingham" is meaningfully better than "Apex Solar -- Home."

H1 heading

Your main page heading should clearly state what you do and where. "Solar Panel Installation in Birmingham and the West Midlands" gives Google's crawlers exactly what they need. The H1 doesn't have to be the largest visual element on the page. It just needs to be correctly tagged in the HTML.

Heading structure

Use a single H1, followed by H2s for major sections, and H3s within those sections. Avoid multiple H1s and avoid skipping heading levels.

Content volume

Pages with very little text give Google very little to work with. Your landing page should include substantive written content about your services, your area, and your expertise. Thin pages consistently underperform against content-rich ones.

Service-specific pages

If your website has individual pages for each service, link those pages from your GBP product and service entries. This creates a coherent signal: your profile says you offer a service, and your website backs it up with a dedicated page.

Step 6 summary

• Title tag should include your service and location

• H1 heading should clearly state what you do and where

• Use a proper heading hierarchy: one H1, then H2s and H3s

• Write substantive content on your landing page -- thin pages underperform

• Link each service page directly from the relevant GBP product entry

Step 7: Reviews

No amount of profile optimisation compensates for a lack of reviews. Reviews are one of the most significant ranking factors in local search, and they are also the primary conversion factor -- the thing that determines whether a searcher calls you or the solar installer next to you.

A consistent, systematic approach to requesting reviews from satisfied customers is not optional if you want to compete seriously in local search. The businesses at the top of the map pack in any competitive category almost invariably have significantly more reviews than those below them.

Responding to every review, positive and negative, is worth doing. It demonstrates professionalism to prospective customers reading your profile and shows Google the profile is actively managed.

Step 7 summary

• Build a consistent system for requesting reviews from every satisfied customer

• Respond to every review, positive and negative

• Treat review volume as an ongoing priority, not a one-time task

The Compounding Effect

Each of these steps delivers incremental benefit. The real value comes from doing all of them together and maintaining them consistently over time.

A fully optimised profile with strong reviews, a well-structured website, and regular activity compounds into a significant competitive advantage -- one that becomes harder for less diligent competitors to close. This is not a one-time project. It is an ongoing system, and the businesses that treat it as such are the ones that hold those map pack positions month after month and year after year.

Want to Know Where Your Profile Stands?

At Orvanti, we carry out detailed Google Business Profile audits for local businesses, identifying exactly what's holding your profile back and mapping out what it would take to move you into a stronger position on Google.

If you'd like a free audit and a clear picture of what's possible for your business, get in touch with our team and we'll take a look.