Published in full
Guides, with the sources attached.
Written to be checked. Every figure is attributed, and where published research contradicts something the industry still sells, we say so.
Four sourced guides plus a glossary. The ranking factors page carries the 2026 weights: proximity around 55%, Google Business Profile signals around 32%, reviews 16-20%, on-page around 19%, and the four tactics controlled studies have disproven. The Map Pack guide explains the mechanism in plain language. The agency-selection guide gives twelve questions to put to any provider, including us. The guarantee page explains why ranking promises cannot be honest and carries Competition Act exposure in Canada.
Local ranking factors 2026
The weights: proximity ~55%, profile signals ~32%, reviews 16-20%, on-page ~19%, plus four tactics controlled studies have disproven.
Read →What the Map Pack is
A plain explanation of the highest-intent placement available to a local business, and why your ranking is a surface rather than a number.
Read →Choosing an agency
Twelve questions, the red flags, and how to verify claims yourself in ten minutes. Includes the questions we would least like to be asked.
Read →Why we don't guarantee rankings
Why guarantees cannot be honest, why Google warns against them, and the Competition Act exposure they carry in Canada. We used to make one.
Read →Glossary
The terms that come up on every assessment call, defined without jargon.
Read →How to use these if you are evaluating providers
Read the ranking factors page first, then take three specific claims from it into your next sales call: that proximity accounts for roughly 55% of local pack ranking, that being open at the time of search is a top-five factor, and that geotagging photos has been disproven in controlled testing. A provider who knows local search will engage with all three immediately. One who does not will change the subject to their process.
The point of that exercise is not to catch anyone out. It is that these three facts have direct consequences for what you should be sold. If proximity dominates, a promise of metro-wide coverage from a single location is not deliverable. If hours matter that much, an agency that has not asked about your staffing has skipped a top-five factor. And if geotagging is still on the services list, the rest of the list is probably the same vintage.
Why these exist
Most agency blogs are written to rank, which is why they read like they were written to rank. These four are written to be checked. Every figure is attributed to a named study, the sources are listed at the foot of each page, and where published research contradicts a tactic the industry still bills for, we say which tactic and cite the test that disproved it.
That has a commercial cost. The agency-selection guide contains the twelve questions we would least like to be asked, including the ones we currently answer badly. We have one published case study, not twenty, and that is a fair thing to weigh against us. We publish it anyway because the alternative is asking you to take our word for things, and the whole argument of this business is that you should not have to.
If you want the shortest version: read the ranking factors for what actually moves the map, then the selection guide before you talk to anyone, including us.
Where the numbers come from
| Source | What we use it for |
|---|---|
| Whitespark, Local Search Ranking Factors 2026 | Factor weights, the hours finding, predefined services, AI search as a category |
| Sterling Sky controlled tests | Geotagging, Business Profile posts, review keywords |
| BrightLocal Consumer Review Survey | Review recency, response expectations, rating thresholds |
| Google Search Central | Relevance / distance / prominence, guidance on hiring an SEO |
| Competition Act (Canada), s. 74.01(1)(b) | Performance claims and why we removed our own guarantee |
Meta
About these guides
Why does an agency publish this much for free?
Because the businesses that read it become better clients and better buyers. A prospect who already understands why proximity caps their service area does not need to be talked out of unrealistic expectations, and a prospect who works the checklist themselves and still cannot move their grid has a genuinely competitive problem worth paying to solve.
Are the statistics on these pages independent?
Yes. The weights come from Whitespark's 2026 survey of 47 practitioners across 187 factors, the debunked-tactic findings from Sterling Sky's controlled tests, and the consumer behaviour data from BrightLocal. Every page lists its sources at the foot so you can check them rather than trust us.
How often are these updated?
When the underlying research changes, which in practice means annually for the ranking factors and immediately when a controlled study disproves something we or the industry were saying. The guarantee page exists because we changed our own position.
Where should I start?
If you are new to this, what the Map Pack is. If you are evaluating providers, the twelve questions. If you want to do the work yourself, the interactive checklist.
Next step
Apply this to your own profile
The free audit runs the same analysis against your business and shows you where you stand.
Or call 778-200-8661 · One client per industry, per area · No guaranteed rankings