Google Maps rankings hinge on three core factors: relevance, distance, and prominence. You control relevance and prominence directly. Start with your Google Business Profile—ensure your name, address, and phone number match your website exactly, choose your primary category with precision (not just "Restaurant" but "Italian Restaurant" if that's what you are), and fill every available field including business description, attributes, hours, and photos. Categories matter more than most people think; picking the wrong primary category can cost you 40–60% of your visibility. Reviews drive prominence. Aim for 3–5 new reviews per month minimum. Respond to every review within 48 hours, especially negatives. Google watches review velocity and recency, not just total count. A business with 80 reviews and 5 in the last month will often outrank one with 200 reviews but none recently. Never buy reviews or use review gating—Google's detection has improved and penalties are severe. Local citations reinforce trust. Get listed on major Canadian directories like YellowPages.ca, Yelp.ca, and industry-specific platforms. NAP consistency across these sources signals legitimacy. For Ottawa businesses, add listings to Ottawa Tourism, Ottawa Board of Trade, and relevant BIAs. On-page SEO feeds Maps rankings. Your website should have location keywords in title tags, H1s, and content naturally. Create a dedicated location page if you serve multiple areas. Embed your Google Map on your contact page. Structured data markup for LocalBusiness schema helps Google connect your site to your profile. Proximity to the searcher's location is the one factor you can't control. A searcher downtown will see different results than one in the suburbs, even for identical queries. At Ottawa SEO, we've seen clients jump from position 12 to the 3-pack within 60–90 days by fixing category selection, launching a review campaign, and tightening NAP consistency across 30+ citations. Focus on the controllable factors and track rankings from multiple locations to understand your true visibility.