Say you run a plumbing firm in Stockport. You search "emergency plumber" at home, and your business sits near the top of the map. A customer in Didsbury could type the same words and see a different list. Neither of you is looking at your one true ranking, because there isn't one.
So how do you check your Google Maps ranking? Run the same few searches from the areas your customers are in, log them each week, and read the counts Google gives you in your Business Profile.
Checked against Google's help pages on 4 October 2026. WebAsk is a web agency with no inside knowledge of Google's ranking systems, and Google can change these pages.
TL;DR
There is no single Google Maps position, because Google looks at how far each business is from the person searching. So check the same searches from your customers' areas each week. Google's counts show what people did, not where you ranked, and Google says there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Why there is no single Google Maps position
Distance rules out a single position. Google's page of tips to improve your local ranking (read 4 October 2026) says: "Distance refers to how far each business is from the customer who’s searching. If a customer doesn’t share where they are, Google uses what it knows about their location." It is not everything: Google's Maps help says its algorithms "might decide" that a business farther away is more likely to have what you want, and rank it higher.
Google's pages call the businesses on the map "local results"; others say "local pack". The ranking page explains the factors, in words that do not quite line up:
"Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity."
The headings under that sentence say Relevance, Distance and Prominence, and the Maps help says "relevance, distance and prominence". No Google page we read says whether popularity and prominence are the same thing.
Google's Search help adds: "For most of your searches, you’ll get the same results as anyone else who searches the same query from the same location."
What changes the list you see
Google's location help page says "your current location is used to give you more helpful results". The foot of the results page shows how it was estimated, such as "From your device" or "From your internet address." Past searches can shift it: "if you search for coffee shops in Chelsea and then nail salon, Google might show nail salons in Chelsea." So can your last device location, held in a cookie "set to expire after 6 hours".
The footer also reads "Results are personalized." or "Results are not personalized.", and the "Try without" link shows results "without personalization" (personalisation help).
Signed out, Google "may store some location information for previous searches from the device you’re using"; if you turn off "Search customization", Google "won't use previous searches to estimate your location". Incognito "doesn't make you invisible" (Chrome help). No Google page we read calls a signed-out or private search a neutral ranking.
In Maps, "Places that you've saved or starred" might appear in your results (Maps search help), which, in our reading, can include your own business.
Google says these settings "are being updated so may not match your current experience", so check the names on your own screen.
How to check your Google Maps ranking: our method
This is our method, built on Google's pages. We work remotely and have no Business Profile of our own, and we have not run it on anyone's listing. It is a free Google Maps ranking checker that you run yourself.
- Choose five searches in your customers' words: the service, and the service with a place. Add a search for your business name, and log it on its own row.
- On a Search page, read the footer first. Note the location source and whether results are personalised. If they are, click "Try without".
- Search from your customers' areas. The closest match to a real customer is a phone in that area with location permission granted to google.com or Google apps; then, Google says, "your precise location will be used". From your desk, name the area in the search, as in Google's example "coffee shops in Chelsea". Or, in Google Maps on a computer, "Search for a place or address", then "Click Nearby". Or use a postcode, as Google's Maps search help suggests: "Narrow your results by using a postcode: petrol in BN2". No Google page we read says this matches what someone standing there sees, so treat it as an estimate.
- Count your place, skipping ads. In Maps, "The square pins are ads", though "Square pins also indicate transit stations" (about ads in Maps). On Search, ads are "labelled with 'Sponsored' or 'Ad'" (How Search works).
- Log Search and Maps apart. Local results are "shown in various places across Maps and Search", and no page we read says the two lists match.
- Repeat weekly: same searches, areas and weekday, and one profile change at a time, noted.
- Optional: a grid. Run the same searches at points across your area, such as postcode districts, on the same day. A tool may do this; ask how it sets each point's location. Google's guide to hiring an SEO says: "Google doesn't evaluate or endorse third-party SEO tools, and these tools don't have access to Google's internal ranking data."
