What Google Maps Can Do For You And What it Cant

Google Maps is popular with businesses as they see it as a clear win if they can be included in Google’s map pack, i.e., the top three companies in their location. Google’s Map Pack (also known as the Local 3-Pack) is triggered whenever a search query demonstrates explicit or implicit local intent. However whilst brilliant for simple local queries.

A point to remember: Google heavily prioritises the search user’s exact physical location at the moment of searching. A business can rank #1 in the Map Pack when searched from 500 meters away, but drop out entirely 2 miles down the road. Local SEO and Google Maps ranking are actually less about cities and towns and more about ranking across a proximity radius

1. Google Maps is great for implied or explicit search
2. Maps is terrible for information queries, the hows and what-type questions; search results have no local bias.
3. If your business is in finance, legal or medical/health, you could struggle.
4. Complex queries (read long) cannot be understood in a local context by Google, and no Google Maps are triggered

What searches trigger Google Maps to be included in a search result

Keyword intent types that Google Maps give an advantage to businesses that rank highly 

Explicit LOCAL intent

1. Keyword + location. If you add a town, city, or country, then Google Maps will most often be included in a search result.
2. Long tail Search: Even if you add modifiers or make a longer search like hire a marquee from a Surrey company, the Map will still appear.
3. Postcodes are treated the same as locations, as is North, South, East and West [location].
4. Near Me Searches will give Map results. But so will variations of near me like local, closest, in my area, closeby, in the vicinity, etc.
5. Not on mobiles, Google does give a 2-pack (duopolies), not a three-pack and can offer 5 packs (extended back.
6. Hotels and restaurants are often shown in various map packs.

Implicit LOCAL intent

This is where location is implied, i.e., when you would not want to hire a company far from your location, ideally, or when you have to visit a company’s premises. This is where Google is a little out of date

1. Anything Emergency. Emergency (which includes words like fast, same name and now) is an example of implied local intent, as you want someone to help who works locally.
2. Teeth whitening and facial aesthetics also trigger Google Maps, since you would likely have to visit premises to receive treatment and would therefore be interested in nearby clinics.
3. Works like ‘consultation’ or ‘assessment’, including ‘initial meetings’, would also trigger Google Maps for the same reasons.
4. Anything that has the appendage added to the keyword, like ‘at home’ or ‘home visit’, would show Maps in search results.

Transaction Searches

1. Google Maps can also appear when using transaction intent, ie buy now, best, 24/7, with the most reviews added to your keyword. Here again, Google reads your intent is to engage a local company.

Why you might find your business does not appear ranked highly or even in Google Maps

The Rise of “Justifications”: This is a new introduction where Google chooses who should rank in its Map Pack by citing information about a website. You can see small extracts under listing that say “this website mentions complete new kitchens or this company offers quotes in under an hour. This can also include information from Google reviews (Review Justifications: “Mentioned ‘fair price’ in a review”) or even from a post added to your Google Profile account.

Another reason could be that your local SEO pages are out of date and your claims to your own location are misoptimised. Proximity is Shrinking: The proximity radius is tighter than ever. Optimisation can no longer rely solely on city-level keywords; localised entity signals (hyper-local landmarks, structured FAQs, and schema markup) are essential to maintain visibility outside an immediate 1-mile radius.

