B2B local SEO is the work that gets a company selling to other businesses onto Google Maps and into local results when a buyer searches for a process or a supplier nearby: it rests on a Google Business Profile, which only businesses that meet customers in person are allowed to have, and on a website page for each process you offer. On 11 November 2026 we ran 12 Italian searches for industrial suppliers with a city name: Google showed the map with businesses in 9 of them, and 17 of the 36 businesses in those maps had fewer than 10 reviews.
In other words: in B2B the map is almost always there, and the competition on it is surprisingly thin.
Yet many of the manufacturers we work with treat Google Business Profile as something for restaurants.
The three mistakes we see most often:
- assuming local SEO doesn't apply to companies that sell to businesses, because "our customers don't walk in";
- opening the profile at the registered office address or at an unstaffed office, which Google does not accept;
- working only on the website and leaving the map to competitors with four reviews.
Here is an example we know well. Macropix makes custom LED screens in Milan and, as we describe in the Macropix case study, it went from nowhere to first position for "ledwall", a search made 4,400 times a month in Italy.
When we searched "ledwall milano" from Milan on 11 November 2026, the Macropix website appeared twice in the organic results, in third and sixth position.
And on the map?
Above those results sat four competitor profiles, with 17, 17, 5 and 8 reviews. One of them is literally named "noleggio ledwall Milano" (LED wall hire Milan).
That is the gap between B2B SEO and B2B local SEO: two different rankings on the same page. In this guide you will find:
- our survey of 12 supplier searches with a city, including categories and reviews of the 36 businesses on the map;
- when a B2B company is eligible for a profile under Google's guidelines, and when it isn't;
- category, name, reviews and pages set up for companies that sell to other companies;
- what AI answers read when a buyer asks for a supplier nearby.
Let's get into it.
What a buyer sees when searching for a local supplier (12 Italian searches, 11 November 2026)
When a buyer adds a city to a search for an industrial process, Google responds as it would for a plumber: a map with four businesses, then the websites. We measured it on 12 Italian B2B searches, on mobile, with DataForSEO.
| Search (English meaning) | Map | AI Overview | Reviews of businesses on the map |
|---|---|---|---|
| carpenteria metallica brescia (steel fabrication) | yes | yes | 17, 11, 7, 6 |
| stampaggio plastica treviso (plastic moulding) | no (single profile) | yes | 5 |
| lavorazioni cnc bologna (CNC machining) | yes | yes | 9, 6, 3, 3 |
| imballaggi industriali milano (industrial packaging) | yes | yes | 238, 2, 13, 1 |
| noleggio carrelli elevatori verona (forklift hire) | yes | yes | 23, 66, 76, 19 |
| pulizie industriali torino (industrial cleaning) | yes | yes | 91, 60, 14, 119 |
| trattamenti galvanici vicenza (electroplating) | no (single profile) | yes | 4 |
| taglio laser lamiera bergamo (sheet metal laser cutting) | yes | no | 6, 17, 4, 14 |
| fornitore materiale elettrico modena (electrical wholesaler) | yes | yes | 746, 41, 70, 51 |
| manutenzione impianti industriali padova (plant maintenance) | no (single profile) | yes | 7 |
| verniciatura industriale reggio emilia (industrial coating) | yes | yes | 7, 14, 7, 4 |
| officina meccanica di precisione varese (precision engineering) | yes | yes | 2, 1, 1, 2 |
Four numbers to take away:
- the map appears on 9 searches out of 12, and on the other 3 Google still shows a single business profile;
- the median is 12 reviews: half of the 36 businesses on the map have fewer, and 10 have fewer than 5;
- in metalworking the bar drops further: in Varese the four workshops on the map have between 1 and 2 reviews each;
- the AI Overview appears on 11 searches out of 12, all but one.
The only searches with profiles carrying hundreds of reviews are the ones where customers actually come to the counter: the electrical wholesaler (746) and packaging (238).
These are Italian searches, so treat them as a picture of one market rather than a UK benchmark. In our guide to B2B we read 8 Italian searches for contract manufacturing without a city, and the map showed on all of them. With a city the pattern holds: even companies that only sell to businesses win part of their enquiries on Maps.
Local SEO and B2B SEO: two rankings on one page (and why Macropix isn't on the map)
B2B SEO ranks the website in the organic results; B2B local SEO ranks the Google Business Profile on the map and in local results. The two use different levers: according to Whitespark's Local Search Ranking Factors 2026, the profile carries 32% of the weight in the map pack and links 8%, while in local organic results on-page factors rise to 33% and links to 24%.
The "ledwall milano" search shows it clearly.
