Google Maps Ranking: What's the Most Likely Missing Ingredient?

Absolutely perplexed on the ranking factors for Google Maps (hence also the 3-pack in normal search results).

Are seeing search queries that return 3-pack and organic result like this and wondering why these sites are getting 3-pack preference?

Not that sites 2 and 3 are no closer to the test user's location than Site 4. All 4 sites have a street address showing.

3-pack result:

#1 - Site 1 - No reviews. Same distance as Site 4 to user.
#2 - Site 2 - 1 review for 1 star. Farther from user than site 4.
#3 - Site 3 - 2 reviews for 5-star average. Farther from user than site 1, 2, and 4.
#4 (not show in 3-pack) - Site 4 - 6 reviews with 6 star rating, closer to user than site 2 and 3.

Organic results below 3-pack:

#1 - Site 4
#2 - Site 4
#3 - Other site
#4 - Site 1

Sites 2 and 3 not in top 10 organic non-map results

So what would be the most likely ranking factors keeping making site 1-3 rank above site 4 in the 3-pack/map results?

I have seen this too... it drives me crazy! Maybe the age of the citations/listing?

Curious to understand more about the map pack rankings

buybdl said:

I have seen this too... it drives me crazy! Maybe the age of the citations/listing?

Curious to understand more about the map pack rankings

Click to expand...

I think that's a good guess. I know the #1 position is probably the oldest citation for the niche market related to the search! And the 2nd and 3rd are definitely older citations that site #4.

I should also note that Site 4 does have correct business location schema markup and is populated in all other directories and major aggregators. I can't for the life of me think of anything other than citation age and domain registration age. I have learned that reviews have a very small effect, at least for niche markets where the average number of reviews for all competitors is like 5-10. Restaurants get a lot more reviews so not sure if maybe once you get upwards of 50+ reviews it has more of an effect. That would make sense.

GMB feature is retarded....there are no rules and its spammed to death....I've made listings that are #1 and I made listings, following the same receipe, that never appeared in search. There is little info online about how to generate a rightside panel or how to rank in the 3 pack because nobody figure it out.

To add to the 'retarded' theory I have seen inconsistent results for the same search query from the same location. It doesn't change each search or even each day, but not the same every single day. This sort of supports the theory there is a random rotation factor sort of like how Adwords will give lesser advertisers top spot for ads briefly to test CTR of newer ads/advertisers to help determine the Quality Score. Google knows which citations are most sticky by the percentage of users that click on a citation that never return back and click on the next listing - indicating (for most, not all - could be they gavbe up) they found the local business they were looking for. But you would think the listings with highest average rating then we self-perpetuate that metric.

The worst part is that map listings in search or knowledge panels takes a huge chunk of organic traffic and give an unffair advantage to some lucky faggot. OP what is ur experience with right side knowledge panels? Were u able to generate one? Did u identified any real factors that triggers them?

Wouldn't the IP and GPS location of the device would be the contributing factor when performing a search on the map? Apparently, when a mobile is used, the map will also take the GPS location of the device, or the approximate location of the connected device through the network connectivity, and serve the available listings based on such information.
Maybe site4 satisfied this factor, and they also have reviews, which gave it a further boost.

Okay, for those that want an example, I found a good one.

Search: Los Angeles Drone Companies

Why the heck is Wild Rabbit listed #1 in 3-pack?

They are listed position 13 in organic SERPS. They have no reviews. They aren't showing their physical address (so no pin on map). They are in the HUGE market of Los Angeles. The don't have the words 'drone' or 'company' in their page title or content (only in their meta description). They aren't in any of the major directories (other than Yelp) like yellowpages.com or superpages.com

Baffling - talk about 'retarded' !