How to rank your local business higher in Google Maps with Authority Map Stacking [2024 and Beyond ] - Case Study
Today's post is a case study by Legiit Freelancer Simeon Kowshik who freelances on Legiit as MercySEOThis paper is a reflective analysis—an attempt to explore, explain, and understand the workings and benefits of authority map stacking for Google Business Profiles [GBP] from the perspective of an expert.
Running your own local business can be hugely rewarding, but for many small business owners, having sole responsibility for the company's success or failure can take its toll.
And, when it comes to running your business online, you must be aware that the working environment is extremely slick—one mistake and you're down, or one step in the right direction and you close those deals.
Let’s put it this way: if you get a huge loan or use your only savings to start a local business, days later you decide to venture into the digital space so that you can leverage the potential of meeting clients online. And then you realize having a Google Business Profile is key, but one thing stops you.
Is having a Google Business profile worth it?
Regardless of whether you are a local, regional, national, or international business company, the simple answer is YES.
But, what if you publish your GBP and no one notices you [no rankings] [or you don't close any sales] for the entire time you've been online? Do you still qualify as an online business owner?
Anyone can have a GBP. But not everyone can create one that attracts the online audience and turns prospects into loyal customers.
In fact, the success of every Google Business Profile you get is not about how good your products and services are but about your marketing strategy, which involves getting your business to rank higher on the maps.
Not only will your Google Business Profile help users find your opening hours and contact details, but it will also improve your local search visibility as it is integrated with Google Maps. It quite literally puts you on the map!
Optimizing your Google My Business page takes time and effort, and keeping it updated takes even more.
In the following section, we'll look at the problems and challenges that many business owners face when they want to take their businesses online, and why only a few succeed.
We will also uncover what I have been able to do in that regard to put a smile on the faces of thousands of business owners and why that is what you need to do to take a step in the right direction.
How Authority Map Stacking Helped Us Grow Local Businesses through Higher Map Rankings
Results and statistics always form the basis of my practice. What do numbers represent in terms of your Google Business Profile?
From the consumer's perspective:
“Google Business Profile is the Yellow Pages of the digital era, with 64% of consumers using it to find contact information.”
And
“Nearly 83% of consumers use Google Search, while 55% use Google Maps to learn more about nearby businesses.”
What we realize from the above quotes is that owning a Google Business Profile is one thing, but making it visible [by optimizing it on the maps] is another, and perhaps the most crucial, step to success in business online.
So, we have a problem. Many business owners [local, regional, and international] are yet to realize the full potential of having their business online because they’re not being "seen" by their customers [ranking in the SERPs and Maps], the competition is stiff, and they need to divide the spoils [where the winner takes it all].
No one can deny the rising importance of local SEO as powered by the leading search engine, Google.
And so, what we aim to achieve here is to illustrate a simple process that has enabled thousands of my clients to appear on the maps [in local cities and multiple locations], thereby enhancing their business growth.
Authority Map Stacking: Case Evaluations
Trust me, I know.
For the last 6 years, I have been able to help many clients with [Authority Map Stacking] so that they can appear on maps and grow their businesses.
Motivated by months of research, thousands of dollars spent, and multiple failures, I came up with a strategy that is able to bring results—without asking any questions.
I was able to put together a system and strategy that would consistently differentiate my clients from the competition.
To put all this into perspective and look at some numbers, let’s look at the following case study.
Niche : Real Estate
Competition : Medium to High
My client's average rank position (ARP) was around 16.64 on October 23rd, 2022 and it needed a solid boost in rankings to be seen by visitors from Maps.


Note the dates above [before our authority map stacking strategy]
We ran a few rounds of Premium Map Stacks with Near Me, City Embeds, and the Topical Links Add-On (which we also offer as a service).
This is a deadly combination from our experience, and we have seen numerous ranking increases from just 1-2 rounds of stacks with the above-mentioned package.
The strategy behind our flagship service authority map stacking is to focus on the three most important criteria Google considers when ranking a site/GBP locally.
* Prominence
* Proximity
* Relevance
We used a premium custom mapping platform with a high DR of 81 in conjunction with Google Cloud DR 90+ and created signals [co-occurrence and co-citation] that Google would love to see for any local business to increase its trust score.
And then we generated authority signals from our Topical Authority Backlinks, which make use of the RSOS concept [Reverse Sink or Swim] [first shared in OMG by Greg Morrison].
After that, we asked our clients to observe rankings in about 2–3 weeks to see any results and to have a fully optimized Google Business Page with all relevant information and a solid ON-PAGE that targets the keyword for which we are doing SEO.
This was the result on December 19, 2022.

Note the dates [results after our authority map stacking]
ARP 1 and SoLV hit 100. At the moment, the client is ranking #1 for a 6-mile radius for his target keyword, and as a result, other keywords have seen increases in rankings as well.
For the last 6 years, hundreds of similar success stories have been going on, but I wasn’t yet convinced that I needed to share my experience. However, due to popular demand, you’ve seen it today for yourself.
Authority Map Stacking:Recommendations
Here is what SEOs say:
“In all, 36% of SEOs think your Google Business Profile is the most important ranking factor for the map pack. And 6% believe that it’s important for the “regular” organic results.”
To sum up this discussion, therefore, it will be important to note that having your business on Google Business Profile is not complete and will not bring any results if you don’t spice up your marketing strategy to put you in front of your target audience [by increasing your ranking and appearing on maps].
According to Bright Local, an average business gets found in 157 direct searches and 852 discovery searches per month. That’s an average of over 1,009 searches per month. It also states that 34% of local businesses get seen in more than 1,000 discovery searches per month.
Imagine having a portfolio of 10 ranking keywords that attract traffic anywhere from 500 to 800 per month each.
And the cost of maintaining these rankings is negligible [if you follow our strategy], and the profitability is extremely high, so you can make $5,000 to $8,000 per month in near-all-profit with little effort.
My strategy and years of experience are by far the most powerful tools you can find on the market, and it’s the one I like the most.
I've been using the model to help new clients secure their market position and rank higher than their competitors.
And some of my clients were kind enough to talk about me [here are a few examples].
✅Chris M Walker (Superstar SEO)
✅Bradley Benner (Semantic Mastery)
✅Terry Samuels (Salterra Web)
✅Chaz Edward (Web 2,0 ranker)
✅Brian Willie (Local SEO Ninja)
✅Brock Misner (used our service multiple times)
✅Many Other Top SEO Agencies
✅I was also featured in the SEO Signals LAB on PickHisBrain for local SEO.



You can give it a try and see how it turns out for your local business. Our repeat clientele rate is above 65% which means for every 10 new customers we intake , 6 people return to buy more.
And today you can make a commitment that will transform the way you do business, just like the client we discussed above—I can help you with that.