How to Get Into the Google Maps 3-Pack: A Plain Guide for Greater Manchester Trades

The 3-pack (or map pack) is the map and three business listings that show for local searches like “electrician Rochdale”. Click “More places” for the full list.

People lean on reviews. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 adults (a large US survey, not a UK one), 97% read reviews for local businesses and 85% said positive reviews made them more likely to use one.

Can you pay to get in?

Not into the free three. Google says: “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.” It does sell ads, but that’s separate.

Google’s help page says local results are “mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity”, and calls the third one prominence. It explains them like this:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches the search. Complete, detailed info helps.
• Distance: how far you are from the person searching.
• Prominence: how well known you are, including how many websites link to you and how many reviews you have. Google says “More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking.”

What the experts rank highest

Whitespark’s 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors is a survey of local search experts, not Google’s own weights. For the map pack, the top are: primary category (first), distance from the searcher (second), keywords in the business name (third), a physical address in the city searched (fourth) and being open when someone searches (fifth). High star ratings are sixth, an address showing on the profile seventh, and recent reviews eleventh.

Distance and where you’re based matter a lot, and you can’t change either. Most of the rest you can.

If you work from home and go to customers, Google says to remove your address and set service areas instead. Its own example is a plumber working from home. You can set up to 20 service areas, by town or postcode, within about two hours’ driving time of your base.

That doesn’t fix distance. People who do local search work every day report that Google still uses the address you verified with, so you show best near home, and 20 towns don’t make you show in all of them. That’s their experience, not Google’s statement.

Pick the towns you genuinely work in. A page on your own website for each area helps show you cover it. See how I do town pages for Rochdale, Bury and Middleton.

1. Get verified and fill in every box

Google says verifying makes your profile “more likely to show up in search results”, and businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up. Fill in your hours (including special opening hours), phone, website and description. The steps are in my Google Business Profile guide.

Check: is anything blank?

2. Get your primary category exactly right

Choose the most specific match, so “Electrician” rather than something general. Google says to choose “the fewest number of categories” that describe your core business. Whitespark’s experts rank the primary category first. Add another only if it’s a real part of what you do.

3. Use your real business name, nothing added

Keywords in the name are third on Whitespark’s list, which may be why you see stuffed names. Don’t copy them. Google says unnecessary information in your name “isn’t permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile”. “Smith Plumbing” is fine. “Smith Plumbing Emergency Plumber Rochdale 24/7” isn’t (made-up examples). Put services in step 4 instead.

4. Fill in Services

Add Google’s pre-set services for your category, then your own in plain words, such as “Combi boiler installation”. Whitespark says pre-set services sat at 81st in its 2023 survey and came in at 22nd in 2026.

5. Get a steady stream of real reviews, and reply to all of them

Ask every customer, the same way, at the end of every job, by text or email with your review link. Steady beats bursts: Whitespark’s experts put a sustained flow of reviews 14th. Google says “When you reply to customer reviews, it shows that you value their feedback.” In BrightLocal’s US survey, 89% expected the owner to reply.

If you’ve got past customers’ emails, a free email account (up to 500 contacts) lets you send one short “how did we do?” email with your review link to all of them at once. Send it to all of them, not just the ones you think were happy, and only email people who’ve given you their email as customers. Check the limits first: GetResponse (affiliate link).

The rules, briefly. Google’s Maps policy says merchants can’t offer incentives such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, and can’t “discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews”. It also treats family or staff reviews as a conflict of interest. In the UK, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act bans submitting, or commissioning someone else to submit, a fake review or one that conceals it was incentivised. It applies from 6 April 2025, and the CMA published its guidance (CMA208) on 4 April 2025.

Check: have you asked your last five customers?

6. Add real photos, and keep the profile alive

Google says photos and videos “show customers what you offer and tell the story of your business”. Use your van, team and finished jobs, and add an update after a good one.

Keep your hours right, too: Whitespark’s experts put being open at the time of search fifth. If you take emergency calls, set hours that match when you really answer, then answer. Missed a call up a roof? I set up simple automations for local businesses, and my automations page has the details.

Check: are your bank holiday hours right?

7. Make your website back up your profile

Your name, address or area and phone number (NAP) should match exactly on your website and your profile. Whitespark’s experts put that 15th, a page for each service 24th and local keywords in your content 18th. So say what you do and which towns you cover, in plain words, on the page your profile links to.

Prominence also counts websites linking to you. Chase local links: your trade body, a supplier’s “find an installer” page, a club you sponsor. My websites and SEO pages show how I help. Wondering what a site costs? Here’s an honest price guide.

Check: does the page your profile links to say what you do and where?

You’ll see them: stuffed names, fake addresses, one business with several listings. Google Maps lets you suggest an edit or report a listing. Stick to facts, and don’t report a rival just for being a rival. Whitespark’s experts put removal of spam listings 19th.

Searching on your own phone at home is misleading, because you’re right next to your base. Search your main service plus a town from a few places you cover, in a private window, or ask a mate in Bury or Rochdale for a screenshot. Check the same three searches monthly and note where you are. Changes take weeks, not days.

• Send review requests and reply to every review
• Add two new photos and post one update
• Check your hours, especially bank holidays and Christmas
• Chase one new local link
• Check your same three searches

I’m James, a local business owner in Heywood. If you’d rather someone just looked at your Google profile and told you straight what to fix, drop me a message.

Want to see where you actually show up on Google Maps from the towns round you? My free personalised Google report is free until 1 November 2026.

Thanks,
James Gonzo