Why Your Google Business Profile Isn't Showing Up

93% of local searches trigger a Map Pack — those three business listings with the map that dominate the top of Google’s results page. If your Google Business Profile isn’t showing up there, you’re invisible for nearly every local service search in your area.

A homeowner searching “plumber near me” sees three contractors in the Map Pack before they see a single organic result. 42% of local searchers click on a Map Pack result. If you’re not one of those three, you’re fighting over the 58% that remain, and most of that goes to the top organic results and paid ads.

Your GBP might be missing from the Map Pack for a dozen different reasons. Some are simple fixes. Others require sustained effort over weeks. This guide works through each possible cause so you can identify what’s blocking your visibility and fix it.

Is your profile actually verified?

An unverified Google Business Profile will not appear in search results. This sounds obvious, but 23% of local business GBP listings are either unverified or have pending verification that was never completed.

Google sends a verification postcard to your business address with a 5-digit PIN code. You enter that code in your GBP dashboard to confirm you’re a real business at that location. If you never received the postcard, requested it but never entered the code, or entered it incorrectly, your profile sits in limbo.

Check your verification status at business.google.com. If it says “Pending” or “Unverified,” request a new postcard or explore phone/email verification if Google offers those options for your business category. Some categories qualify for video verification, which is faster.

If you recently moved or changed your business name, you may need to re-verify. Google treats major changes as a new claim that requires fresh verification. Our GBP setup guide walks through the entire verification process step by step.

Is your profile suspended?

Google suspends GBP listings that violate their guidelines, and they don’t always tell you clearly. A soft suspension hides your profile from search without removing it from your dashboard. You might not realize you’ve been suspended until you notice the phone stopped ringing.

Common suspension triggers for contractors include using a P.O. Box or virtual office as your address, keyword-stuffing your business name (listing yourself as “John’s Best Plumbing — Emergency Plumber — 24/7 Drain Cleaning” instead of your actual legal business name), listing a service area that’s unrealistically large, and having multiple profiles for the same business.

Check your GBP dashboard for any notices or flags. Search for your exact business name in Google. If your profile doesn’t appear even when someone searches your exact name, you’re likely suspended.

A contractor on Reddit described getting suspended after adding “24/7 Emergency” to his business name on GBP. His legal business name was “Metro Plumbing LLC.” Google flagged “Metro Plumbing LLC — 24/7 Emergency Plumber” as keyword stuffing and soft-suspended his profile. He lost Map Pack visibility for 3 weeks while the appeal processed. His call volume dropped 45% during the suspension.

Reinstatement requires filing an appeal through Google’s support form. Remove any guideline violations first — fix your business name to match your legal name, remove the P.O. Box, and delete duplicate listings. Then submit the appeal. Processing takes 3-7 business days.

Are you using the right primary category?

Choosing the wrong primary category can reduce your Map Pack visibility by up to 70%. Your primary category is the single most important ranking factor for local search.

Google offers over 4,000 business categories. “Plumber” and “Plumbing Service” are different categories with different search visibility. “HVAC Contractor” and “Air Conditioning Repair Service” trigger different search results.

Your primary category should match the service that generates the most revenue or the one you most want to be found for. A general contractor who primarily does kitchen remodels should use “Kitchen Remodeler” as their primary category, not “General Contractor,” even if the latter feels more accurate.

Add secondary categories for every other service you offer. You can have up to 10 categories total. An electrician might use “Electrician” as primary, then add “Electrical Installation Service,” “Lighting Contractor,” “Generator Installation Service,” and “EV Charger Installation Service” as secondary categories.

One electrician on Reddit switched his primary category from “Electrician” to “Electrical Installation Service” and saw his Map Pack appearances increase 3x within 45 days. In his market, “Electrical Installation Service” had less competition. He kept “Electrician” as a secondary category so he still appeared for those searches, but the primary category change gave him a ranking boost where fewer competitors were fighting for position.

Research what categories your top-ranking competitors use. Search your primary keyword, look at the Map Pack results, and check their categories using tools like GMBSpy or Pleper’s GBP Category Tool. If the top three competitors all use “Plumbing Service” but you’re listed as “Plumber,” test switching. Read our full guide on Google Business Profile optimization for category strategy details.

Do you have enough reviews?

Businesses with 40+ Google reviews are 6x more likely to appear in the Map Pack than those with fewer than 5 reviews. Review count and average rating are among Google’s strongest local ranking signals.

The median Map Pack result has 47 reviews. If you have 8 reviews and your competitors have 50-200, the review gap alone can explain your invisibility.

Review velocity matters as much as total count. A business earning 8-10 new reviews per month signals ongoing customer activity to Google. A business that earned 30 reviews three years ago and hasn’t received one since looks stagnant.

Start by asking every satisfied customer for a review. The simplest method: send a text message immediately after completing a job with a direct link to your Google review page. Timing is critical — review request timing data shows that requests sent within 2 hours of job completion get 3x the response rate compared to requests sent a week later.

An HVAC contractor on ContractorTalk shared his review strategy that took him from 12 reviews to 87 in 6 months. He created a custom short link to his Google review page and printed it as a QR code on the back of every invoice. His technicians handed the invoice to the customer, pointed to the QR code, and said “If you were happy with the work, this takes 30 seconds.” Response rate: roughly 1 in 4 customers left a review.

Don’t buy fake reviews. Don’t incentivize reviews with discounts. Google’s algorithm detects unnatural review patterns, and getting caught results in review removal or profile suspension.

How close are you to the searcher?