Macropix has spent years on its website, with one page per application and one per major installation: the method we describe in our guide to manufacturing SEO. The result: two organic positions on page one.
The map uses other criteria. Google says so in its guide to local ranking: relevance, distance and prominence. A strong website helps prominence; it does not replace a profile with the right category and reviews.
So do I have to choose?
No. A company selling to businesses needs both, and the overall strategy for a B2B website is in our guide to B2B SEO. Here we cover only the part that guide doesn't: the map.
Top of Google, missing from the map
It happens to many B2B companies: the website ranks, the profile doesn't, and map enquiries go to competitors with ten reviews. This is where we start: profile eligibility, category, reviews asked for at the right moment and tracking of quote requests.
Book a strategy callCan a B2B company have a Google Business Profile? (yes, if you meet customers in person)
Yes, if the business has in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. Google's business eligibility guidelines say: "To qualify for a Business Profile, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours." There is no special rule for companies that only sell to businesses: this one applies.
In B2B there are three typical situations.
- A plant or office customers actually visit (collections, acceptance tests, technical visits, trade counter): a profile with a visible address, like the workshops in our survey.
- Engineers or installers who go to the customer (maintenance, industrial cleaning, fitting): a service-area profile with the address hidden. Google's service area rules allow up to 20 areas and ask you to stay within about 2 hours' drive of your base.
- Remote-only work (software, consulting by video call, online catalogue sales): no profile. Google explicitly excludes online-only businesses and lead generation companies.
Two common traps, both covered in the guidelines for representing your business on Google.
The first: the virtual office. A registered address without staff is not eligible, even if the address is real.
The second: a registered office that differs from the operating site. The profile belongs at the site where you work, not at your accountant's.
How to set up a service area step by step is in our guide to the Google Business Profile service area. If you have several plants, use one profile per site: see Google Business Profile with multiple locations.
Category, name and hours: the three settings B2B companies get wrong
The primary category is the field that weighs most on the map: in the Whitespark 2026 report it is the top single factor for the local pack. The problem for a B2B company is that Google's list is built for the public, and industrial categories are few and generic.
In our survey the 36 businesses on the map used 16 different category labels. On the four metalworking searches, 8 profiles out of 16 used "Lavorazione dei metalli" (metalworking, sometimes shown as "Lavorazione metalli"), 4 "Officina per lavorazioni metalliche" (metal workshop), 2 a steel fabrication category and 2 "Torneria" (turning shop).
One telling detail: on "pulizie industriali torino" (industrial cleaning, Turin), one of the four companies on the map was categorised as a home cleaning service. It still showed up, but for an industrial buyer it sends the wrong signal.
Google's rules on business categories come down to two: one primary category that best describes the business, and additional categories for special departments or services, without picking one for every product. We go deeper in our guide to Google Business Profile categories.
On the name, the rule is strict: it must be your real-world name, with no services or locations added. The "noleggio ledwall Milano" profile above is the textbook case, and how to report it is in Google Maps spam.
On hours, B2B has a useful exception: the guidelines say businesses that operate only by appointment shouldn't provide hours. If your warehouse only receives by booking, that's you.
Reviews from business customers (a few are enough, but they have to arrive)
Reviews are the second lever on the map: in the Whitespark report they carry 20% of the weight in the local pack. In B2B you need far fewer than a restaurant, because your competitors have few.
The median in our survey was 12.
That means a company with 15 genuine reviews is above the median: on 6 of the 9 maps we read, it would have more than at least half the businesses shown. The exceptions were forklift hire, industrial cleaning and the electrical wholesaler, where profiles on the map had dozens or hundreds of reviews.
But do industrial buyers write reviews?
Rarely on their own. You have to ask, and in B2B the right moment exists: delivery, acceptance testing, the sign-off on a job. The person who writes it is the technical contact or the purchasing office, not the customer's owner.
Google's rules are clear and apply here too. In its tips to get more reviews Google allows you to ask with a link or a QR code. The prohibited and restricted content policy bans incentives, paid reviews and selectively asking only happy customers.
It also bans content based on a conflict of interest: reviews from your suppliers or your sales agents don't count.
How to build the request is in our guide to Google reviews; the code to print on your delivery note or test certificate is in Google review QR code.
Pages per process and per area (where the map doesn't reach)
The website remains the main B2B channel, even on searches with a city: in our survey companies held 38 of the 60 slots in the top five organic results. But it is specific pages that rank, not home pages.
Three searches out of 12 had no map. There, only the website competes.
The rule we apply is the same as in the Macropix case: one page per process or application, with materials, tolerances, machines and installed projects. Of the nine keywords that bring Macropix the most enquiries, none contains the company name.
