- Jan 10, 2026
- 111
- 47
I assume you're targeting 'City + Car Rental' keywords.There are usually a few key reasons for this kind of "cemented" ranking. I suggest checking them one by one:Can someone explain this to me?
For over a year, I’ve been building backlinks for a client in the rent-a-car industry in a small city. We’ve outranked big players like Carwiz, Europcar, etc. However, there’s one local rent-a-car company that’s cemented in the first position — Google literally never moves them.
My client keeps bouncing between positions 3 and 10, with the highest rank being #3.
I use the same backlink strategies for other clients, and they get locked into top positions.
The competitor’s website looks like it was built in 2010. It’s obvious they’ve done black hat SEO, but I don’t know which method. Is it possible Google hasn’t caught them for almost two years?
On-Page Optimization (Most Likely): Since your backlink strategy is usually effective and competition in small cities is generally lower, On-Page SEO can be the deciding factor. I’d recommend double-checking their URLs, Title Tags, and local keyword density compared to your client's.
Also, It’s possible their links are simply higher quality or more "local" than they appear. I suggest using a tool like Ahrefs or Moz to reverse-engineer their backlink profile. See exactly where they are getting their juice from—you might find some local gems you've missed.
If the first two points don't reveal a gap, the issue might be User Signals. If that old site has been the "default" choice for a decade, their brand search volume and Click-Through Rate might be keeping them at #1. If Google sees everyone searching for them by name or clicking their result consistently, it’s hard to unseat them. This is much tougher to beat, and honestly, there’s no quick fix for established brand authority.