Search Engine Optimization

Local search in 2026: Google Business Profile after Possum

8 min readBy Sandeep Mahajan

A phone on a city map marked with an orange pin, beside a cup of coffee

Google says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance (how well your Business Profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the searcher) and prominence (how well known you are, including links and reviews). There is no way to pay for a better local ranking. The 2016 "Possum" update, which this post first covered, was never announced by Google, but the patterns people saw then (distance from the searcher matters, duplicate listings at one address get filtered) are now written into Google's own help pages and Business Profile guidelines. Follow those rules and work on the three factors you can influence.

Key takeaways

  • Google's help page on local ranking names relevance, distance and prominence, and says "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google."
  • Prominence uses "how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have"; Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help.
  • The Business Profile guidelines forbid extra words in the business name ("could result in the suspension of your Business Profile"), more than one profile per location, and virtual offices.
  • Paid, incentivised or selectively requested reviews break the Maps content policy and are removed.
  • LocalBusiness structured data on your website helps Google read your details, but Google does not guarantee any search feature from it and does not say it affects local ranking.

What was the Possum update, and is it still relevant?

In September 2016 local SEO practitioners noticed large changes in Google's local "3-pack" and Local Finder results. The name "Possum" came from Phil Rozek: businesses had not disappeared, they had been filtered, "playing possum". Google did not announce or confirm the update; what we know came from practitioner analysis, chiefly Search Engine Land's 2016 explainer.

Our original 2016 post listed five effects. Here is how each reads against what Google publishes in 2026:

Effect reported in 2016 What Google says now
Businesses just outside a city's limits started ranking for that city Distance is a named ranking factor: "how far each business is from the customer who's searching"
Several listings sharing one address were filtered to one One profile per location; practitioners and departments have specific rules (below)
The searcher's location changed the results a lot "If a customer doesn't share where they are, Google uses what it knows about their location"
Close keyword variants gave different results Relevance is "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for"
Local and organic results were filtered independently Prominence includes links to your business and reviews, which overlap with ordinary SEO work

The specific 2016 algorithm detail is history. The lesson still holds: local results reward a real business at a real location, described accurately.

How does Google rank local results in 2026?

Google's Business Profile help page gives the answer in plain terms. Local results are "mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity" (the page also calls the third factor prominence).

  • Relevance. Complete, accurate categories, services, hours and a description help Google match you to searches. Choose the primary category that describes what you are, not what you wish to rank for.
  • Distance. You cannot change where you are, and you should not try. Google measures distance from the searcher, so the same search gives different results across a city. This is why one ranking check from your own office tells you little.
  • Prominence. Google says this is "based on info like how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have". Real coverage, local links and steady reviews are the levers.

The same page lists the practical tips Google itself recommends: verify the business, keep information up to date, respond to reviews, add photos and videos, and (for eligible retailers) add in-store products.

What do the Business Profile guidelines require?

Many local visibility problems come from breaking a guideline without knowing it. The rules that matter most:

Rule What the guidelines say
Eligibility You need a physical location customers can visit, or you travel to customers. A rented mailing address where you do not operate (a virtual office) is not eligible
Name Use your real-world name. Taglines, service descriptions, locations or phone numbers in the name are not permitted and "could result in the suspension of your Business Profile"
One profile per location "Do not create more than one page for each location of your business, either in a single account or multiple accounts"
Service-area businesses Hide your address if customers do not come to you; service areas should generally stay within about two hours' driving time
Practitioners Public-facing practitioners (such as doctors or lawyers) can have their own profile; at a shared location the organisation gets its own profile too, and a practitioner should not create profiles per specialisation
Departments Distinct public-facing departments can have a profile with a different name and primary category

The 2016 example of a dental clinic creating one listing per dentist with the same phone number is the case the practitioner rule now covers: the clinic has a profile, each public-facing dentist may have one under their own name only, and nobody creates extra profiles to take more space in the results.

How should you get reviews without breaking the rules?

Ask every real customer, the same way, and make it easy. Google's help page on getting more reviews says a business can "ask customers to visit a Google link or scan a QR code", and that customers need to be signed in to a Google Account.

What you must not do, under the Maps user-generated content policy:

  • Pay for reviews, "directly or in kind", or offer any incentive, including for changing or removing a negative review.
  • "Discourage or prohibit negative reviews, or selectively solicit positive reviews from customers" (review gating).
  • Post reviews from staff or people with a conflict of interest, or pressure staff to collect a quota of reviews.

Such reviews are removed. Reply to reviews, good and bad, because Google lists responding as a tip and because prospective customers read the replies. Our guide to earning customer reviews honestly covers the wider rules, including consumer-protection law on fake reviews.

What should your website do for local search?

Your Business Profile and your website support each other. Prominence includes links to your business, and your site is where people check you before they call.

  1. Make the details match. Name, address (if shown), phone and hours should be the same on the site and the profile.
  2. Add LocalBusiness structured data. Google's documentation says it lets you "tell Google about business hours, different departments within a business, reviews" and similar details. The same page says "Google does not guarantee that features that consume structured data will show up in search results", and it makes no claim about local ranking, so treat markup as clarity, not a ranking trick. Our structured-data and writing checklist shows the fields to fill.
  3. Give each real location a page. A location page with the address, hours, directions and what is offered there is useful. Pages for towns where you have no presence are the website version of the city-limits trick from 2016.
  4. Measure what local visitors do. Search Console shows the queries and pages that bring visitors from Google; see our Search Console guide.

How do you check local rankings honestly?

Because distance changes the results, check from where your customers are, not only from your desk. Search on a phone in the areas you serve, or use a rank-tracking tool that samples several points across a city, and compare like with like over months. A single position number for "plumber [city]" is not meaningful on its own.

If your profile is missing from results entirely, check for a guideline problem first (name, address, duplicate profiles) before you look for an algorithm explanation. Our SEO services start with exactly that kind of check: profile, website and the signals Google says it uses.

FAQ

Was the Possum update ever confirmed by Google?

No. It was named and analysed by local SEO practitioners in 2016. Google's current help pages describe the ranking factors (relevance, distance, prominence) without naming any update.

Can I pay Google to rank higher in the local pack?

No. Google states there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Paid placements are separate, labelled ads.

Can I add my city or main service to my business name?

Only if it is part of your real-world name, as shown on signage and stationery. Adding keywords to the name is not permitted and can lead to suspension of the profile.

Can I list a virtual office or co-working mailbox?

A mailing address where you do not actually operate is not eligible. If you serve customers at their locations, create a service-area profile and hide your address.

Do reviews affect local ranking?

Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and that prominence uses how many reviews you have. Reviews must come from real customers without incentives or selective requests.

Does LocalBusiness schema improve local ranking?

Google does not say so. It helps Google understand details such as hours and departments, and Google does not guarantee that any feature using it will appear.

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