When you land in a new city and you get a hankering for tacos, what do you do?
If you’re like most people, you pull out your phone and search something like “tacos near me” or “best tacos in [city].”
Then, if you’re like most people, you scan the top few featured restaurants in the Local 3 Pack and start deciding where to eat.
The taquerias that break through into this Google Local Pack get more web traffic, foot traffic, and overall brand visibility. The competitors that don’t rank in these top local search results get significantly less.
So, what does it take to make sure your business is featured among the top local businesses? How do you optimize your site to rank in the Google Local 3 Pack?
Table of Contents
What Is the Local 3 Pack in Google?
The Google Local 3 Pack is a selection of three business listings that appear at the top of a local SEO search.
If you want to see what it looks like, search for any business type with a phrase that triggers Google’s local searches, such as “near me” or “near [area].”
On desktop, at the top of the SERP, you’ll see three relevant local businesses, with basic information like:
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Name and address
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Star ratings and reviews
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Links to the Google Business Profile and directions
On mobile (where most local SEO searches happen), you’ll see something similar — with filtering options and quick call-to-action buttons like “call now” or “directions.”
Originally, this was a “Local 10 Pack” (back in 2009), but today Google has slimmed it down to just three results, making those spots even more valuable.
These businesses are the ones Google deems most relevant and trustworthy — which is why ranking here can lead to massive gains in visibility, clicks, and conversions.
What Does It Take to Rank in the Local 3 Pack in Google? The Basics
Ranking in the Local 3 Pack requires the same broad local SEO strategy as organic SEO — but with heavier emphasis on relevance and authority:
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Relevance → Is your business a close match for the search query and user intent?
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Authority → Does Google trust your business enough to recommend it?
Let’s break down the most effective local SEO tactics that help you earn those coveted three spots.
Key Strategies for Ranking in the Local 3 Pack
These are the most important strategies for ranking in Google’s Local 3 Pack.
1. Choose Target Local Keywords
Keyword research is the foundation of any local SEO campaign.
If you sell propane and propane accessories, you don’t care about ranking for “tacos near me.” You want to appear for relevant local businesses searches like “propane delivery in [city].”
When doing keyword research, focus on:
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Relevance & Value → Does the phrase directly connect to your business? Does it drive conversions?
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Search Volume → How many people are searching this local phrase monthly?
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Competition → Who currently ranks in the 3 Pack for this keyword? Can you realistically compete?
Tools like SurferSEO, Ahrefs, or SEMrush can help uncover the right mix of keywords for your local business SEO strategy.
2. Evaluate Your Current Position
Next, check where your business currently ranks in local search results.
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If you’re in the top 20 organic results, you’re in good shape to climb into the Local Pack.
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If you’re further down, don’t panic — it just means you’ll need more effort, better local citations, and stronger backlinks to get there.
If you’ve never done any work for a local SEO before, or if you have minimal experience with local search engine optimization in general, don’t be surprised if your business isn’t featured anywhere. If this is the case, take this opportunity to see who your biggest competitors are.
Otherwise, figure out where your business stands among the competition. If you rank in the top 20 organic search results, that’s a very promising sign; it means you have significant baseline authority, and a good chance of getting into the Local 3 Pack after a few weeks of dedicated work.
If you’re not in the top 20 search results, that doesn’t mean the 3 Pack is outside the realm of possibility. It just means you’ll probably need to be prepared to spend more time, money, and effort getting there.
3. Complete & Optimize Your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is critical for local businesses trying to rank in the 3 Pack.
It’s free, easy to set up, and one of the strongest ranking signals in local SEO.
Make sure your GBP is:
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Complete → Fill out every section (name, address, phone number, hours, services, photos).
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Accurate → Ensure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) matches across all local citations.
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Optimized → Add business categories, services, and posts that include local SEO keywords.
Regularly update your profile with new information, offers, and photos. Google rewards active and accurate profiles with better visibility in local searches.
One of the most important things to do for your business when optimizing for the Local 3 Pack is to fill out your Google Business Profile page.
Google Business Profile is free and easy to start, and it’s designed to make it easy for business owners to index their businesses accurately within Google. You can start filling out your profile in just a few minutes.
Your goal here is to make sure your information is as thorough and accurate as possible. Fill out every field that applies to your business. Make sure every piece of information you provide is accurate. You’ll need to include information such as your business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, products and services you sell, and more.
This form is fairly intuitive, though it is exhaustive. You should be able to finish it within an hour if you know all the answers to the prompts on your profile. Once completed, make a note to come back and update this profile if any details change for your business.
It’s also not a bad idea to check back periodically to see if new fields have been added. We all know how Google likes to change things.
Once your Google Business Profile page is complete, Google will have an official and reliable source of indexed information it can use to put you in the 3 Pack. After that, it’s all about establishing your relevance and authority.
4. Get More High-Quality Reviews
Google wants to recommend the best local businesses. Reviews prove that your business delivers.
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Provide excellent products & services → good reviews come naturally.
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Ask happy customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile.
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Respond to all reviews (positive and negative) to show engagement.
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Use reviews as feedback to improve operations.
More positive reviews = higher trust = stronger local SEO ranking.
Good reviews, and lots of them, are a great place to start. Do whatever you can to attract more reviews and better reviews from your customers; Google reviews are arguably the best, but any local reviews could be valuable.
- Provide excellent products and services. If you provide awesome products and services, the good reviews should flow naturally. Make sure you’ve optimized your business to make your customers happy and that every customer leaves your business eager to refer other people to your brand.
