5 Tactics to Rank Higher on Google My Business (Now Google Business Profile)

Patrick McFadden • December 4, 2023

The Google Maps Ranking Factors They Don't Want You to Know

Achieving a higher ranking on Google Maps may seem like a complex science, but, in my experience, a typical local service-based business can simplify its approach by focusing on just five key things.


Before delving into these, it's important to acknowledge that there are limited actions you can take within the Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), to directly influence rankings.


Now, let's zero in on a critical aspect that happens away from your GBP but directly impacts rankings:  optimizing the on-page elements for the website page linked to your Google Business Profile (GBP).


This step is indispensable for securing higher rankings on Google Maps. Undoubtedly, the landing page of your Google Business Profile (GBP) wields significant influence, making it a game-changer for local businesses. The URL you select for your GBP listing also plays a pivotal role in determining rankings.

5 Tactics to Boost Your Google Business Profile Rankings

(in 24-72 hours)

(✅Yes when you make changes to a GBP, you tend to see the impact of that within hours)

#1. Keywords in Business Name

Want to know how to rank #1 on Google? Here's a controversial, but effective ranking tactic that might just help you get there!


Ever since the creation of local packs on Google, the keywords baked within a business's name have had a substantial influence over rankings. It's been one of those SEO secrets that savvy businesses have used to claim their spot in the local 3 pack.


Did you know that having keywords in your business name is the #2 ranking factor in the 2023 Local Search Ranking Factors report?


Changing the business name legally or registering a DBA that includes keywords can dramatically improve local search visibility. Now, before you rush to change your business name, there are a few things to keep in mind, so please consult a professional.

#2. Review Recency

Ever wondered if Google reviews impact your local ranking? The answer is YES! Google reviews can give your rankings a significant boost.

However, after reaching a certain threshold (10 reviews), the sheer number of reviews ceases to affect rankings. Instead, the recency of your reviews becomes the key factor. There is a direct correlation between new reviews and ranking increases!


Keep a trend of consistent, new reviews to increase and maintain three-pack rankings.

#3. Primary and Secondary Category Selections

One thing you've got to nail down to rank higher on Google Maps and Search is choosing the right primary category for your Google Business Profile. Out of all factors, knowing how to choose a category for your Business Profile has the greatest impact on local pack rankings.


One thing to quickly note is that these categories tend to change from time to time, and you need to monitor that or you'll experience a decrease in rankings. Currently, you can choose up to 10 categories for your business: 1 primary category, and rest as secondary categories. 


Once you've settled on your primary category, the next tip is around figuring out what to do with the remaining 9 available categories. Fortunately, for those keen on leveraging local SEO, there is a simple local strategy at your disposal.


Go ahead and select the 9 categories that align best with your services. This approach is the most practical, but it's not the most effective.


Let's say you're a multi-specialty clinic in Richmond VA, offering services ranging from pediatric dentistry to orthodontics. Now, you're keen to secure a top spot in local searches for 'Pediatric Dentist Near Me.'


Keeping with this example here's the hurdle you'll encounter: You'll be competing against specialized pediatric clinics that have 'Pediatric Dentist' as their primary GBP category. The odds of surpassing them in rankings are quite slim if not zero. Even with that being said, the simplest approach is to choose the 9 secondary categories that make the most sense based on your services. The tip below is how to overcome this.


Practitioner Listings Boost Your Google My Business Ranking

Google's got a feature for businesses with multiple practitioners or public-facing professionals (doctors, lawyers, dentists, realtors, agents, etc.). You can create separate Google Business Profile (GBP) listings for each practitioner or agent. Now, why's this a game-changer? Well, let's say you're aiming to increase visibility in local searches for 'Auto Insurance Agency Near Me.' No sweat, you can make it happen.


Just create a GBP for one of your insurance agents and choose 'Auto Insurance Agent' as the primary category. Looking to snag the top spot for 'Teeth Whitening Near Me'? Google's got your back. Craft a practitioner GBP, select 'Teeth Whitening Service' as the primary category, and you're on your way. Want some visibility as a 'Personal Injury Attorney Near Me'? You catch my drift.


Oh, and here's a pro tip: link each GBP listing to the specific service page on your website. For instance, if you're creating a practitioner listing to rank for 'Emergency Dentist Near Me,' make sure it's linked to the dental emergency services page on your website. It's like telling Google, 'Hey, this is where you'll find all the dental emergency goodness.'


