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If you’ve ever searched for a service like yours on Google and thought, “Why are they showing up but I’m not?” — you’re not alone.
This is one of the most common frustrations I hear from small business owners. You’ve got a real business. Real customers. A real website. Yet when someone nearby searches, you’re nowhere to be seen.
Let’s clear the fog.
What Is the “Local 3-Pack”?
When you search for something like “plumber near me” or “Sunshine Coast web designer”, Google often shows a map with three local businesses listed underneath.
That section is called the Local 3-Pack.
It’s prime digital real estate.
It sits above most websites.
And it’s where calls, directions, and bookings actually happen.
If you’re not in that map section, you’re competing for scraps further down the page.
How Google Decides Who Shows Up There
Google doesn’t randomly choose businesses. It looks at three main things:
1. Relevance
Does your business clearly match what the person searched for?
If Google can’t confidently tell what you do, it won’t show you — even if you’re nearby.
This comes down to:
- Your business category
- Your services
- Your descriptions
- Your website content backing it all up
2. Distance
How close are you to the person searching?
You can’t control this entirely, but you can make sure Google understands where you actually operate.
Many businesses accidentally sabotage themselves here (we’ll get to that).
3. Prominence
How established and trustworthy does your business appear?
This includes:
- Reviews (quality and consistency matter more than raw numbers)
- How complete your business profile is
- Mentions of your business elsewhere online
- A website that doesn’t look abandoned or broken
Google is cautious. It prefers businesses that look real, active, and reliable.
Why Your Google Business Profile Is Non-Negotiable
If you want to appear on Google Maps, you must have a properly set up Google Business Profile.
Not “sort of set up”.
Not “I claimed it years ago”.
Properly set up.
This profile is what feeds Google Maps. Your website supports it — but the profile itself is the foundation.
Without it:
- You won’t appear in the map pack
- You won’t get map directions
- You’ll struggle to appear locally at all
Why Most Businesses Think They’ve Done This Right — and Haven’t
This is the uncomfortable part.
Most businesses who say “I’ve already done that” actually haven’t — not in a way Google trusts.
Common problems I see every week:
- Wrong primary category (or a vague one)
- An address shown when it shouldn’t be
- A service-area business pretending to be a storefront
- Profiles missing key details Google expects
- Old info that quietly contradicts the website
- A profile created years ago and never touched again
None of these look dramatic.
But each one can quietly disqualify you from the map pack.
Google doesn’t warn you. It just stops showing you.
The Quiet Truth About Local Visibility
Here’s the part nobody tells you:
If your business should be showing up locally but isn’t, something is misconfigured.
It’s rarely about:
- “Google hates my business”
- “The market is too competitive”
- “SEO takes years”
Most of the time, it’s a fixable mismatch between:
- How your business actually operates
and - How Google thinks it operates
Once those line up, visibility often improves far faster than people expect.
What to Do Next
If you’re not appearing on Google Maps and you know customers are searching for what you offer, don’t guess. Don’t randomly tweak things. And definitely don’t let well-meaning helpers “have a play”. Let someone who knows Local SEO inside out to get you up and going without the fuss.
Start by understanding:
- Whether your address or service area is correct
- Whether Google understands what you actually do
That distinction alone solves more local visibility issues than any “SEO trick”.
In the next post, we’ll break down one of the biggest causes of invisibility:
Using the wrong business address type — and why it quietly breaks Google Maps rankings.
If you’d like help setting your Google Business Profile up properly (and making sure it matches what Google thinks you do), I can help via Local SEO.