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Glossary

Google local search

By Sergey Sulimko, Founder2 min read

Google local search is the place-related search experience in which Google can show local results for a customer's query on Google Search and Google Maps.

Google's own Business Profile guidance calls the output local results, not Google local search. It gives the example of a customer looking for an Italian restaurant nearby.1

Google Maps is one place-search surface in that experience; Google Search is another.12 The longer Google Maps explanation covers how the surfaces, Business Profiles, and local results fit together.

These neighboring terms describe different layers:

Term What it means here
Google local search Reader shorthand for place-related results that may appear on Google Search and Google Maps.12
Google Map Pack A trade label for a grouped, visible local-results block. The cited trade glossary describes one example as three listings, but that description is not Google's product name or a Google Help limit.13
Local SEO Trade shorthand for work on a business's presence across local-search surfaces. The cited Google sources describe the surfaces and Business Profile controls, but do not name Local SEO as a Google product.143

An owner can maintain the accuracy and completeness of a verified Google Business Profile. Google's examples include business type, hours, an address when customers can visit, attributes, photos, and review replies.14

Google says complete and accurate information is more likely to show in relevant local results. That qualification is not a guaranteed appearance or position.1

Google's local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity. Businesses cannot request or pay for a better unpaid local ranking.1 Owners cannot directly manage the search queries shown in Business Profile performance data.5

Google's performance page describes profile views on Search and Maps, along with other interactions. Its Views metric counts views of the profile on those surfaces, not every view of the business on Google.5

The cited Google documentation does not name a product “Google local search.” This entry uses the phrase as shorthand for the shared Search-and-Maps local-results experience, not to define a separate Google service.126

Sources

  1. Google Business Profile Help, “Tips to improve your local ranking on Google”: https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en (read 2026-10-10)

  2. Google Maps Help, “Search for nearby places & explore the area - Computer”: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/4610185?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform=Desktop (read 2026-10-10)

  3. SEO.com, “What Is Google Local Pack? (And How to Rank for It)”: https://www.seo.com/basics/glossary/local-pack/ (published 2025-03-21; last updated 2026-09-14; read 2026-10-10)

  4. Google Search Central, “Get your website on Google”: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/get-on-google (read 2026-10-10)

  5. Google Business Profile Help, “Understand your Business Profile performance & insights”: https://support.google.com/business/answer/9918094?hl=en (read 2026-10-10)

  6. The phrase “Google local search” is not a named Google product in the cited documentation; this definition is Maps Agent's, written against the Google sources above.

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