How to rank higher on Google Maps in Australia

Google ranks Maps and local results mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, according to its own Business Profile help page. Each factor works differently, so it pays to know which ones you can move.

• Relevance: "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for". Your category, services and website wording should match what customers type, such as "blocked drain" rather than "drainage solutions".
• Distance: how far the business is from the searcher, or where Google thinks they are if their location isn't shared. You can't move your base, so accept this one.
• Prominence: "how well known a business is", which Google says is also based on how many websites link to the business and how many reviews it has.

No, Google's help page says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Ads can appear around map results, but they are labelled as ads and vanish when the budget stops.

Local Services Ads, Google's pay per lead format, are not offered in Australia either, so be wary of anyone offering to set them up here. With Google handling 87.9% of Australian searches and 97.6% of mobile searches in September 2026 (StatCounter), the free listing deserves your time.

Yes, Google says businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local results. Setup is covered in the Google Business Profile guide, so here are only the settings that shape ranking.

• Primary category set to your main money job, with extra categories only for work you really do.
• Every service listed in the words customers use, such as "switchboard upgrade".
• Up to 20 service areas by suburb or postcode, within about 2 hours of driving from your base. Google doesn't allow a radius.
• Hours that match when someone actually answers, and a local phone number, which Google prefers over a central call centre.
• Recent photos of real jobs, not stock images.

Reviews and links both feed prominence: Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking, and that prominence is also based on how many websites link to a business. Reviews then do the selling once you appear, so they pay twice.

Ask every customer, because Google's Maps policy bans incentives and selectively asking for positive reviews. Recency counts with buyers too, as 74% of US consumers in BrightLocal's 2026 survey looked for reviews from the last three months, and my post on getting more Google reviews without being annoying has wording you can copy.

Google also lists responding to reviews as a ranking tip. A short reply to each one shows the next customer you look after people, so they ring you instead of the listing below, so more work comes from your own profile, and you become the go to business in your area.

• Supplier links: "find an installer" pages and brand stockist lists.
• Partner links: builders, agents or strata managers who list their preferred trades.
• Community links: local clubs you sponsor and your chamber of commerce directory.

Suburb pages that funnel to one page, suburb lists, keyword stuffed business names and fake locations can all get a business into trouble, and each one is named in Google's policies. These are the four to avoid.

• Doorway pages: Google's own example of doorway abuse is pages "targeted at specific regions or cities that funnel users to one page", like thirty suburb pages with only the name swapped.
• Suburb lists: "Blocks of text that list cities and regions" are a listed example of keyword stuffing, so lose the long footer of suburbs.
• Business name stuffing: unnecessary information in the name "could result in the suspension" of a profile, so "Smith Electrical" is safe and "Smith Electrical 24/7 Emergency Wollongong" is not.
• Fake locations: virtual offices and PO boxes aren't eligible, and you shouldn't create more than one profile per location.

Fix relevance and complete info first, then build prominence, and measure before and after each change. The table turns Google's wording into jobs for this month.

Check from several points across your service area, because results change with the searcher's location and your phone only shows one spot. The free Google Maps rank checker does this and shows where you appear and where you drop out.

1. 1Pick your three most valuable searches, for example "emergency electrician Dapto".
2. 2Run them through the rank checker and save the results.
3. 3Make one change from the table, wait four weeks, then run the same searches again.