Google says it ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence, and that "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." For a contractor who works from home or a yard, a Google Business Profile usually does best near its base, and the towns further out are harder. What you control is the profile itself, and Google says "Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results."
Every rule below is quoted from Google's help pages, read on 8 November 2026. We sell a Local plan at CA$300 a month plus HST that includes Google Business Profile management, so we have an interest here. Nothing below is a promise of a ranking.
How does Google decide who shows up in the map pack?
The map pack is the map with three businesses that Google shows above the ordinary list of websites for a search like "roofer Whitby". Google's page Tips to improve your local ranking defines its three factors:
- "Relevance is how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for."
- "Distance refers to how far each business is from the customer who's searching."
- "Prominence means how well-known a business is."
It adds: "If a customer doesn't share where they are, Google uses what it knows about their location." The rest it keeps "confidential".
The most cited outside view is Whitespark's Local Search Ranking Factors 2026, published 6 November 2025. It is an opinion survey of 47 local search practitioners, and its author notes that "None of the experts have special access to the internal workings of Google's local search algorithm." In the survey's map pack ranking, "Primary GBP Category" comes first and "Proximity of Address to the Point of Search (Searcher-Business Distance)" second, which is Google's distance factor in other words.
Why do I show up in my own town but not the next one over?
Distance is the usual reason, though a competitor with a real office in the next town, or many more reviews, can also beat you there. A business that works from home still has one base that Google verified, and Google measures from there.
Most trades are what Google calls a service-area business: you go to the customer rather than the customer coming to you. Google's guidelines for representing your business say "If you're a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers." Hiding it doesn't move the base, so a renovator in Ajax competes hardest around Ajax, and a homeowner in Uxbridge tends to see firms based nearer. That's our reading of the distance factor, not Google's words.
Don't try to get around it. Google says a virtual office means "that location isn't eligible for a Business Profile". "There should only be one profile per business", so a second profile is only for a real second location. Where you serve customers at an address, Google says the location "should be staffed by your team and able to receive customers during its stated hours."
How many towns can I list, and how far out?
Google's service areas page says "You can set up to 20 service areas based on the cities, postal codes, or other areas you serve" and "The boundaries of your overall area shouldn't be more than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based." You can't draw a radius; you list places.
As for what the list does, Google says "When you set your service area, it helps people find your Business Profile." It doesn't say service areas raise your ranking, so keep the list accurate for customers rather than treating it as a lever. And a service area is only a name on a list. It can't tell a homeowner in Pickering anything about working in Pickering. Your website can.
What should my website's town pages do?
A town page tells homeowners in that town what you do there: the permits their town asks for, the jobs you've finished nearby, how far you travel. No Google page we read says town pages lift a profile in the map pack, and we won't claim they do.
A good town page carries facts that apply to that town and no other. The same text with the town name swapped gives a homeowner nothing.
Jarvis Contracting, an Ajax design-build renovator we built a site for, shows one way to lay this out. When we looked on 8 November 2026, its areas page listed eight Durham Region towns (Ajax, Brock, Clarington, Oshawa, Pickering, Scugog, Uxbridge and Whitby), each linking to its own page, plus a regional guide. The areas page describes the town pages as "each with the permit facts, fees and charges and the nearest finished jobs."
What can I put in my business name and categories?
Google wants your real business name and nothing added to it. Its guidelines say a name must not include marketing taglines, service or product information, or location information, among other things, and "Including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile."
Here the experts and Google disagree openly. The survey ranks "Keywords in GBP Business Title" third for the map pack, because a name like "Smith Roofing Whitby Roof Repair" seems to work. We follow Google, because the profile and its reviews take years to build and any competitor can report a stuffed name. If your name already contains your trade, such as "Smith Roofing Ltd.", use it. Registering a keyword name to make it "real" is a workaround we wouldn't rely on.
If your profile name carries extra words now, fix it with care. Google's verification page says that while a code is on its way, "Do not edit your business name, address, or category on your Business Profile," because "If you do, the code we sent you won't work." Make the change when no verification is pending, change that one field, and expect Google may ask you to verify again.
On categories, Google says "Use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business from the provided list" and "Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business." Pick the primary category for the search you most want to appear for, usually your main source of revenue, and add only secondary categories that are real parts of the business.
How do reviews affect ranking, and what is not allowed?
Google says "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking," and the survey's map pack ranking puts high ratings sixth and the number of text reviews ninth. Google's prohibited content policy bans:
- Incentives "such as payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" for posting any review. A gift card draw counts.
- Gating: you may not "Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers". Sending your link only to the happy customers is gating.
- "Merchants requesting that staff solicit a certain number of reviews", such as a monthly quota for your site supervisors.
- Conflicts of interest, which "may include current or former employment, a contractual or consultory relationship, or other professional or personal affiliations", with competitors and family given as examples. That means no reviews from staff, subcontractors, suppliers or relatives, and no posting on "a competitor's place or business to undermine" it.
The safe way to ask: when a job is finished, send every customer the same short message with your review link, whether it went perfectly or not, and offer nothing for it. Reply to reviews in your own words; replies are public.