- Ask for reviews directly. For most local review sites, it’s against the terms of service to bribe customers to leave reviews or otherwise pressure customers to leave better reviews than they otherwise would. But there’s nothing wrong with asking your customers to leave a review if they were happy with their experience. Use a combination of follow-up communications and marketing tactics to ask your best customers to review your business.
- Respond to reviews. You can encourage more reviews by responding to reviews that already exist. It shows that you care what your customers think and, in some cases, can push your average reviews higher (since you’ll have an opportunity to make up for unpleasant experiences).
- Take action when necessary. Reviews aren’t just about helping you rank; they’re also an excellent opportunity to improve your business. Read customer reviews carefully and take the feedback and criticism they include to heart. What do customers want from you? How can you give it to them?
5. Audit and Correct Your Local Citations
Local citations are online references to your business (directories, Yelp, YellowPages, local chamber of commerce listings, etc.).
Steps:
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Audit current citations → Make sure your NAP is consistent.
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Correct errors → Inconsistent addresses or phone numbers hurt trust.
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Expand citations → List your business on more local directories for extra authority.
The more accurate citations you have, the more Google sees you as a credible local business.
The more local citations you have, assuming all those local citations are accurate, the better; you can think of local citations as evidence of prominence in the community. These can help build your company reputation so you can rank higher in local searches.
Your first step is to audit your existing roster of local citations and make any corrections that are necessary. The most important information to correct is your NAP – Name, Address, and Phone number. Oftentimes, simply reaching out to the Webmaster is all it takes to fix the information.
Earn More Local Citations
Once you’re confident that all your existing local citations are accurate, it’s time to start building new ones. Reach out to new local directories to get your business featured. This is a process you can repeat indefinitely, continuing to accumulate new citations from new external parties.
6. Publish Locally Relevant Content
Content remains king in SEO — and that includes local SEO.
For your blog and website, create content like:
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Local event coverage
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Community involvement highlights
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City-specific guides (e.g., “Best [service] in [city]”)
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Industry tips tailored for local businesses
Make sure every post includes local SEO keywords and your target city/region in the title and body. This boosts topical relevance and helps capture long-tail local searches.
This is also important in local SEO.
In addition to any content, you might be developing for your overall SEO campaign, it’s important to develop high-quality, well-researched, longform content pieces that are relevant to your local audience. This could include things like press releases, coverage of local events, or tips and recommendations for your local customers specifically.
Content quality should be your highest priority. Additionally, you should make sure the title of each of your posts includes at least one local keyword, like the name of your city.
7. Build Locally Relevant Backlinks
Backlinks remain one of the strongest ranking factors in SEO. For local SEO, you want links from:
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Local blogs and news outlets
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Community organizations
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Local chambers of commerce
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Niche-specific local directories
Guest posting, partnerships, and sponsorships are excellent ways to secure relevant links that boost your authority in local search results.
Guest posting is still the best strategy for building backlinks in SEO. The idea here is to write a guest post for an external source – and one that provides genuine value to the people reading it. If the publisher allows, you can include a link pointing back to your website within this article.
Over time, you can develop your reputation as an author and start reaching out to bigger and higher profile publishers, earning more valuable links in the process. But if your main goal is ranking in the Local 3 Pack, locally relevant links are the best place to start. Try to earn some links from publishers specifically active in your target area.
8. Leverage Social Media
While social signals aren’t a direct ranking factor, being active on social media helps:
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Drive local engagement
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Distribute your content
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Earn backlinks indirectly
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Build brand awareness among local businesses and customers
Claim your name on major platforms, post consistently, and tie your social presence back to your local SEO strategy.
While social media marketing isn’t necessary for local SEO, and posting on social media won’t affect your rankings directly, it’s a powerful tool for building an audience, distributing your content, earning backlinks, and building a better reputation. In other words, it’s an excellent support platform for the rest of your SEO strategy.
9. Monitor Your Competitors
Keep an eye on who’s ranking in the Local 3 Pack for your target keywords:
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What backlinks do they have?
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Which local citations are they using?
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How many reviews are they earning?
Then, reverse-engineer their strategies and aim to outperform them with stronger, more optimized local SEO efforts.
It’s almost always a good idea to monitor your existing competitors; what links and local citations are they building? How formidable are these backlink profiles? What would it take to dethrone these top competitors? Can you mimic their existing local citation and backlink profile – and then improve upon it?
The better you understand your competition, the better you can trounce them! Just remember they’re going to actively compete against you the moment they recognize you as a competitor.
Start Your Local 3 Pack Ranking Campaign
Do you have a local business?
Do you wish your business was dominating the competition on local SERPs?
Would you prefer your business was visible when users perform local searches?
We can help you. We’ve already helped hundreds of businesses like yours break into the Local 3 Pack and get the organic traffic they’ve always wanted.
At SEO.co, we’ve helped hundreds of local businesses break into the 3 Pack and dominate their markets.
Ready to find out more? Contact us for a free consultation today!
Tim holds expertise in building and scaling sales operations, helping companies increase revenue efficiency and drive growth from websites and sales teams.
When he's not working, Tim enjoys playing a few rounds of disc golf, running, and spending time with his wife and family on the beach...preferably in Hawaii.
Over the years he's written for publications like Forbes, Entrepreneur, Marketing Land, Search Engine Journal, ReadWrite and other highly respected online publications. Connect with Tim on Linkedin & Twitter.
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