How to Get Your Trade Business Into the Google Map Pack

When someone searches 'plumber Bath' or 'roofer near me', Google usually shows a map with three local businesses highlighted before any of the regular website results. That block of three is the Map Pack — and it gets the majority of clicks on the whole page.

If your business is in those three spots, your phone rings. If you're not, most people won't scroll down to find you — they'll just call one of the three businesses they can see. For tradespeople, the Map Pack is the difference between a steady stream of local enquiries and waiting for the phone to ring.

Google's local ranking algorithm comes down to three factors: relevance (does your business match what the person searched for?), distance (how close are you to the searcher?), and prominence (how credible and well-known is your business online?).

You can't control distance — you are where you are. But you can control relevance and prominence, and those two factors have the most room for improvement. That's where local SEO work goes.

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the foundation. Without a verified, well-optimised GBP, you won't appear in the Map Pack at all. Make sure you've chosen the right primary category (e.g. 'Plumber', not just 'Contractor'), listed all your services individually, written a clear business description that mentions your location and main services, and added real photos of your work.

Keep your profile active. Post updates every couple of weeks — a job completion photo, a seasonal tip, a new service. Google treats active profiles as more credible than ones that haven't been touched in months. It doesn't take long but it makes a genuine difference.

Reviews are the single biggest factor in Map Pack rankings after your GBP setup. The number of reviews matters, but so does the pace at which you collect them. A business that gets two or three new reviews a month signals to Google that it's actively trading and that customers are happy. A business that had 20 reviews two years ago and nothing since is less credible in Google's eyes.

Ask every customer for a review, right after the job. WhatsApp works well — copy your Google review link from your GBP dashboard, send it with a short message, and most happy customers will leave one. Respond to every review you receive, positive or negative. That engagement also factors into your ranking.

Your GBP and your website work together. If your website mentions the right services, uses the right location keywords, and loads quickly, it reinforces the signals you're sending through your GBP. A slow, generic website or one that doesn't mention Bath, Keynsham, or wherever you work will hold you back even if your GBP is strong.

You don't need a huge website. A fast, well-structured site with a page for each main service — 'boiler installation Bath', 'bathroom fitting Keynsham' — and clear local signals across each page can make a significant difference to your Map Pack position. It gives Google more to work with and more reasons to trust your business is genuinely local.

Citations are anywhere your business name, address, and phone number appear online — directories like Yell, Thomson Local, Checkatrade, TrustATrader, and dozens more. Google cross-references these to verify your business is real and that the information about you is consistent.

If your name is listed differently across different sites — slightly different phone number, old address, different business name format — it creates confusion and dilutes your credibility. A citation audit and cleanup, making sure every listing matches your GBP exactly, is one of the quickest wins in local SEO. It's unglamorous but it works.

Realistically, if your GBP is starting from scratch in a moderately competitive area like Bath, you're looking at two to four months before you see consistent Map Pack appearances. In lower-competition areas — Radstock, Midsomer Norton, Peasedown St John — it can happen faster. We've had clients in the BA3 postcode area ranking in the Map Pack within six to eight weeks.

The work is cumulative. Reviews build up over time. Citations get indexed over weeks. GBP signals compound. Starting now, even if you don't see results immediately, means you're in the running by the time your competition wakes up to the same idea. The tradespeople who rank well on Google in Bath started doing this work months or years ago — the sooner you start, the better your position.