Do Keywords in Your Business Name Affect Google Maps Rankings?

To find out, we used a data scraper to collect the organic Google Maps results for both searches. We removed every sponsored listing and compared the first 28 Google Business Profiles shown for each phrase.

How We Conducted the Google Maps Test

We designed this as a simple comparison of two closely related local searches. We were not trying to prove that one profile field controls Google Maps rankings.

The searches represented nearly the same customer need. The main difference was the wording used to describe the service.

Did the Google Maps Rankings Meaningfully Change?

Yes, although Google did not replace the entire group of businesses.

Twenty-one of the 28 organic profiles appeared in both searches. In other words, 75% of the businesses overlapped.

Among the businesses appearing in both datasets, the median movement was two positions. The average absolute movement was approximately 3.2 positions.

Those numbers show that the searches were related, but not interchangeable. Several businesses moved six or more positions, and a change of only one or two positions can determine whether a company appears within the first three Google Maps results.

The Same Four Businesses Stayed at the Top

The four highest-ranking businesses remained the same. However, the businesses in the first three positions changed order.

Primal Pest Control moved from first to third. Orkin moved from second to first, and Alta Pest Control moved from third to second. Aptive Pest Control remained fourth.

Changing the phrase did not remove the strongest companies from the top of the results. It changed which company Google considered the strongest match for the first position.

The Top 10 Changed More Significantly

Seven businesses appeared in the top ten for both searches. Three businesses left the top ten, while three others entered it.

The rankings were similar enough to show that Google understood the searches as closely related, but different enough to create a noticeably different competitive order.

Business Names Showed the Strongest Pattern

The clearest pattern involved companies with “Exterminator” or “Exterminators” in their legitimate business names.

Every exterminator-named business appearing in both datasets improved when the search changed to “exterminator.”

Ace Exterminators and A-Better Exterminators each gained seven positions. Best Exterminators gained six. Arrow Exterminators and ApexExterminators were outside the first 28 results for “pest control” but entered the results for “exterminator.”

This is a meaningful pattern, but it does not prove that the business name was solely responsible for the movement.

A company using “Exterminators” in its real business name may also use similar wording across its website, service pages, directories, customer reviews, citations, and branding. Those signals could reinforce one another.

Services and Categories May Help Google Understand Relevance

Our scraper collected the businesses Google displayed and the order in which they appeared. It did not independently measure every service listed inside every Google Business Profile.

We therefore cannot claim that adding a specific service directly caused a business to rank higher.

What the comparison does show is that Google treated “pest control” and “exterminator” as related but distinct searches. Google had to decide which profiles were the most relevant match for each phrase.

Google explains that local results are primarily based on relevance, distance, and prominence. Relevance describes how well a business matches what someone is searching for.

Google’s official resources provide more information about local ranking factors, Business Profile categories, and adding services to a Business Profile.

One Ranking Does Not Represent Every Service

A pest control company could hold a different position for each of the following searches:

• Pest control
• Exterminator
• Termite treatment
• Bed bug exterminator
• Rodent control
• Mosquito control
• Commercial pest control

Each phrase communicates a slightly different need. Businesses should make sure their Google Business Profiles and websites clearly explain the full range of services they genuinely provide.

Some Businesses Moved Without Matching the Search in Their Names

Business names showed the most obvious pattern, but they did not explain every large movement.

Pest Defense Solutions OKC moved from position 23 for “pest control” to position 14 for “exterminator,” gaining nine positions without using “exterminator” in its name.

Reliable Termite Co moved in the opposite direction. It fell from position 15 to position 26, a loss of 11 positions.

“Reliable Termite Co” describes a narrower pest service than either broad search. Google may have considered the company less relevant to the broader “exterminator” phrase during this test.

Distance, categories, service listings, website content, reviews, prominence, and normal ranking changes may also have contributed.

How This Connects to Other Google Maps Ranking Factors

Relevance is only one part of Google Maps visibility.

In our previous article, How to Rank Higher on Google Maps: What Our Local Business Analysis Revealed , we compared ratings, review totals, review responses, recent photos, and profile completeness.

That analysis found that average ratings and review-response percentages had stronger relationships with ranking position than total review volume within the sample we studied.

Taken together, the two studies show why no single profile element completely explains a Google Maps ranking.

A relevant name or service may help Google understand a company, but the business must still compete based on distance, reviews, prominence, profile quality, website signals, and other factors.

Businesses that are not appearing for their main services should also read 5 Reasons Your Business Isn’t Showing Up on Google Maps .

Oklahoma City businesses can find additional local guidance in How to Rank Higher on Google Maps in Oklahoma City .

Should Businesses Add Keywords to Their Google Business Names?

No business should add words to its Google Business Profile name solely to influence rankings.

Google requires businesses to use the name they consistently use in the real world across signage, branding, stationery, and other customer-facing materials.

A company should not rename its profile to something like “Best Pest Control and Exterminator in Oklahoma City” unless that is genuinely the business’s established name.

Adding unnecessary keywords may violate Google’s guidelines and create problems for the profile. Google’s guidelines for representing a business explain how a legitimate business name should be entered.

What Local Businesses Should Do

A business cannot safely manufacture an exact-match name, but it can make its services and relevance easier for Google and customers to understand.

• Use the legitimate business name consistently. The same real-world name should appear on the Google Business Profile, website, directories, signage, and branding.
• Select the most accurate primary category. The primary category should represent the company’s main type of business.
• Add relevant secondary categories. Only select categories representing real and meaningful parts of the company’s work.
• Complete the services section. List the services customers can actually hire the company to perform.
• Create useful pages for major services. Explain the problem, solution, process, and service area for the company’s most important offerings.
• Track more than one search phrase. Monitor the broad category and the individual services that produce meaningful revenue.
• Do not judge visibility from one search. A strong position for one keyword does not mean customers can find the company for every service.

Limitations of This Analysis

This comparison showed that two closely related searches produced meaningful differences in Google Maps order. It also identified a consistent pattern among businesses with “Exterminator” in their legitimate names.

The responsible conclusion is that changing the wording changed how Google ordered the results. Business names showed a noticeable relationship with those movements, while categories, services, and other relevance signals may also have influenced which profiles Google considered the best matches.

Final Takeaway

Searching for “pest control” and “exterminator” did not produce two completely different sets of companies. Most businesses appeared in both datasets, and the four most visible profiles remained the same.

The order still changed in ways that mattered.

Businesses with “Exterminator” in their legitimate names made some of the largest gains. Two additional exterminator-named businesses entered the results. At the same time, companies without an exact-match name continued to occupy the strongest positions.

A business name may help communicate relevance, but it is not a replacement for accurate categories, complete service information, strong reviews, useful website content, proximity, and prominence.

Local businesses should stop asking only, “Where do I rank on Google Maps?” A more useful question is, “Which of my services can customers actually find me for?”