Search ‘dentist near me’ on your phone and look at what comes up first. Before any websites, Google shows a map and three practices underneath it. That’s the map pack, and for a local practice it’s some of the most valuable real estate on the internet.
Most people choosing a practice nearby never scroll much further. If you’re not in those three listings, you’re invisible to a large share of the patients searching in your area. Here’s how the map pack works and what you can do to win your suburb.
What decides who appears
Google is unusually open about this. It says local results are based on three things:
- Relevance: how well your Google Business Profile matches what someone searched for.
- Distance: how far your practice is from the person searching, or the area they searched for.
- Prominence: how well known and trusted your practice is, based on things like reviews, links and how much information exists about you online.
You can’t move your practice closer to everyone, but you can do a lot about relevance and prominence.
Get your categories right
Your primary category is one of the strongest relevance signals you control. A physio clinic should be listed as a physiotherapist, not a generic medical centre. Then add secondary categories for your other genuine services. Don’t add categories for things you don’t offer. It confuses Google and frustrates patients.
Fill in everything
A half-finished profile tells Google you’re not paying attention. Make sure you’ve completed:
- your services, with short, accurate descriptions
- opening hours, including special hours for public holidays
- your website, booking link and phone number
- accessibility information, parking and other attributes
- real photos of your building, rooms and team
Then keep it current. Outdated hours are one of the fastest ways to lose a patient’s trust.
Keep your details consistent everywhere
Google cross-checks your practice name, address and phone number across the web: health directories, booking platforms, business listings and your own website. If they don’t match, Google is less confident about where you are and what you do. Inconsistent details often creep in after a move, a phone number change or a rebrand, so it’s worth a check.
Build reviews the right way
Reviews are a big part of prominence. The number of reviews, how recent they are and your overall rating all play a part. You’re allowed to ask patients to leave a Google review, and you should. What you can’t do is offer incentives, ask only the patients you expect to be happy or use those reviews in your own advertising.
The simplest approach is a consistent one: a friendly request after every appointment, with a direct link to your profile, sent to every patient rather than only the ones you think will be happy.
Make your website back it up
Your website and your profile work together. Make sure your site clearly mentions your suburb and the areas you serve, has a page for each main service and links to your Google Business Profile. If you serve several nearby suburbs, a well-written location page can help, as long as it says something genuinely useful about getting to and from your practice rather than just repeating suburb names.
Post regularly
Google Business Profile posts let you share updates, new services and practice news directly on your listing. They’re not a magic ranking lever, but regular posts keep your profile fresh, give patients more reasons to choose you and show Google the business is active.
What not to do
A few shortcuts can get your listing suspended, which is far worse than ranking third:
- stuffing keywords into your business name (‘Smith Dental Best Dentist Norwood’)
- creating listings for addresses you don’t actually operate from
- buying reviews or posting fake ones
- creating duplicate listings for the same location
How long it takes
Profile improvements can show results within a few weeks. Steady map pack rankings usually take three to six months, depending on your competition and how many reviews you’ve built up.
If you’d like to know where your practice stands right now, our free practice growth audit includes a local visibility snapshot comparing your profile with the practices closest to you. You can also learn more about our Google Business Profile and local SEO service.