Location pages are a different matter. They work where you have a site, a warehouse or engineers who actually work in that area; elsewhere they become copy-and-paste pages. We cover them in location pages and SEO and, for companies that want to be found outside their home area, in ranking in another city.
Business directories and trade association listings (the citations that matter in B2B)
Citations are mentions of a company's name, address and phone number on other websites. On the map they carry little weight, 6% according to Whitespark, but in B2B they are also a direct source of traffic.
In our Italian survey, directories held 15 of the 60 top-five organic slots and appeared on 11 searches out of 12. On 3 searches they ranked first.
Two Italian directories, Pagine Gialle and Pagine Bianche (the Yellow Pages and White Pages), held 13 of those 15 slots.
The other interesting case: for "verniciatura industriale reggio emilia" (industrial coating), the top five included the member directory of Confindustria Emilia, the regional industry association. For a B2B company, a listing in its trade association's directory is a local citation and a trust signal at once.
The check is simple: name, address and phone number identical to your Google profile on every one of these sources. How to do it without paying for a tool is in local citations.
B2B local SEO and AI answers (what AI Overviews and ChatGPT read)
On B2B searches with a city, the AI Overview is almost always there: 11 out of 12 in our survey. And where the full answer could be read, it named companies along with their websites.
For "ledwall milano" the AI Overview listed seven suppliers and cited their websites, not directories. For "noleggio carrelli elevatori verona" (forklift hire, Verona) it cited six company websites and no portals.
For AI answers the levers are a little different from the map. In the Whitespark 2026 report, visibility in AI answers depends 24% on on-page factors, 16% on reviews, 13% on citations and 12% on the profile.
We also asked ChatGPT, with web search on, how to do local SEO for a B2B company that doesn't receive customers on site. The answer cited Google's guidelines as its source and separated companies that meet customers in person from those that only work remotely.
So a page that clearly states what you do, where and for whom is the same page Google reads and the one AI summarises. Nobody can guarantee a citation, but a company with a consistent profile, recent reviews and process pages has what AI answers draw on. Our full test on local searches is in local AI visibility.
How to measure B2B local SEO (enquiries, not visits)
In B2B the metric is the qualified quote request, not the visit or the generic call. Your profile shows calls, website clicks and direction requests; to know which become quotes you need one more step.
Two things to do now:
- add a UTM parameter to the website link in your profile, so Google Analytics separates visits from Maps from organic ones;
- ask sales where every enquiry came from and log it in the CRM, because the profile alone can't tell a quote request from a wrong number.
What to watch in your profile dashboard, and what to ignore, is in our guide to Google Business Profile insights. For a full check of your local presence, start with a local SEO audit, or talk to us about our SEO services.
B2B local SEO: frequently asked questions
Yes, if it meets customers in person during its stated hours: on site for collections and acceptance tests, or at the customer's premises with engineers and installers. Google's guidelines have no separate rules for B2B. Businesses that only work remotely, online or by phone, are not eligible.
No. Google excludes virtual offices that aren't staffed during business hours. The profile belongs at the operating site where you work; if you visit customers rather than receiving them, set a service area and hide the address.
It depends on the search, but fewer than most expect: in our survey of 12 Italian searches on 11 November 2026, the median for the 36 businesses on the map was 12 reviews, and in Varese the four workshops shown had between 1 and 2. Category and distance matter too.
It depends: if you have a plant or engineers in the area, yes, because searches with a city showed the map on 9 out of 12 in our survey. For searches without a city, the main work remains the website, with one page per process.
No. Google's policy bans content based on a conflict of interest, as well as incentives and asking only satisfied customers. Reviews must come from real customers, for example after a delivery or an acceptance test.
Yes, if you meet customers in person at both: Google wants one profile per location, all with the same name. A warehouse no customer ever enters is not entitled to its own profile.
B2B local SEO in short (and what your customer's purchasing team sees)
The map appears on 9 B2B searches out of 12.
Half the businesses on the map have fewer than 12 reviews.
Only companies that meet customers in person qualify for a profile.
Precise category, real name, reviews requested at sign-off.
The website stays the main channel, with one page per process.
The full guide to local ranking factors is our local SEO guide; how to set up and run your profile from scratch is in Google Business Profile optimisation.
One last thought. Before ordering a batch from you, your customer's purchasing team has probably already searched your name on Google. What they see on the right, or at the top on mobile, is your profile: address, photos of the plant, latest reviews. For a buyer, your Google profile is the first informal background check on a supplier, and in our survey half the businesses on the map presented theirs with fewer than 12 reviews.
Speak soon!
