I’ve noticed a fascinating shift in Google’s Ask Maps function—it’s transitioning from simple listings to offering more personalized recommendations. This change is not just about showcasing local businesses anymore; it’s about truly understanding user needs and suggesting the best options.
The other day, I dug into some local service queries—think plumbers, electricians, HVAC services—and was amazed to find how Ask Maps narrows down options by user intent. It’s evaluating businesses based on factors like responsiveness and specialization, which feels fresh and user-focused.
What’s even more exciting is how Ask Maps frames these businesses. It’s not just a list; there’s guidance involved, which is a leap beyond traditional local retrieval methods. So, I decided to explore this by testing across five levels of local intent, ranging from simple searches to detailed conversational prompts.
As the complexity of queries increased, I saw a clear pattern: Ask Maps shifted from merely listing businesses to interpreting which ones truly fit the ask—and why. This is huge.
This exploration pulled insights from specific locality tests, so while it’s directional, it’s not exhaustive across all markets or queries.
The five-level intent model I developed was based on what I’ve learned about how people search for local services. I structured these not by traditional keyword categories but from simple inquiries to complex, conversational decision-making.
At the basic level, requests start simple, like “I’m looking for an HVAC company nearby.”
Then, I experimented with queries involving more service specifics, like “I need an electrician to upgrade my panel in an older home.” This was fascinating as it introduced nuances into what I look for in search results.
The most interesting insights emerged from situational queries and those involving trust or decision-making, revealing how Ask Maps balances offering a realistic number of options with the depth of interpretation. The shifts were consistent: as we went from simple prompts to narratives, Ask Maps fine-tuned business selection and added layers of explanation.
From this testing, I realized the intricate way Ask Maps processes information—using Google Business Profiles, reviews, and even external sources. While reviews dominated initial impressions, Ask Maps dives deeper on complex queries, pulling from business websites and informative content to guide users through decisions.
Overall, the direction Ask Maps is heading could redefine our local search approach. If it continues evolving, it might influence how visibility is determined—not just by listing presence but by the ability to comprehensively understand and meet the user’s needs.
Your local business rankings might be suffering, and surprisingly, it could all be due to your map pin. Google’s placement of your business on their map significantly impacts your visibility, and addressing hidden addresses and setup issues is crucial.
I’ve often found myself engrossed in the ongoing debate within the local SEO community about the ‘hide address’ toggle for service area businesses (SABs). Many business owners consider this option a mere privacy setting, but it’s much more—a decision that affects how Google’s algorithm perceives your physical relevance.
Here are some questions to consider:
Does your defined service area affect your ranking?
Does hiding your street address impact your visibility in the local pack?
Is Google erasing that data, or does your map pin become an invisible anchor?
These are foundational questions in understanding how proximity works when you choose to ‘hide’ on the map.
How Google Determines Your Map Pin
It’s essential to know that your address and map pin are not the same. Entering an address into your Google Business Profile doesn’t just place a pin; it’s processed through Google’s geocoding engine, comparing it against their database.
Understanding Google’s data models is key to understanding why your pin might be misplaced:
When Google finds a reliable match, they place your pin accurately at your building’s rooftop. Understanding how these data models work can help explain why SABs sometimes rank differently in local searches.
Is Your Map Pin Placement Accidental?
Don’t be mistaken, it’s not a bug but a failure in converting text to precise map coordinates. When this fails, your business may end up with a map pin that’s misplaced, affecting your local ranking authority.
When unable to secure a high-confidence match from your building, Google defaults to using the city’s center as your pin’s fallback location, often causing your business to rank from a less relevant area.
Suite Number Issues
I’ve warned clients countless times about the pitfalls of including suite numbers in Address line 1. These numbers aren’t street-level data; embedding them can lead to geocoding conflicts, making your map pin default to a broader location like a city center.
Properly Anchoring Your Map Pin
For accurate map pin placement, ensure your address in Google’s system is geocoding-friendly. Keep unnecessary details out of the first address line and verify how Google reads your address using their developer tools.
When addressing geocoding problems, prepare for possible re-verification requests. Stay consistent in your corrections until Google verifies your business’s precise location.
When I first heard the term “contact page,” my mind immediately envisioned a simple space filled with contact info and a form. However, it turns out that this is a major oversight from a local SEO standpoint. Let me guide you on crafting a contact page that not only elevates your Google prominence but also converts more leads.
