Google Business Profile (GBP) ranking, as of December 2025, is determined by a complex algorithm that assesses relevance, distance, and prominence – often referred to as the ‘three pack’ factors – to display local businesses in Google Search and Maps results in Australia.
Relevance considers how well your GBP listing matches the user’s search query, factoring in category selection, business description keywords, and services offered. Distance assesses the proximity of your business to the user’s location; Google prioritises businesses closer to the searcher. Prominence now includes a wider range of signals than previously, including online reviews (quantity, sentiment, and recency), website traffic, citations from other authoritative websites, and activity within the Google ecosystem – like Google Posts and Q&A. Recently launched in Australia, GBP now integrates more deeply with Local Services Ads, potentially boosting prominence for businesses utilising both.
In 2026, Google is expected to further refine prominence signals with increased weighting given to businesses actively engaging with AI-powered features within their GBP listing, such as utilising the new AI-generated descriptions now available. Optimising your GBP listing for these factors is crucial for improving visibility in local search results in Australia.
