What Is the Google Local Pack and Why Does It Matter?
The Local Pack is the box of three businesses, with a map, that sits at the very top of local search results. It is the single most valuable piece of property in local search, because it gives a ready-to-buy customer everything they need to choose you without scrolling. Here is what every part of it means.
The Google Local Pack is the box near the top of search results that shows a map and three local businesses. Each entry carries the business name, star rating, review count, category and distance, plus quick buttons to call, get directions or visit the website. It matters because it sits above the ordinary results and gives a customer everything they need to act without scrolling. There are only three spots, so getting into them puts you ahead of every competitor below.
Three spots, right at
the top of the page
Businesses shown
The standard pack shows just three businesses, which is exactly what makes a spot in it so valuable.
Of the page
It sits above the ordinary organic results, so it is the first thing a local searcher sees.
To call or visit
Built-in buttons let a customer call, get directions or open your site without ever leaving the result.
A small box that does an enormous amount of work
When you search for almost anything local, the first thing you see is not a list of websites. It is a box with a small map and three businesses beneath it. That box is the Local Pack, sometimes called the map pack or the three-pack. It is generated from Google Business Profiles, not from ordinary website rankings, which is why local SEO treats it as a target of its own.
What makes it so powerful is how much it packs into a small space. In one glance a searcher sees who is nearby, how well rated each option is, how far away it is and whether it is open, then taps a button to call or get directions. The decision can be made entirely inside the box. For a local business, being one of the three is often the difference between a steady stream of calls and being invisible.
The best way to grasp why it works so well is to take it apart. The diagram below labels every element of a pack listing and explains what each one does to win the click.
Three reasons the pack
beats everything below it
It is first on the page
The pack sits above the ordinary results, so it is the first thing a local searcher sees. On a phone it can fill the entire opening screen. Most people choose from what is in front of them. The pack is what is in front of them.
It answers the question
Rating, reviews, distance, hours and contact buttons are all there at once. A searcher does not need to visit a website to decide. The pack hands them everything they need to pick a business, which is why so many decisions happen inside it.
There are only three
Only three businesses make the cut. That scarcity is the whole point. If you are one of the three you are seen by almost everyone. If you are not, you are competing for the scraps of attention left for the results further down the page.
The anatomy of a
Local Pack listing
Every element earns its place. Here is what each part of a pack listing is and how it wins the click.
Five things that get you
into the pack
Same search,
very different result
Seen and chosen
- First thing the searcher sees
- Rating and reviews on display
- Call and directions a tap away
- Often fills the phone screen
- Wins the bulk of the clicks
Scrolled past
- Sits beneath the pack and ads
- No rating shown at a glance
- Extra clicks needed to act
- Often never reached on mobile
- Fights for leftover attention
Let's get you into
the Local Pack.
We strengthen the profile, reviews, citations and content that Google uses to pick the three. Get into the pack and you are the obvious choice before a customer has even scrolled. Free quote, from £350 per month.