A September 2026 report says it recovered 72 names for signals associated with Google Maps’ Oyster Rank system—but that is not proof of 72 active, independently verified ranking factors. The report says 25 entries were marked deprecated and does not disclose the current weights of the others. For practical guidance, Google’s public advice remains the firmer ground: local results are mainly shaped by relevance, distance and prominence.
What the report says it found
Search Engine Land reported on September 8, 2026, that a recovered binary exposed a non-public Geostore scope and an enumeration of 72 Oyster Rank signal names. Its examples include reviews, web query volume, listing impressions and opens, direction requests, website clicks, chain membership, Wikipedia signals, popularity, prominence, landmarks and road usage. The report says 25 entries were explicitly marked deprecated.
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Those details are reported findings, not a Google-published ranking guide. The report recovered names, but says the coefficients needed to establish how much a signal contributes were outside the recovered scope. It therefore does not show that every remaining name is active, how any one signal affects a result, or that changing a business profile to target a named signal will improve its ranking. Search Engine Land’s report is the source for the enumeration and its limitations.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsHow Google says local results are ranked
Google’s current Business Profile guidance describes three main considerations: relevance, distance and prominence. Its page also includes the sentence, “Local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity.” The same page uses “prominence” as the heading and explains that concept in its detailed guidance; “popularity” is the wording of that summary sentence, not a fourth factor.
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| Google’s public factor | What Google says it means | Practical implication |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. | Keep profile information complete and accurate, including the business category and details that describe what the business offers. |
| Distance | How far a business is from the searcher. If the searcher does not share their location, Google estimates it using available information. | A business’s position can differ for people searching from different places. Distance is not something a profile edit can make disappear. |
| Prominence | How well-known a business is. Google gives examples including information such as websites linking to the business and review counts and ratings. | Build a trustworthy, complete presence and engage with customer reviews rather than treating an unverified signal list as a formula. |
These definitions and recommendations come from Google Business Profile Help. Google also states, “There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.”
Why 72 signal names do not make a 72-step optimization plan
A signal name is not the same thing as a current ranking factor with a known weight or demonstrated causal effect. The report’s 25 deprecated entries make the distinction especially important: describing all 72 as active factors would contradict the report itself. For the other entries, the report does not establish their current status or contribution.
Rank #2
- google search
- google map
- google plus
- youtube music
- youtube
It also matters where a signal sits in a search system. The report describes a broader architecture involving geographic entities assembled from data, multiple ranking systems, geographic and semantic retrieval, personalization and a rendering stage that determines what appears on the map. In that reported model, a candidate’s ranking and whether or how it is ultimately displayed are not necessarily the same step. These are the report’s account of the system, not a Google-confirmed technical specification.
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Rank #3
- get around with real-time traffic information
How to improve your local ranking on Google
Google’s public recommendations are actionable without guessing at undisclosed weights. Use the official local-ranking guidance as the basis for profile maintenance:
- Verify the Business Profile. Google recommends verifying the business.
- Complete and correct the profile. Check that key information is accurate, including the address, business hours and category. Add relevant attributes and other useful details where available.
- Respond to reviews. Google recommends responding to reviews, which also gives businesses a direct way to engage with customers.
- Add useful photos and videos. Keep visual information relevant to the business and its customers.
Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local search results. That is a recommendation about improving the profile’s usefulness and eligibility to appear—not a guarantee of a particular position. Google does not offer a paid route to a better local ranking.
Rank #4
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How to assess claims about Google Maps ranking signals
When a new article or tool claims to have identified a ranking factor, separate four questions before acting on it:
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- Who is making the claim? Google’s help guidance is public advice; reverse-engineered reporting is a different kind of evidence.
- Is it a name, a weight or a tested effect? A recovered label alone does not reveal its coefficient or prove that changing it causes a ranking change.
- Which stage does it concern? A claim about ranking may not explain geographic retrieval, personalization or what the map ultimately renders.
- Is the guidance current? Google’s present help page is the useful source for current profile recommendations. A 2010 Google Lat Long post discussed relevance, prominence and distance as primary local ranking signals, but serves as historical context rather than a substitute for current documentation. Google Lat Long’s 2010 post
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