Picking the right primary category for your Google Business Profile listing is the most important factor in the ranking of your business which can help improve your online visibility and attract more customers.

#4. Services Selection

Everyone wants to know the key to ranking well on Google. While there are many theories about services in Google Business Profiles being a ranking factor, is it true? Yes. Adding predefined services to a GBP does have a positive impact on your rankings, but the extent of this impact appears to vary based on the industry and market. Additionally, these predefined services seem to influence both explicit and implicit keywords, with the impact on explicit keyword ranking being more significant.


Explicit vs Implicit Keywords - Let Me Explain

Imagine someone in Richmond VA needs a plumber. If they search for "plumber," (implicit keyword) Google is likely to provide local results, assuming the user is looking for a nearby plumbing service. The searcher may then see a list of local plumbing companies in Richmond VA.


Now, let's say another person is specifically looking for a plumber in a particular neighborhood within Richmond, such as the Carytown. In this case, they might search for "plumber Carytown" (explicit keyword). Google, recognizing the location-specific query, would likely prioritize results that match both the plumbing service and the specified location.


How Long Does Local SEO Take to Show Results?

Typically when you make changes to a GBP, you tend to see a ranking impact within 24 - 72 hours.

#5. Identity Attributes

Fill out relevant identity attributes for your business. Utilize attributes like 'women-led' or 'Black-owned' to provide additional information about your business. This feature has a direct impact on ranking in the 3-pack and Google Maps.

Knowing, and understanding which Google My Business features impact ranking is one of the most important factors for local search success. Google doesn’t comment directly on ranking factors. They do give some general ranking guidelines, but you need to be continually testing the GMB features to understand the value of each one.

Get in Touch to Learn How to Rank Higher on Google My Business

Are you a local service company in Richmond VA or United States looking to rank higher on Google My Business? If your goal is to dominate the Google Local Pack and score new customers, we are your go-to marketing partner. We specialize in SEO for local service businesses, offering a proven approach to SEO services.


Whether you're seeking marketing strategy consulting or monthly local SEO services specifically designed for pest control, we've got you covered. Contact us today to learn more and take your company to the next level.