Google pays special attention to your contact page
Joel Headley, the former head of Google Business Profile Support, once shared with me that Google actively crawls and interprets your contact page to extract details about your business. This revelation illuminated the common inadequacy of contact pages that simply display a business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP), coupled with a basic contact form.
Google is essentially requesting, “Provide me with your business data,” while you might be responding, “No data for you.” Instead, I encourage you to treat your contact page with the same importance as a multi-location landing page. Here’s what your contact page needs to transform visitors into paying clients:
Business identity.
Contact information.
Trust factors and social proof.
Location-specific content.
Amenities.
Call to action.
1. Business identity
Your contact page should be a reflection of your brand, just like every other page on your site. Here’s what to include:
Your business logo, matching all marketing materials and signage.
Your slogan, with potential keywords for SEO enhancement.
A concise introduction detailing your business’s function, location, and unique value proposition (UVP).
Your contact page isn’t just about providing contact avenues; it should convince visitors of their decision’s wisdom before they reach out.
Clear expectations
Clearly communicate what a customer can expect post-contact to solidify their choice to connect with you:
Expected response times.
Upcoming steps and confirmations from your team.
Additional useful information about your team, location, or differentiators.
Experience and credentials
Boost trust and conversion rates by displaying involvement in:
Industry associations, locally and nationally.
Chamber of commerce groups.
Professional organizations.
Meetup and neighborhood associations.
Better Business Bureau ratings.
Tip: Link association names to your business listing on their sites.
Awards and accomplishments
Include any awards and press mentions, with links to the relevant articles or sites. If there are many, consider a dedicated media section.
Reviews and testimonials
Embed external reviews and include testimonials to enhance trust. Enhance authenticity by showing reviewer photos, names, cities, and profiles.
Your review section is also an excellent place to request additional Google reviews, especially from repeat customers, using a link and call to action.
Review your Google Business Profile’s attributes and list those on your contact page, along with other unique attributes. This specificity aids traditional and AI searches in understanding if you meet distinct needs.
6. A clear CTA button
With a well-structured contact page, a compelling call to action (CTA) is essential. Use vibrant, eye-catching CTAs throughout the page to encourage engagements.
Treat your contact page like a local SEO asset
Your contact page should be seen as a local SEO asset. By investing effort similar to creating a multi-location landing page, you elevate your engagement and conversion rates, surpassing most competitors. Keep this list handy to ensure all necessary sections are covered.
I’ve noticed something puzzling in my local business performance lately. Despite high rankings, the number of calls and website visits from Google Business Profiles seems to be dropping at an alarming rate.
This disconnect is becoming increasingly common in local search. Rankings are stable, but visibility and customer engagement are not keeping pace.
The alligator of local SEO, if you will, has made its presence known.
The visibility crisis behind stable rankings
I’ve observed that across various U.S. industries, the familiar local 3-packs are often getting replaced or supplemented by AI-run local packs. These new formats differ significantly from the traditional map results many of us are used to optimizing.
According to Sterling Sky’s analysis of Google Business Profiles, a startling pattern emerges. Clicks-to-call are taking a nosedive, particularly for law firms managed by Jepto.
When AI-powered packs take over, the landscape changes notably in four key areas:
Shrinking real estate: AI packs frequently display only two businesses instead of the usual three.
Missing call buttons: The summaries generated by AI often omit the instant click-to-call functionality, complicating the customer’s journey.
Different businesses appear: Companies featured in AI packs do not necessarily align with those in the traditional 3-pack.
Accelerated monetization of local search: The presence of paid ads increasingly results in the loss of direct call and website buttons in traditional 3-packs, thereby reducing opportunities for organic conversion.
There’s an additional challenge compounding this issue:
Measurement blind spots: Most rank trackers have yet to account for AI local packs. A business may hold a top spot in a traditional 3-pack that users rarely encounter.
In 2026, AI local packs surfaced only 32% as many unique businesses as traditional map packs, according to Sterling Sky. Astonishingly, in 88% of the 322 markets examined, the total number of visible businesses plummeted.
Meanwhile, paid ads are steadily claiming the space that once belonged to organic results, marking a clear transition toward a pay-to-play environment in local search.
What Google Business Profile data shows
This trend is echoed in the U.S., where Google is proactively testing new local formats, as indicated by data from GMBapi.com. Increased impressions from traditional 3-packs are being nudged out by:
AI-powered local packs.
