Search for a plumber or a roofer and Google shows a map with three businesses on it. Here's how Google picks those three, and what you can do to be one of them.

Search for 'roofer near me' or 'plumber' plus your town and Google shows a map with three businesses on it, above the normal results. Those three get a big share of the calls, because they're the first thing people see and the phone number is one tap away.

Getting onto that map isn't luck, and you don't need to pay for it. Google picks the three using three things: how relevant your business is to the search, how close you are to the person searching, and how well known and trusted you are. You can't move your yard, but you can do a lot about the other two.

1. Set up your Google listing properly

Your Google listing (Google calls it a Business Profile) is the box with your name, reviews, photos and phone number. It's free. If you haven't claimed yours, start there.

Then fill in every section. Pick the main category that matches what you do most, like 'Roofer' or 'Plumber', and add the others that genuinely apply. List your services one by one. Set the areas you cover. If you work from home, hide your address and show your service area instead: that's allowed, and it's what most trades do.

Add proper photos of your own work, your van and your team. Listings with real photos look like real businesses, because they are.

2. Get reviews steadily, and reply to them

Reviews are one of the biggest things Google looks at, and they're what customers look at too. The trick is to ask every happy customer, at the moment they're happiest: when the job's just finished and they're looking at it.

Make it easy. Google gives you a short link to your review page. Text it to the customer with a line like 'Thanks again, if you've got a minute, a quick review really helps a small business like ours.' Most people are happy to.

Steady beats sudden. A couple of reviews a week looks natural; twenty in one weekend doesn't. And reply to them, good and bad, in your own words. It shows new customers there's a real person behind the business.

3. Keep your details the same everywhere

Google checks your business name, phone number and area against other websites: directories, Facebook, Checkatrade, Yell and so on. If they all match, Google trusts them. If one says 'Smith Roofing Ltd' with an old mobile number and another says 'Smith Roofing & Building' with a landline, it's less sure.

Pick one version of your name and number and use it everywhere. Fix the old listings you can find.

4. Give Google a page for each job and each town

Your Google listing links to your website, and Google reads it. A site with a separate page for each main job (roof repairs, new roofs, flat roofs) and each main town you cover tells Google exactly what you do and where.

One page that lists everything in a long paragraph doesn't do the same job. Each page should be written properly, not the same page with the town name swapped.

5. Keep your listing busy

Listings that look looked-after tend to do better. Add new photos after good jobs. Use Google's updates feature to share a finished job or a seasonal offer now and then. Keep your opening hours right, especially around bank holidays.

What not to do

Don't buy reviews or write your own. Fake reviews break Google's rules and, since April 2025, they're illegal in the UK under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act. Listings get suspended for it.

Don't stuff extra words into your business name, like 'Smith Roofing Best Roofer Chester'. Google treats it as spam. And don't use a virtual office or someone else's address to appear in another town; that can get your listing removed.

How long does it take?

Fixing your listing and details can make a difference within weeks. Climbing above established competitors with lots of reviews usually takes a few months of steady work. If you need calls sooner, Google Ads can put you at the top while the free side builds.

If you'd rather not do it yourself, this is exactly what our Get Found plan does: your listing set up and kept busy, reviews coming in, a page for every job and town, and every call counted on your own dashboard.