In plain English
It's the shortlist on the front desk. Most people searching for a local service pick from the few businesses shown there and never scroll to the rest of the list.
Used in a sentence
“You're in the local pack for "window replacement" in three nearby towns now.”
“We rank on page one of the normal results, but we never show up in the map at the top.”
In detail
The local pack is drawn from Google Business Profiles, not websites. Google chooses which businesses to show based on relevance (how well a profile matches the search), distance (how close the business is to the searcher or the place in the search) and prominence (reviews, citations, links and how well-known the business is).
You can't control distance, but you can improve the rest: accurate categories, a complete profile, steady reviews, consistent citations and a website with clear pages for each service and area. Showing in the pack for your main services is often worth more than any other single ranking.
Why it matters for your business
For local services, the local pack is where most calls start.
- Top of the page for local searches
- Calls and directions straight from results
- Driven by your Business Profile and reviews
Easy to mix up
The local pack isn't the same as the regular results below it. You can rank in one and not the other, because the pack is built from Business Profiles and the regular results from websites.
Related terms
Google Business Profile, Citation and SERP. Or browse the whole glossary.
