It’s frustrating. Your business exists. It’s been around for years. But when someone searches for your industry in your area, you don’t show up in the Local Pack — the three profiles under Google Maps. Competitors show. You don’t.

There are five common causes. Most local businesses that “don’t show up” have at least two of them.

1. The profile isn’t verified

This is the first thing to check. An unverified GBP doesn’t show in the Local Pack — full stop. How do you see? Log in to business.google.com. Does it say “Verify now” anywhere? Then you’re not verified.

Verification happens via postcard (5-14 days), phone, email or video. If the postcard doesn’t arrive within 3 weeks — request a new one.

2. The profile is incomplete

Google ranks complete profiles higher. A profile with:

  • An empty or short description
  • No service list
  • Few photos (under 5)
  • No posts
  • Incomplete opening hours

…shows much worse than a complete profile, even if the category and distance are the same.

Solution: go through every field in GBP. If something is empty, fill it in. Takes 1-2 hours.

3. Wrong or too broad category

The single most decisive setting. If you’re “Beauty salon” but should be “Hair salon” — you’re ranking for the wrong keywords. If you’re “Company” instead of a specific category — you barely rank at all.

Log in. Check the primary category. Is it the most specific one that describes your main business? If not, change it.

4. NAP inconsistency

NAP = Name, Address, Phone. If your business name, address or phone number is different in different places (website vs GBP vs Bokadirekt vs Facebook), you lose authority points with Google.

Common inconsistencies:

  • Address with different floor designations (“Storgatan 12” vs “Storgatan 12, floor 2”)
  • Phone in different formats (“08-123 45 67” vs “081234567”)
  • Business name with and without AB (“Erik Frisör” vs “Erik Frisör AB”)

Solution: decide the exact format. Go through every location. Adjust.

5. Too few and old reviews

If you have under 10 reviews and the latest are from 2023 — it’s hard for Google to rank you high. The review collection needs to be active.

Solution: start actively asking for reviews after every visit. SMS or email with a direct link to the GBP review page. Aim for 2-4 new reviews per month.

Bonus: distance

A factor you can’t influence directly is distance. If the customer searches from a location far from you, you rank lower — that’s by design.

What you can influence is how your service area is defined. For service-area businesses (plumbers, cleaning companies, tradespeople): define the area thoughtfully. Too narrow = missing relevant traffic. Too broad = Google penalises for too-broad coverage.

Diagnostic work

If you’re not visible today, do this:

1. Log in to Google Business Profile. Note what’s incomplete.

2. Search your main industry + area (e.g. “hairdresser Vasastan”). Where do you land? Which competitors rank top 3? What do they do better?

3. Search “site:google.com [your business name]” to see how Google has indexed you.

4. Use an SEO tool like BrightLocal or Whitespark for a NAP audit (costs a little but gives a concrete list of inconsistencies).

5. Count your reviews. Fewer than 10? That’s where the lever is biggest in the short term.

What gives the biggest effect fastest?

If you have to prioritise one:

  • For new businesses: verification + complete profile + start collecting reviews
  • For established but invisible: category audit + NAP consistency
  • For profiles with 30+ reviews but low ranking: description + service list + regular posts

Changes take 2-4 weeks to show in Local Pack positioning. Bigger lifts (if you go from incomplete to complete) can take 2-3 months to fully manifest.

Want to go deeper? Read Google Business for small businesses for the full pillar guide, or How to optimise your Google Business Profile for concrete optimisation step by step.