15 terms, plainly explained.

The block of three local businesses Google shows above the regular search results for queries with local intent.

Any mention of your business name, address, and phone on a third-party website, even without a link.

Google's framework for evaluating content quality, especially in industries that affect health, finances, or safety.

The free business listing Google maintains for every local business, which controls how you appear in Google Maps and the 3-pack.

The box on the right side of a Google search (or the top on mobile) that shows your business details directly.

The name rank trackers and SEO tools use for Google's map result. A local pack position of 8 in a report means the local finder, not the three listings on the page.

Your business name, address, and phone number, written consistently everywhere on the web.

The one category Google uses to decide which searches your Google Business Profile can rank for. Changing it changes which queries you show up in at all.

How well-known and trusted your business is across the web, the third of Google's three main local ranking factors.

How close the searcher is physically to your business location, which is one of Google's three main local ranking factors.

How well your business profile and website match what the searcher is asking for, the first of Google's three main local ranking factors.

SAB stands for service-area business: one that travels to customers instead of serving them at a storefront, like plumbers, locksmiths and mobile groomers.

Code on your website that tells search engines exactly what your content is about, in a format they can read.

The page Google shows after you run a search. Modern SERPs include far more than blue links.

When Google disables your Google Business Profile, either partially (soft) or completely (hard), usually for a guideline violation.