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Google Maps Adds New Features for Service-Area Businesses
News | | 5 min read

Google Maps Adds New Features for Service-Area Businesses

Google Maps is getting more useful for service-area businesses. Recent updates to Google Business Profile and Maps are giving plumbers, electricians, landscapers, cleaners, and other mobile service providers better tools to reach local customers.

For years, service-area businesses have had a more limited experience on Google Maps compared to storefront businesses. These updates start to close that gap.

What’s Changing

Google has introduced several features aimed specifically at businesses that travel to their customers rather than operating from a public-facing location.

Improved service-area display. Service-area businesses can now define their coverage zones with greater precision. Instead of a simple radius, businesses can select specific cities, zip codes, or regions they serve. This granularity helps Google match your profile with searches happening within your actual service territory.

Booking and quote request integrations. Google is expanding its Reserve with Google partnerships to include more service-area categories. Eligible businesses can now accept booking requests or quote inquiries directly from their Maps listing, reducing friction between search and conversion.

Enhanced visibility in “near me” searches. Google has adjusted how service-area businesses appear in local pack results. Businesses with complete profiles, strong reviews, and well-defined service areas are seeing improved placement for “near me” queries even when they don’t have a physical storefront in the searcher’s immediate area.

Why This Matters for Small Businesses

Service-area businesses make up a significant portion of local small businesses. These operators have long faced a disadvantage in local search because Google’s systems were originally built around the storefront model — a pin on a map with a physical address.

If you run a service-area business, log into your Google Business Profile and review your service area settings. The new granular zone options may not be visible until you edit your existing service area configuration.

These updates are significant because they allow service-area businesses to compete more effectively in the local pack without needing a physical location that customers visit.

How to Take Advantage

Here are practical steps to make the most of these changes:

  1. Update your service areas. Switch from radius-based to zone-based targeting if the option is available in your profile. Be specific about where you actually serve.

  2. Complete every profile field. Google rewards completeness. Fill in services, business hours, photos, and your business description.

  3. Prioritize reviews. Review volume and recency are among the strongest local ranking factors. Ask every satisfied customer for a review and respond to every one you receive.

  4. Monitor your local rankings. Use a tool like Semrush to track where you’re showing up in local search results across your service area. Ranking in your home zip code doesn’t mean you’re visible across your full territory.

  5. Enable messaging and booking. If Google has activated booking integrations for your category, enable them. Reducing steps between search and contact directly impacts conversion rates.

The Bigger Picture

Google continues to invest in making Maps a more complete platform for discovering and engaging with local businesses. For service-area businesses, these updates represent a meaningful step toward parity with storefront businesses in local search visibility.

The key takeaway: your Google Business Profile is not a set-it-and-forget-it asset. It’s an active marketing channel that requires regular attention, especially as Google continues to add features and shift how local results are ranked and displayed.