Winning the map result

When somebody searches "dentist near me" or "ac repair faisalabad", Google shows a map with three businesses above the ordinary results. Those three get most of the clicks, and getting into them is what local search optimisation means.

The map results are ranked by three things.

Relevance. Does your listing match what they searched? Decided largely by your business category and the information in your profile.

Distance. How far you are from the searcher, or from the place they named. You cannot change this, and it is why a business in the wrong part of the city struggles for city wide terms and does well for its own area.

Prominence. How well known and well regarded you appear. Reviews, mentions elsewhere, and your general web presence.

Two of the three you can work on, and most local businesses in Pakistan have not worked on any of them.

Local search is the highest intent traffic there is. Somebody searching for a service with a place name is looking to buy now, usually today. Ranking here is worth more than ranking for general terms with far higher search volume.

The competition is usually weak. In most Pakistani cities, outside a few categories, competitors have an unclaimed listing, no reviews, wrong hours and no photographs. A business that does the basics properly can reach the top three within a few months, which is not true of most search optimisation.