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Map Pack Factors
Local SEO Fundamentals

The map pack: what actually ranks you in the three pins.

In rough order of impact. Don't skip steps.

The six factors

Stack them in this order.

  • 01
    Reviews
    Volume, velocity, recency. By a wide margin the #1 factor.
  • 02
    Categories
    Primary and secondary. Wrong categories = no chance, regardless of everything else.
  • 03
    Citations
    NAP consistency across the web. Foundation that everything else sits on.
  • 04
    Proximity
    Real but overrated. Can be outweighed by strong reviews and content.
  • 05
    Hours
    24/7 visibility means you show up for late-night searches. Most owners miss this.
  • 06
    Profile completeness
    Every field filled, photos uploaded, Q&A seeded, posts going up weekly.
What most owners get wrong

They obsess over backlinks and ignore reviews.

Backlinks matter for organic. They barely move the map pack. The map pack is its own game with its own rules. Reviews + categories + citations + a complete profile = top 3 in most local markets within 6 months.

The takeaway

Reviews are king. Everything else is the support cast.

Get the order right and the math works.