When users search for localized keywords or terms using Google, they’re presented with relevant local business results, all tailored to the search term used. These searches can happen in a variety of places, including:

• Google app search

• Google search in third-party browser or Google Chrome (mobile/desktop)

• Google Maps in mobile/desktop browser

• Google Maps app

• Google Home voice search

• Google Assistant voice search

Let’s assume you have a car wash business on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NY. When someone searches for ‘car wash lower east side’ you’re going to want your business to appear in the results provided by Google, as this is someone who is looking for a business like yours in your area. This is where your Google business listing (as a completely separate entity to your website) comes in.

It’s also worth noting that, if Google has access to a searcher’s location, local results will be triggered by anything that’s seen by Google as a search with a local intent, which could be as simple as ‘car wash’ or ‘barber’ (without the need to add ‘near me’ or ‘in new york’)

Depending on where they’re searching, the consumer will see local pack results, Google Maps results, or even have the local pack results read out to them by a Google Assistant.

While the businesses surfaced by the search should be the same, what actually shows in the Google listing depends on the search type. For example, Google will show just a few elements of GMB in your Google Maps listing, but results in the local pack are much more rich, including review stars, photos, and sometimes even a snippet of a review.

When you set up your GMB listing, in addition to the wider visibility you get, you’ll have access to Google My Business Insights, which provides detailed information on how and where consumers are searching for your business, as well as how far away they are when looking for directions, and much more. Find out more on GMB in our Google My Business Insights. Combining this with your website’s Google Analytics data creates a powerful overview of how people find your website and listing and the actions they take afterward.

Google My Business Profiles are Only Getting More Sophisticated

Google My Business is getting much more sophisticated, and no longer simply relies on the information you provide to build your listing. If you’re a restaurant, for example, it may attempt to find a web page containing your menu (potentially even from an unverified, third-party site) and add the link to your profile. This shows that it’s important to keep an eye on unsolicited changes to your listing.

Google also uses User-generated Content (UGC) to populate your Google business listing, including ‘subjective attributes’ defined by your customers and the photos they take of your business premises.

Some features have a lot of interactivity built right into the profiles, too. These include:

• Google Posts, which allow you to promote offers and services directly through Google Maps and the Knowledge Graph (and even reach people who ‘follow’ your business).

• Google Q&A, which lets consumers ask each other questions about your business on your GMB profile.

• Google Reviews, probably the most important of these features, as generating quality reviews and responding to them has been shown to significantly impact rankings and clickthrough rates.

• Suggest an Edit, the ability for customers of your business to submit edits some of your business details, such as names, opening times, or addresses.

And Google seems to be just getting started. More and more tools and features are being added to Google My Business all the time, so there’s plenty of good reasons to get yours set up pronto.

You can find out more about where Google gets information for your Google My Business profile and what it does with it in their helpful guide here.