How Rankings Work & How To Improve Them

Hey there - I'm Justin, the founder of Merchynt. I wrote this letter to help educate people on how Google Maps rankings work. When starting Merchynt, my goal was to help small business owners win by only doing good things with good people and by doing everything possible to make the SEO industry less shady.

Let's be honest—everyone hates SEO because, historically, “SEO” meant ranking websites higher, which was very expensive and took over a year to work if it ever did. I know this all too well since I’ve wasted tens of thousands of dollars on such SEO services. One reason I keep Merchynt solely focused on ranking Google Business Profiles higher on Google Maps (and not on website SEO) is that you can rank a Google Business Profile faster and for a fraction of the price of website SEO. Additionally, about 85% of people find local businesses through Google Business Profiles, compared to only about 13% who search via websites.

I love that ranking your Google Business Profile higher on Google Maps can literally 10x your business. That’s a big statement, which is why we created a chatbot to explain exactly how that math works.

Talk to our chatbot to see how much more money you can make by ranking #1 on Google Maps: https://www.merchynt.com/paige-roi.

To fully understand how Paige helps you rank higher, you first need to understand how Google Maps rankings actually work. I'll keep this as short, simple, and educational as possible—but rankings are quite complex, so please forgive me if I nerd out. If you can’t tell, I’m very passionate about this 🤓.

Here's an overview based on widely accepted industry information, plus our research from managing thousands of Google Business Profiles and regularly analyzing millions of proprietary data points. Google determines rankings by first answering two big questions:

Question #1: What does your business actually specialize in?

Google collects information about your business through various channels, including:

Question #2: Are users actually interested in your business when searching for your specialty?

Once Google thinks it understands your business by answering question #1, it then continually makes rank adjustments based on real-life user interactions in the pursuit of answering question #2. For example, if John searches "HVAC Repair," and then quickly clicks through the top three options but then spends significant time on the fourth option, "Rick's HVAC," reading reviews, viewing posts, exploring media, and finally submitting a form on their website, Google paid attention and might adjust the rankings since it learned people actually prefer the 4th ranked business over the top 3.

This indicates that Rick's HVAC might deserve the #1 ranking, prompting Google to test higher rankings through what’s called “A/B testing”. A/B testing is when Google moves rankings around for businesses and sees if more users click it than before. If they do, the business may remain in the higher position or move even higher. If fewer people engage with that GBP, it might be moved back down to its original position or even lower. This A/B testing explains small temporary ranking fluctuations which you might notice month to month.

Google then analyzes all of this information every few months and once analyzed, they rank your business accordingly. There are hundreds of millions of businesses on Google, so they cannot possibly analyze, A/B test, and assess them all weekly, which is why you cannot expect any type of SEO service to provide results within the first 3 months.

This brings us to the most common question we get here at Merchynt…

Rank improvements typically start around months 4-6 because Google requires time to assess and reassess your business thoroughly. Making a few quick changes and waiting a few weeks won't have a significant impact. Consistent SEO work for at least three months gives Google ample data to reevaluate your business and the new style of information you’ve been providing. By month four, positive results usually begin to appear. Emphasizing this timeframe upfront helps set realistic expectations and prevents premature frustration.

Oftentimes, when someone starts a new SEO strategy, they can experience a temporary decline in their rankings.

The most common reason for declining rankings in the first 90 days of a new SEO strategy is that Google is still judging your business from what you were doing previously for SEO. Remember, Google doesn’t update their understanding of your business or Google Maps rankings overnight, so it’ll take some time for the ranking trend your Google Business Profile was on to wear off and for Google to start rewarding you for the good SEO work you’re now doing. You may also be unaware of the fact that your business has been failing A/B testing for a while since you weren't tracking it via heatmap reports, and your rankings were already declining, which the right SEO strategy will help reverse in time.

Additionally, declines might coincide with Google's updated emphasis on recent (past 90 days) SEO activities, introduced in mid-2024. This shift leveled the playing field, allowing new businesses to compete effectively. If you took some time off optimizing your Google Business Profile before starting with Paige (or any SEO strategy), this penalty might have hit you. This is why getting even a single 1-star review on Google can damage your rankings for 90 days.

Lastly, and more rarely, you may experience rank declines in the first 90 days if the keywords you started targeting are confusing Google about what your business is actually specialized in. To rebound quickly, ensure your target keywords remain closely related. For instance, mixing "HVAC Repair" with unrelated terms like "Pipe Cleaning" can confuse Google and negatively affect your rankings. Addressing this proactively helps prevent early discouragement.

Google rewards consistency. Changing strategies frequently can harm your rankings. Therefore, it is critical to stick to a consistent SEO strategy for at least six months before evaluating its effectiveness.

To see what you need to do to rank higher faster, check out the Optimizations tab inside your Paige account. Paige analyzes millions of data points to determine why the best-ranking Google Business Profiles are in the top 3, then tells you what they’re doing that you’re not. You can find the optimizations section by following these steps:

A custom audit will be performed in real-time, telling you exactly why Paige thinks you’re not ranking better. This style audit used to take our SEO experts 90+ minutes to perform, and now you have it in the palm of your hands whenever you want to see it. If you have questions while reviewing it, please let our team know using the live chat inside Paige and we’ll be happy to help.

Data is power, and aside from Google itself, I don't think anyone has more ranking data than Paige. Paige manages thousands of Google Business Profiles simultaneously and analyzes the outcomes of each action on each profile to determine what works best at any given time for each business type. Our extensive dataset of millions of data points is unmatched by other marketing software platforms, and goes beyond just the actions on the Google Business Profile. For example, we collect data around:

Our Senior Data Scientists continuously analyze Paige’s data to ensure you're on the very best strategy for your business, and we adjust them from time to time based on what the data says. We don't leave anything to chance. This is why we always suggest keeping frequencies set to “Trust Paige” since it allows us to make the necessary changes.

When Google releases algorithm updates, we analyze a clean dataset over 60 days before adjusting our strategies to ensure we have enough data to make the most accurate and effective strategy changes possible. During these Google updates, the best response is to remain calm, wait for Paige's dataset to stabilize, and then let Paige adjust based on clear, data-driven insights.

For $99/month there is truly no better way to increase your odds of appeasing Google’s algorithm and ranking #1 on Google Maps. Patience pays. If you have doubts, use this chatbot to see what I mean: https://www.merchynt.com/paige-roi.

Thank you for joining me on our journey to build the world's best Google Business Profile manager. I really appreciate your support and will continue to do everything I can to help your business thrive.

Onward and upward,

Justin Silverman

Founder & CEO