What is the Google map pack?
Also called Local pack.
Definition
The map pack is the short list of local businesses, usually three, that Google shows with a map for searches with local intent, such as "plumber near me".
The map pack, also called the local pack, draws on Google Business Profiles rather than ordinary web pages, and it often appears above the regular results. Which businesses appear depends on Google's local ranking factors: how relevant a profile is to the search, how far the business is from the searcher, and how prominent it is, including its reviews and the websites that link to it.
A website still matters. Prominence, in Google's description, takes links from around the web into account, and a site whose service and area pages clearly describe what the business does, and where, supports the relevance of the profile it is connected to. That is what local SEO clusters are built for: interlinked pages that make a business's services and service areas unmistakable.
Why does it matter to your business?
For local services, the map pack is where most of the visible space on the results page is. Showing up there can be worth more than a first-page organic result.
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Sources, verified September 11, 2026
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