This is one of the most common questions we get asked about Service Area Businesses (SABs) in Google Business Profiles (GBP). The answer is… it depends. I was only joking. The answer is, currently not. Just like brick-and-mortar business listings, the ranking is based on the address the business used to verify their listing. The only impact the service area has is visual. In Google Maps on desktop, you’ll see an overlay on the map showing the service area:

The mobile shows where the address is usually:

We are currently following several offers at Sterling Sky to see if this changes over time. Sterling Sky’s GBP where the address is hidden (known as pure SAB) is one that we have been monitoring on a daily basis.

Sterling Sky’s physical address is in Uxbridge and its mailing address is Stouffville. It is very important to know the city you are using for your mailing address Not wherever your business is physically located. Within our GBP we have listed Toronto, ON, Canada as one of the service areas.

And where do you think we are? Not in our advertised Toronto area.

As you can see from the Rankings GIF below, this has been the case since we started tracking rankings and is still true today as we head into 2023.

What should I put in my GBP in the service area section?

Okay, so the catchment areas don’t affect the ranking. So what should I put in there, and should I even bother? yes you should We recommend adding the main areas you serve to best represent your service area on Google Maps, as mentioned at the beginning of this article. Think of it as an exercise in visually enhancing service area maps. In other words, if you want people who spot you to know that you serve all of Toronto, include that as your service area so someone looking at your GBP on Google Maps will be crystal clear if you serve their service area serve or not.

Should non-SABs use the service area feature?

In most cases I’d say it makes no difference and isn’t worth the effort. However, there are cases such as B. in hotels where I would strongly advise against adding a service area. The reason is that it just makes the map look weird and confusing to potential customers. Here’s an example from the Google Business Profile forum where a user asked, “Why is there a service area field in the GMB account list for a hotel?”

What if you don’t live in the city where you operate?

This is another common question we get asked. We typically advise business owners to do one of two main things.

Move to the city/area you serve

Yes, you heard that right. It makes sense doesn’t it? If your entire business is from a city you’re not physically located in, and Google bases the ranking on the physical city you’re in, this seems like a no-brainer. We advised one company to do just that, and it transformed their business. In this case, they were physically in a town of 222 people, but the town they served was miles away and had a population of over 80,000. We told them to move the GBP address to the address of the other owner who happened to live in the target city. They now dominate the leaderboard in the city they serve.

Target long-tail keywords

If moving is not an option, I would focus on optimizing the site and specifically the GBP landing page for long-tail search terms. Onsite optimization has a direct impact on Local Pack/Finder rankings and long-tail keywords, which are less competitive. This makes it easier to rank them even if you are further away. Here’s an example of a company that took that precise advice and saw its rankings soar outside of its physical location.

So what?

The service area currently has no influence on the ranking for SABs. That means you have to get creative to grow your GBP business outside of your physical city. Ranking factors are in constant flux, so one day this may all change. Always test and track this for your clients so you know at the moment when ranking factors are actually changing so you can stay ahead of the competition.

Have you seen examples where the service area seemed to have an impact on the ranking? Are you following and testing this? We’d love to hear from you.