By Patrick McFadden May 2, 2025
Everyone is scaling outputs. Almost no one is scaling judgment.
By Patrick McFadden May 2, 2025
Ask anyone in tech where AI is headed, and they’ll tell you: “The next leap is reasoning.” “AI needs judgment.” “We need assistants that think, not just answer.” They’re right. But while everyone’s talking about it, almost no one is actually shipping it. So we did. We built Thinking OS™ —a system that doesn’t just help AI answer questions… It helps AI think like a strategist. It helps AI decide like an operator. It helps teams and platforms scale judgment, n ot just generate output. The Theory Isn’t New. The Implementation Is. The idea of layering strategic thinking and judgment into AI isn’t new in theory. The problem is, no one’s been able to implement it effectively at scale. Let’s look at the current landscape. 1. Big Tech Has the Muscle—But Not the Mind OpenAI / ChatGPT ✅ Strength: Best-in-class language generation ❌ Limitation: No built-in judgment or reasoning. You must provide the structure. Otherwise, it follows instructions, not strategy. Google DeepMind / Gemini ✅ Known for advanced decision-making (e.g., AlphaGo) ❌ But only in structured environments like games—not messy, real-world business scenarios. Anthropic (Claude), Meta (LLaMA), Microsoft Copilot ✅ Great at answering questions and following commands ❌ But they’re assistants, not advisors. They won’t reprioritize. They won’t challenge your assumptions. They don’t ask: “Is this the right move?” These tools are powerful—but they don’t think for outcomes the way a strategist or operator would. 2. Who’s Actually Building the Thinking Layer™? This is where it gets interesting—and thin. Startups and Indie Builders Some small teams are quietly: Creating custom GPTs that mimic how experts reason Layering in business context, priorities, and tradeoffs Embedding decision logic so AI can guide, not just execute But these efforts are: Highly manual Difficult to scale Fragmented and experimental Enterprise Experiments A few companies (Salesforce, HubSpot, and others) are exploring more “judgment-aware” AI copilots. These systems can: Flag inconsistencies Recommend next actions Occasionally surface priorities based on internal logic But most of it is still: In early R&D Custom-coded Unproven beyond narrow use cases That’s Why Thinking OS™ Is Different Instead of waiting for a lab to crack it, we built a modular thinking system that installs like infrastructure. Thinking OS™: Captures how real experts reason Embeds judgment into layers AI can use Deploys into tools like ChatGPT or enterprise systems Helps teams think together, consistently, at scale It’s not another assistant. It’s the missing layer that turns outputs into outcomes. So… Is This a New Innovation? Yes—in practice. Everyone says AI needs judgment. But judgment isn’t an idea. It’s a system. It requires: Persistent memory Contextual awareness Tradeoff evaluation Value-based decisions Strategy that evolves with goals Thinking OS™ delivers that. And unlike the R&D experiments in Big Tech, it’s built for: Operators Consultants Platform founders Growth-stage teams that need to scale decision quality, not just content creation If Someone Told You They’ve Built a Thinking + Judgment Layer™… They’ve built something only a handful of people in the world are even attempting. Because this isn’t just AI that speaks fluently. It’s AI that reasons, reflects , and chooses. And in a world that’s drowning in tools, judgment becomes the differentiator. That’s the OS We Built Thinking OS™ is not a prompt pack. It’s not a dashboard. It’s not a glorified chatbot. It’s a decision architecture you can license, embed, or deploy— To help your team, your platform, or your clients think better at scale. We’ve moved past content. We’re building cognition. Let’s talk.
By Patrick McFadden May 2, 2025
In every era of innovation, there’s a silent bottleneck—something obvious in hindsight, but elusive until the moment it clicks. In today’s AI-driven world, that bottleneck is clear: AI has speed. It has scale. But it doesn’t have judgment . It doesn’t really think . What’s Actually Missing From AI? When experts talk about the “thinking and judgment layer” as the next leap for AI, they’re calling out a hard truth: Modern AI systems are powerful pattern machines. But they’re missing the human layer—the one that reasons, weighs tradeoffs, and makes strategic decisions in context. Let’s break that down: 1. The Thinking Layer = Reasoning with Purpose This layer doesn’t just process inputs— it structures logic. It’s the ability to: Ask the right questions before acting Break down complexity into solvable parts Adjust direction mid-course when reality changes Think beyond “what was asked” to uncover “what really matters” Today’s AI responds. But it rarely reflects. Unless told exactly what to do, it won’t work through problems the way a strategist or operator would. 2. The Judgment Layer = Decision-Making in the Gray Judgment is the ability to: Prioritize what matters most Choose between imperfect options Make decisions when there’s no clear answer Apply values, experience, and vision—not just data It’s why a founder might not pursue a lucrative deal. Why a marketer might ignore the click-through rate. Why a strategist knows when the timing isn’t right. AI doesn’t do this well. Not yet. Because judgment requires more than data—it requires discernment . Why This Is the Bottleneck Holding Back AI AI can write. It can summarize. It can automate. But it still can’t: Diagnose the real problem behind the question Evaluate tradeoffs like a founder or operator would Recommend a path based on context, constraints, and conviction AI today is still reactive. It follows instructions. But it doesn’t lead. It doesn’t guide. It doesn’t own the outcome. And for those building serious systems—whether you’re running a company, launching a platform, or leading a team—this is the wall you eventually hit. That’s Why We Built Thinking OS™ We stopped waiting for AI to learn judgment on its own. Instead, we created a system that embeds it—by design. Thinking OS™ is an installable decision layer that captures how top founders, strategists, and operators think… …and makes that thinking repeatable , scalable , and usable inside teams, tools, and platforms. It’s not a framework. It’s not a chatbot. It’s not another playbook. It’s the layer that knows how to: Think through complex decisions Apply judgment when rules don’t help Guide others —human or AI—toward strategic outcomes This Is the Missing Infrastructure Thinking OS™ isn’t just about better answers. It’s about better thinking—made operational. And that’s what’s been missing in AI, consulting, leadership development, and platform design. If you’re trying to scale expertise, install judgment, or move from tactical to strategic… You don’t need a faster AI. You need a thinking layer that knows what to do—and why. We built it. Let’s talk.
More Posts