If someone who was never a customer leaves you one star, report the review. If Google decides it "doesn't violate Google Policies", its appeals page says "you can submit a one-time appeal" through the Reviews management tool.
Is it illegal in Canada to post fake reviews or have staff review you?
It can be, and Canada's rule is not Google's rule. According to a summary by Norton Rose Fulbright, the Competition Bureau warned businesses on 18 January 2024 about employee reviews, and said businesses should watch for reviews from their employees that don't properly disclose the connection.
Google is stricter, because its conflict-of-interest rule above covers current and former staff and makes no exception for reviews that disclose the connection. If your apprentice left you five stars, ask him to delete it.
The same summary, written in January 2024, gave the ceilings at that time under the Competition Act's civil deceptive marketing rules: up to the greater of $10 million ($15 million for each later violation) or three times the benefit, or 3% of annual worldwide gross revenues if the benefit couldn't be worked out. Parliament amended the Act in June 2024, so check the current figures with a lawyer. The criminal misleading advertising provision allows up to 14 years in jail for individuals. All of these are maximums, not typical fines.
Why did my profile get suspended, and how do I get it back?
For a contractor, the usual causes are the ones above: a home address showing, a virtual office or mailbox address, services or towns in the name, a second profile, or a phone number the business doesn't control. Practitioners also report suspensions soon after a change to the name, address or category.
Fix the cause before you appeal. Google's appeals page says "Appeals can only be submitted once" and decisions "can take up to 5 business days." In the appeals tool, add evidence and a short explanation. Google lists business registration, a business licence, tax certificates and utility bills, and asks you to "make sure the business name and address match the details on your Business Profile." For an Ontario firm that might be a Master Business Licence (sole proprietors and partnerships) or articles of incorporation, an HST registration letter, or a utility bill in the business name. None of these guarantees reinstatement.
Google also says "Do not create a new Business Profile for the same business." For rejected edits and other content restrictions, though not in its suspension steps, the page adds: "If our initial reply doesn't fix your issue, respond to the email and our support team will assist with your appeal." Whatever the decision, don't start over with a new profile.
For verification, Google picks which methods you're offered and says "If your business is eligible for video verification, we recommend that you use this option." On a live video call you show your signs, your equipment and proof that you run the business, which for a home-based trade usually means the truck, the tools and the papers. Verification reviews take up to 5 business days. If you move your base, you'll be changing your address, one of the fields Google says not to edit while a code is on its way.
Why are my reviews missing or not showing up?
Google names two causes: it removes reviews that break its policy, and it can restrict a whole profile. Its restrictions page says, in Google's own wording, that after fake-review violations a profile "will not be able to receive new reviews or ratings for set period of time", and its "existing reviews or ratings will be unpublished for set period of time". Google emails the owner first, so if a batch vanished at once, look for that email.
One real review going missing is different, and Google doesn't document it. The cause practitioners report most is the automatic spam filter, which often catches reviews from new accounts or ones written on the business's own wifi or tablet. Ask the customer whether they can still see it when signed in; if they can and nobody else can, it was filtered.
Should an Ontario trade pay for Local Services Ads instead?
Run them alongside the profile, if your trade qualifies. They are paid ads, and since Google says you can't pay for a better local ranking, they don't change where your profile sits in the map pack.
Google's Canada getting started page lists 16 categories, including electricians, HVAC, plumbers and roofers. General contractor is on the United States list but not Canada's, so a design-build renovator may not qualify. Run Google's eligibility check with your trade and postal code.
You "only pay when a customer gets in touch from your ad." We haven't checked Ontario lead costs. Google's Google Verified badge page says it is launching "a single badge for all advertisers" and "will be discontinuing the Money Back Guarantee associated with the Google Guarantee badge"; reimbursement covers only services booked before 7 December 2025. The Canada page says the badge means a business "has passed Google's proprietary screening process", and lists among its requirements that you "Acknowledge possession of all appropriate business licenses."
What should I check on my profile this month?
- The name is your real business name, with no services or towns added.
- The primary category describes your core business.
- The phone rings the business, which Google says must be "under the direct control of the business". If you use a call-tracking number, own it.
- Your name and phone number are identical on your site, the profile and every listing. If you work from home and hide your address on Google, don't publish it on your site either. If the profile shows an address, match it exactly (schema markup here).
- The website link goes to your home page or main service page.
- You are the primary owner. Google's owners and managers page says managers "can't add or remove users or remove the profile," so add anyone you hire as a manager, not an owner.
- Every customer gets the same review request, with no reward and no filter.
- If your profile still shows Q&A, answer the questions. Search Engine Roundtable reported on 15 December 2025 that Google has started replacing Q&A in Maps with an AI feature in some regions, and that owners "can continue to answer existing questions".
- Your registration, licence, tax papers and a utility bill are filed and ready.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your website, our free audit checks how fast it loads and whether Google and AI tools can read your pages.
How did we check this?
We read each Google page linked above on 8 November 2026. Their wording changes, so check before acting on a rule. Whitespark's ranks are from its 2026 survey's map pack ranking. The law section relies on Norton Rose Fulbright's summary, not the Act, and doesn't cover Ontario's consumer protection rules. We'll check again when Whitespark publishes its next edition or Google changes its rules.