← Google Business Profile & Local SEO

Google Business Profile & Local SEO Glossary

Every field has its jargon. Here are the terms this course uses, explained the way you’d explain them to a friend — no dictionary voice, no assumed knowledge.

Map pack: The block of three local business listings — with map — at the top of Google results for local searches. The most valuable real estate in local SEO.
Google Business Profile (GBP): Your free business listing on Google — what appears on Maps and in the map pack. Formerly Google My Business.
NAP: Name, Address, Phone number. Must be identical everywhere online — inconsistencies confuse Google and cost rankings.
Citation: Any online mention of your business’s NAP — directories, review sites, local blogs. Quality and consistency matter more than quantity.
Primary category: The single most important category on your profile (e.g., “Plumber”). It heavily influences which searches you appear for — choose the one that matches what customers actually search.
Review velocity: How steadily reviews arrive over time. A consistent few per month beats a sudden burst followed by silence — and bursts look manipulated.
Proximity: How close the searcher is to your business — one of the three core local ranking factors, alongside relevance and prominence.
Relevance: How well your profile matches what was searched — driven by categories, services, and description.
Prominence: How well-known your business is, as Google sees it — reviews, links, citations, and overall web presence.
Attributes: Profile features like “women-led,” “outdoor seating,” or “wheelchair accessible.” Set every true one — they filter searches.
GBP posts: Short updates published directly on your profile — offers, events, news. They signal an active business and occupy profile space.
Duplicate listing: A second profile for the same business/location — it splits your reviews and confuses rankings. Find and merge them.
Suspension: Google disabling your profile, usually for guideline violations like keyword-stuffed business names or fake addresses. Recovery is slow — don’t risk it.
Local pack tracking: Monitoring where you rank in the map pack for your key searches over time — the scoreboard that tells you if the work is working.