Paid placements inside traditional map packs: Sponsored listings now appear adjacent to or within the map pack, relegating organic results and removing essential call and website buttons. This interrupts organic customer interactions.
Expanded Google Ads units: Even Local Services Ads are consuming space that once granted organic visibility.
Impression trends continue to vary due to seasonal factors, market disparities, and occasional API glitches. Nevertheless, a clearer picture emerges by focusing on GBP actions rather than mere impressions.
Mentions within AI-generated results still count as impressions, even if they no longer convert into calls, clicks, or visits.
External factors, such as known Google API issues in June, also contribute to these fluctuations. Additionally, the spike in Google Ads investment by significant advertisers towards year-end heavily affects Mobile Maps impressions.
Currently, there’s no method to differentiate these impressions by Google Ads, organic results, or AI Mode.
Despite these challenges, user behavior is undeniably shifting. Interaction rates are dwindling, with fewer direct actions taken from local listings.
Year-on-year data from the U.S. indicates that while impression losses remain moderate and somewhat seasonal, GBP actions are disproportionately affected.
In contrast, data from the Dutch market, where SERP experiments are limited, shows far more stable action trends.
The evidence is clear. AI-driven SERP alterations, increasing Google Ads, and the removal of call and website buttons from the Map Pack are eroding organic real estate. Despite appearances, businesses have fewer opportunities to convert visibility into actual user actions.
Local SEO is becoming an eligibility problem
Traditionally, local optimization focused on key ranking factors like proximity, relevance, prominence, reviews, citations, and engagement.
There’s now an additional layer to consider: eligibility.
Some businesses find themselves absent in AI-powered local results not due to a lack of authority, but because Google’s systems deem them inadequate for the specific query context. Research from Yext and experiences shared by experts like Claudia Tomina emphasize the importance of aligning three core signals:
Business name
Primary category
Real-world services and positioning
Misalignment in these areas can prevent businesses from appearing in certain result types, regardless of how well their Google Business Profile is optimized.
How to future-proof local visibility
Navigating today’s zero-click reality involves moving beyond reliance solely on a well-optimized Google Business Profile. Here’s a new playbook for local SEO.
The eligibility gatekeeper
Inclusion in local packs is now influenced more by perceived relevance and classification than by links or review quantity.
Hyper-local entity authority
AI systems rely on platforms like Reddit, social media, forums, and local directories to evaluate if a business is legitimate and active. Inconsistencies across these platforms can erode visibility without any obvious signs.
Visual trust signals
High-quality and frequently updated photos, along with video, are critical. Google’s AI evaluates visual content to gauge services, intent, and categorization.
Embrace the pay-to-play reality
The hard truth is that Google Ads, particularly Local Services Ads, is now essential to retaining prominent call buttons that organic listings are steadily losing. Adopting a hybrid strategy that merges local SEO with paid search is no longer optional but necessary.
What this means for local search now
Local SEO has evolved beyond a simple directory exercise. Google Business Profiles remain central to local discoverability but now exist within a broader ecosystem informed by AI validation, constant SERP changes, and Google’s pursuit of local search monetization.
Visibility no longer depends solely on where your GBP ranks against local rivals. Search engines, including AI-infused SERP features and advanced models like ChatGPT and Gemini, are increasingly focused on understanding a business’s genuine purpose, not merely its listing position.
Success lies in being widely verified, consistently active, and contextually relevant within the AI-visible ecosystem.
Our findings reveal that there is little correlation between businesses ranking well in traditional Map Packs and those prioritized in Google’s AI-generated local answers. This discrepancy offers a real opportunity for businesses willing to adapt.
In essence, this entails blending local input with central management.
Authentic engagement across multiple channels, locally tailored content, and actual community signals are necessary alongside brand governance, data consistency, and operational scale. Businesses deeply ingrained in their community, discussed, recommended, and referenced, both online and offline, find themselves halfway there.
For agencies and brands with multiple locations, the challenge is balancing control with local nuances and ensuring trusted signals extend beyond Google, encompassing Apple Maps, Tripadvisor, Yelp, Reddit, and other pertinent review ecosystems. Producing locally relevant content and citations at scale without losing authenticity is the real test.
Even if rankings appear stable, true performance is occurring elsewhere.
