How to rank above Google Places?

I often see a few websites rank above the Google Places block. How the heck do they do this?

there's loads of answers in an identical thread today - maybe check that out

There could be any number of reasons ... but generally, it's the highest authority sites. Does your site have authority backlinks? It also changes depending on the search query.

In order to rank as the top places result ... obtaining 5 star reviews is now a contributing factor.