August 21, 2026
Local SEO is incredibly important for local businesses. Securing a spot in the Local Pack can have a significant impact on traffic and it’s something many small businesses strive to achieve.
However, Google Maps ranking factors have always been a mystery. Optimising your Google Business Profile (GBP), getting reviewed, and obtaining local links are undoubtedly effective. However, recent research from RESONEO, which looked into the internal system architecture of Google Maps by reverse-engineering parts of the Google Maps infrastructure and comparing them with the 2024 documentation leak, has uncovered a lot more about how Google understands businesses and places.
The technical analysis revealed a few important internal working structures and 72 ranking signals within a system known as ‘Oyster Rank’. So, let’s take a look at some of these insights and what they mean for your success on Google Maps.
Google uses an internal engine known as Oyster Rank, which includes 72 specific ranking signals. It’s important to note that research revealed the names of the signals but not their individual weights, and that 25 of the ranking signals are no longer active.
The ranking signals can be grouped into seven concepts that Google appears to be using to assess an entity:
This includes signals such as WebScore, external references, and authority-page confidence, and basically refers to Google’s attempts to establish whether the web talks about the entity.
Interestingly, Google also uses a layer called Webref to connect web documents to an entity and determine how authoritative it is and how strongly it relates to that entity.
This means multiple, credible sources describing a particular business/place act as evidence for Google that a business/place is real and important.
This has one clear signal - web query volume on the entity. This isn’t the same as the search volume for a generic keyword, it’s how much people search for a specific entity. If plenty of people are searching for a business/place by name, it indicates that it's important and people want to find this place and there is a demand for it.
This includes signals like listing impressions, views, and reviews, and tells Google whether or not people actually read and interact with the listing when they are presented with it. It provides evidence as to whether the listing is useful and interesting. This doesn’t mean more views and clicks equals a higher ranking, it just shows some evidence of importance.
Actions tell Google whether or not a listing provokes a next step. This includes whether someone gets directions or visits the website. These behaviour signals again show Google if a place is important and somewhere people actually want to visit or interact with.
Identified as chain membership, this signal refers to what type of business an entity is and whether it belongs to a larger business or chain.
Tesco, for example, isn’t treated as a standalone business because Google understands it is a recognised brand with multiple locations. Google connects listings to the brand, website, and Knowledge Graph for additional context regarding the significance of an entity.
That’s not to say that being part of a chain can improve rankings, it’s just an identifying factor.
Google appears to have signals for factors like how easy a place is to reach or how much traffic the roads around it get. It uses information about the physical environment to tell Google how important or accessible a place is.
Again, this isn’t to say that a business located on a busy road improves rankings. How Google calculates approachability isn’t known, but it does show that Google’s understanding of a place can also include the physical environment around it.
Popularity, prominence, and landmark signals all play a role here. It’s important to establish that popularity and prominence are distinctly different too - a famous building can still be very prominent even if it’s not popular at that moment, for example.
The research also found evidence that Google measures things like store visits, but there’s no evidence that Google contributes these to your local ranking.
When people think of a Google Maps listing, they typically assume it’s a single record in a database that’s created when you add a listing and fill in your details. In actuality, Google Maps uses a sophisticated system known as Geostore, which treats a business as a geographic entity made up of information from multiple sources. For instance, your business name could come from your GBP, but your opening hours might be taken from your website.
Google also tracks where the different pieces of information come from to evaluate how trustworthy the source is. If two sources contain different details, its systems will weigh the evidence to determine what is most reliable and should be displayed.
This means it’s not just about making sure the information on your listing is consistent, but that it's consistent across the entire web, too.
Google Maps doesn’t use a fixed radius. It may use less than a mile radius if someone has a very generic search in a busy area, but a 20-30 mile radius if someone searches for a specific brand or service in a rural area.
Two people in the same place might see different map results based on their individual habits and past preferences. The app learns where a user lives, works, and frequently visits to create a more personalised experience.
Spending time on your listing and ensuring consistent business information is important. But you can’t just create a solid GBP and call it a day.
This research indicates that optimising your business as a whole is of growing importance. If your website clearly states who you are, what you do, and the exact areas you serve, Google can connect the dots and be more confident in presenting you as a solution.
Additionally, ensuring you prove your prominence by earning local backlinks and enhancing your brand awareness can help you increase the radius you rank in, despite not being able to move your physical shop.
If you need expert help managing your local SEO, get in touch with us today.