How Google Maps cannot help your business

When Map Packs Do Not Trigger

1. ‘How-to’ questions: Google Maps will never appear in informational searches. This includes how to do a brow lift, how to get white teeth or how to choose a builder.
2. ‘What is’ type queries: how to build an SEO strategy. Google is unable to match this search to a local company near you. (how to fix a leaking tap?).
3. Nationwide searches: When a search includes words like online, eg buy dental hygiene products online.
4. Comparisons & Research: Eg veneers or composite bonding, zin roofs or slate. Again, Google cannot choose content to show in its index with a local slant.
5. Physical deliverable: Any search that includes free delivery, or fast delivery implies the supplier could be based anywhere in the UK.
6. SaaS & Digital: This also implies a downloadable product (or computer part, strangely). These again do not need to be close-by suppliers.
7. Remote / Non-Local Services: If you use the words ‘remote’, ‘virtual’ and ‘freelancer in your search, then this implies that you are prepared to forgo local. Again, this is heavily biased towards digital, so freelance copywriter is map-free, but freelance plumber (if there is such a thing) shows the map back.
8. National Corporation HQ/Corporate Queries: An obvious one, search for BBC, Amazon etc and you will not see a map in sight
9. Cost and Prices: Google Maps are triggered if the work cost is used with a location in the search, but not if there isn’t. So Family Solicitor cost Guildford = Maps, Family Solicitor cost NO Map. This is unfortunate, as keyword +cost is a high-converting keyword

Searches that could be clients that don’t trigger maps

1. Broad Single-Word Queries: Anything like SEO, law and health do not show Maps.
2. Ambiguous Terms: This is where is can get tricky, an example is apple (is it to eat or to call on)
3. Health and Financial: This is where Google’s E-E-A-T and YMYL come to play. If Google believes you are asking a medical question like ‘signs of gum disease’ or ‘drooping eyelids’, Google will favour health websites like the NHS over a local provider. The same is for financial sites; the FIA will always rank above a local financial adviser. The idea is to protect users wanting advice by prioritising high-authority medical databases or government sites. So searches like ‘how to get a mortgage’ will not trigger your local lender! For high-value, industries like legal, financial, or medical, relying strictly on local map packs will leave significant mid-to-top funnel traffic on the table.
4. Legal / Rights Research: This is the same in ‘Law’; ‘what is tenant rights law?’ type searches will not give you a local property solicitor. In fact, any keyword with the appendage ‘law’ will not show the map pack.
5. Long-tailed search: The longer the search, the more likely Google Maps is not going to appear. Eg accountant for small business for VAT and annual returns = no Maps.

AI and the death of Google Maps

Emerging Factor: The AI Overview Replacement

1. Gemini, Google’s AI, trumps Google Maps; it appears above Google Maps and often gives completely contradictory advice. So the best solicitor, which should trigger Maps, is answered by AI and does not list all three companies that would have appeared in the Map pack. Although Google’s AI Overviews routinely synthesise data from GBP, I don’t believe Gemini is remotely Map Pack friendly.
2. AI is the birth of super-long-tail searches. (Now called COMPLEX SEARCH) Where Google Maps is triggered by ‘plumber Weybridge’, a complex search which AI’s conversational style encourages, “like plumber required to install a new Ikea kitchen” results in NO MAPs.
3. It is not all doom and gloom though. ChatGPT can read Google Maps data when it is asked a local question.

Google Maps is not for everyone, nor is it the golden bullet to success

Businesses that can find Google Maps unhelpful

1. Large businesses operating at the national level might find Maps less effective.
2. Companies that are larger, for example, a construction company rather than a builder.
3. Businesses that do not or cannot relate to Google My Profiles’ exact match categories. E.g. businesses that cannot categorise themselves in food and drink, lodging and travel, professional services, shopping, health and wellness, automotive, education and entertainment. There are 4,000 to choose from!

Summary

It is clear that Google Maps is an excellent way for some businesses to generate new clients. This blog shows that, to attract more customers higher up in the sales funnel, i.e., researching the how-tos and the whys, companies would benefit from adding this type of content to their blog strategy. As AI encourages more complex searches, Google Maps will struggle to keep up, forcing companies to revisit their content plans and adjust their content to be more inclusive of longer-tail searches.

That is a hard one, but many of these additions to the usual Google search can be guessed. For a dentist, for example, it is all about parking, same-day appointments, with good reviews, with finance. Every industry has its own nuances, and these need to be worked into your content. See copywriting.

If you would like Vanilla Circus to help your company benefit from all the traffic Google Maps can provide and ways to future-proof your content and blogs for AI questions, please click here.

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