What each check tells you, and what it does not
"Unsettled" means no Google page we read answers it.
| What you check | How to do it (our method) | What it tells you | What it does not tell you |
|---|---|---|---|
| A search from your own desk | Search as you normally would, then read the foot of the page | Where you appear for someone where Google thinks you are | Where you appear for a customer anywhere else |
| Signed in, then a private window | Run the same search both ways; read the footer each time; click "Try without" if needed | Whether personalisation changed this search | A neutral ranking: no Google page we read describes one (unsettled) |
| A customer's area | A phone in that area with location permission granted to google.com or Google apps; or the area in the words, Maps "Nearby", or a postcode | Roughly how you appear for searches about that area | Whether a search naming an area matches what someone standing there sees (unsettled) |
| Your name, then the service | Search both; log them on separate rows | Name: whether the profile shows for its name. Service: where you sit among others | A name search says nothing about your place for the service (our reading) |
| A Search page, then the Maps list | Note which one you are on; count each apart, skipping ads | Where you appear on that page | Whether the two lists match (unsettled) |
| The performance counts | Profile, then Performance, with the same date range each month | What people did with your profile, by Google's count, ads included | Any position: no metric on Google's list is a ranking |
| A grid of points | Same searches at points across your area, the same way, on the same day | A picture of where you appear across your area, as you measured it | What a real person at each point saw (the same caveat as a customer's area) |
A weekly log you can copy
Copy this into a spreadsheet, with one row per search, per area, per week. If you are not in the list, write "not shown".
| Date | Search words | Area | How you searched | Footer: personalised? | Footer: location source | Search page or Maps | Position, ads skipped | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Once a month, add a row from your performance report, keeping only the columns it shows.
| Month | Views | Searches | Calls | Directions | Website clicks | Messages | Bookings |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The counts Google gives you in the profile
Google's performance page says "Performance data gives you insight into how people discover your Business Profile." It is "available only for verified Business Profiles", and you must be signed in to the profile's Google Account. It lists Interactions, Searches, Views, Directions, Calls, Website clicks, Messages, Bookings, Booking clicks (for hotels), Products, Menus and Offers, and says "Only metrics that apply to your business appear." Searches are "The search terms that people used to find your business".
Two limits matter. "Performance data includes views, searches and actions from both organic search results and Google Ads." And no metric on Google's list is a ranking.
Google suggests that owners who use a third party "Spend time each month to review your profile's performance".
What Google says helps, and what you cannot control
Google's ranking page says what helps:
- Verify the business, so it is "more likely to show up in search results".
- Keep your details complete. "Businesses with complete and accurate info are more likely to show up in local search results." That includes hours, "including special opening hours", and "What kind of business you are." Google's guidelines say: "Choose the fewest number of categories that it takes to describe your overall core business."
- Answer reviews. "When you reply to customer reviews, it shows that you value their feedback." And "More reviews and positive ratings can help your business’s local ranking." Our guide to asking for Google reviews covers UK law.
What you cannot control is where each searcher is, what their history does, or the system itself: "We do our best to keep the search algorithm details confidential to make the ranking system as fair as possible for everyone."
For a service-area business, Google's guidelines say "you should hide your business address from customers". If your address is hidden, no Google page we read says where distance is measured from, so check from your customers' areas. Our map pack post covers service-area profiles.
Why nobody can guarantee a Maps position
Google's ranking page says: "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." Its Maps help adds: "Results in Google Maps are not influenced by payment from other companies. Paid content in Google Maps is labelled."
Google's tips on third parties say they "can’t promise nor directly influence your business’s ranking on Google Search or Maps through any special means". Its guide to hiring an SEO says: "No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google." In our reading, a promised position could only describe one search from one place.
Questions to ask anyone selling Maps ranking
Before you pay anyone who sells it, ask these. Google's own line follows each, where it has one.
- Will you guarantee a position? Google's third-party policies give "Guarantees top placement on Google." as an example of a "false, misleading or unrealistic" claim.
- Who will own the profile? Google's policies say "all end customers must retain ownership or co-ownership of their Business Profile at all times."
- What does it cost, in writing? Get "an official copy of your agreement that clearly details the services and their costs".
- Where will any position figures come from? Which searches, places and dates, and how was each location set? This question is ours.
- Will I see Google's own counts? "You have the right to know your profile’s performance".
- How do I leave? "Within seven working days of notice from an end customer", a third party must let you "regain exclusive control" of the profile.
- Do you work for Google? If they say so, ask them to email you from their "'@google.com' email address".
A monthly check
- This month's counts, for the metrics your report shows.
- Every detail on the profile still right, hours included.
- New reviews answered.
- Your name, address and phone number the same everywhere, as section 3 of the local SEO checklist sets out.
Where to start
- Start the log this week, and read the footer before you count.
- Open your performance report and note this month's counts. Not sure you can have a profile? Our post on ranking in the map pack without a shopfront sets out Google's test.
- Work on your website. Our SEO retainer is about getting "found on Google for the searches your customers type". In that page's words, the profile "is not part of this retainer". To talk about your website, get in touch.