Proximity is the number one ranking factor for Map Pack results. Google shows businesses that are geographically closest to the searcher’s location. A plumber 2 miles from the searcher will almost always outrank a plumber 15 miles away, even if the farther plumber has better reviews and a more optimized profile.

You can’t change your physical location, but you can understand how proximity impacts your visibility.

Google’s effective proximity radius for most home service categories is 8-15 miles. Beyond that radius, your visibility drops dramatically regardless of other ranking factors. If you’re trying to rank in a Map Pack for a city 30 miles from your listed address, proximity alone will prevent you from appearing.

For service-area businesses (most contractors), Google uses your listed address as the center point for proximity calculations. If you have a home office on the outskirts of the metro, you’re at a geographic disadvantage for searches happening downtown.

Some contractors consider using a virtual office or coworking space address closer to their target market. This is a grey area in Google’s guidelines — if the address is a legitimate place where you can receive mail and meet clients, it may be acceptable. A P.O. Box or purely virtual address will get you suspended. The full picture on how proximity and other factors interact is covered in our local SEO ranking factors guide.

Is your NAP information consistent?

NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone Number. Google cross-references your GBP information against every other mention of your business online — Yelp, BBB, Angi, Yellow Pages, industry directories, and dozens of data aggregators.

Inconsistent NAP data across 4+ directories drops Map Pack rankings by an average of 16 positions. If your GBP says “123 Main St” but Yelp says “123 Main Street” and the BBB has your old phone number, Google loses confidence in your data accuracy.

Exact consistency matters. Abbreviations matter. “St” vs “Street,” “Suite” vs “Ste,” even “LLC” appearing on some listings but not others can create inconsistencies that weaken your profile’s authority.

A roofing contractor featured on a local SEO case study discovered his business was listed with 4 different phone numbers across 23 directories. His original number, a Google Voice number a previous marketing company had set up, a tracking number from a canceled service, and a wrong number from a data aggregator error. After consolidating to a single number across all listings, his Map Pack ranking went from position 12 to position 3 within 60 days.

Audit your citations across the top 20 directories. Fix every discrepancy. Use the same exact formatting everywhere — same business name spelling, same address format, same phone number. Our guide on building citations covers which directories matter most and how to clean up inconsistencies.

Is your profile complete?

Google measures profile completeness and gives preference to fully filled-out listings. Complete GBP listings are 2.7x more likely to be considered reputable by Google’s algorithm.

Check every section of your GBP dashboard. Your business description should use all 750 characters. Services should list every individual service you offer with descriptions. Products can showcase specific service packages.

Upload at least 10 photos. Profiles with 100+ photos get 520% more calls than the average listing. Photos should include your team, your trucks, completed projects, your shop or office, and before-and-after shots.

Add your service area with specific cities, not just a radius. List your business hours, including special holiday hours. Enable messaging if you can respond promptly. Add your booking link if you have online scheduling.

Posts are another completeness signal. Google Business Profile posts let you share updates, offers, and events directly on your listing. Profiles that post weekly see 5-7% higher engagement than those that don’t. Even a simple post every week about a completed project or seasonal tip keeps your profile active in Google’s eyes.

Are you being outranked by stronger competitors?

The Map Pack only shows three results. If five strong competitors have better reviews, more citations, closer proximity, and more optimized profiles, you’re the fourth result that nobody sees.

Check your position using the GBP optimization checklist for 2026. Compare your profile against the current top-three results for your primary search terms.

Common gaps include review count (they have 200, you have 20), review recency (they get 10/month, you get 1), website authority (their site has more backlinks), content relevance (their GBP descriptions and services are more detailed), and citation count (they’re listed on 60+ directories, you’re on 12).

Ranking in the Map Pack is relative, not absolute. You don’t need a perfect profile. You need a profile better than the third-place result for your target searches. Focus on closing the gaps between your profile and the current number three.

The role of your website

Your GBP links to your website, and your website’s authority directly impacts your Map Pack rankings. A strong website with good backlinks, relevant content, and solid technical SEO lifts your GBP rankings.

Websites that rank on page one organically boost their associated GBP’s Map Pack chances by 43%. Google sees the connection between your GBP and your website as validation that you’re a legitimate, authoritative business.

On the Owned and Operated podcast, John Wilson (Wilson Companies) described his GBP as “the single highest-ROI marketing asset in the business.” His team posts completed project photos to GBP weekly, responds to every review within 24 hours, and updates their service list quarterly. He estimated that GBP-attributed calls generate 35-40% of Wilson Companies’ total residential revenue.

Make sure your website includes your exact business name, address, and phone number on every page (matching your GBP exactly), a dedicated page for each service you offer, location-specific content for your service areas, and schema markup that helps Google understand your business data. Our Map Pack ranking guide details how website factors and GBP factors work together.

What to fix first

Prioritize based on impact and difficulty.

Immediate fixes (today): Verify your profile is active and not suspended. Correct your primary category. Fix your business name if it contains keyword stuffing. Ensure your phone number and address match your website exactly.

This week: Audit your top 20 citations for NAP consistency. Upload 10+ quality photos. Complete every section of your GBP dashboard. Add all relevant secondary categories.

Ongoing (next 30-90 days): Build your review count to match or exceed the current number three in your market. Post weekly to your GBP. Build citations on directories where you’re missing. Create or improve service area pages on your website.

Track your progress by searching your primary keyword in incognito mode weekly. Note your position and the competitors ranking above you. Screenshot your Map Pack appearance (or absence) to measure changes over time.

The Map Pack isn’t static. Competitors are optimizing their profiles too. Getting into the top three requires consistent work, not a one-time optimization. But for contractors who depend on local search for leads, there’s no higher-impact place to invest your marketing effort.