Updated 25 October 2026 to match Google Ads' current help pages.
When someone searches Google Maps for "pharmacy near me" or "coffee", they're usually ready to go somewhere soon. Ads on Google Maps let your business show up at that moment, above or alongside the free results.
Here's how Google Maps ads work, what you need, and how to tell if they're paying off.
Free results first
Before you pay for anything, get your free listing right. Your Google Business Profile is what appears on Maps, whether someone finds you through an ad or not. Ads send people to it, so it needs to be complete and accurate: hours, address, phone, photos, reviews.
Google ranks its free local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Ads are a way to be seen beyond that, for example when you're a little further away, or new and still building reviews.
Where ads appear on Google Maps
Google Ads can show your locations:
- in Maps search results, marked as an ad, beside, above or below the free results, on the Maps app and on the web
- in local results on Google Search, the list with a map that appears for local searches
- as promoted pins, square pins on the map that Google has offered to some advertisers, which can highlight things like pick-up or delivery
Exactly which placements you get depends on your campaign type and settings, and Google changes them over time.
What you need to run ads on Maps
1. A verified Google Business Profile
Your locations come from your Business Profiles, so each location needs a verified, complete profile.
2. A Google Ads account with location assets
Location assets are how Google Ads knows where your business is. You link your Business Profile account to Google Ads, and your addresses can then show with your ads, including on Maps. Google Ads lets you use one type of location asset per account: your own locations from a Business Profile, or affiliate locations if you sell through other retailers.
3. The right campaign type
Google's guidance is that location assets work with Performance Max campaigns, and Search campaigns can show your address too. Performance Max for store goals is built for getting people to your locations. It promotes your stores across Search, Maps, YouTube, Gmail and Display, and works towards goals such as store visits, calls and direction requests.
Set your targeting around each location, write ads that mention the suburb or area, and use the same opening hours as your profile.
Tips for local ads
- Start with your best locations. Test with a few stores before you roll out to all of them.
- Match the ad to the moment. "Open till 9 tonight" or "Free parking" works better on Maps than a general brand message.
- Keep your profile current. An ad that sends someone to a store that's closed, or a wrong phone number, wastes the money you spent.
- Use offers. Pair ads with an offer post on your profile.
Are your ad results real?
This is where many local campaigns go wrong. Store visits and direction requests are estimates. Tracking breaks quietly, and accounts change without anyone noticing. If the numbers are off, every budget decision built on them is off too.
Before you spend more, check:
- Is conversion tracking working on every location's landing page?
- Do calls and direction requests in Google Ads roughly match what your Business Profile performance report shows?
- Has anything in the account changed recently, and did someone approve it?
Campaign Intelligence, in early access, does this check for you. With your permission, we connect to your ad accounts and analytics and first check the numbers are real. Then we read performance against your own history and propose a short, ranked list of changes for you to approve. We never run your accounts, and we're never paid more when your budget grows. It starts with a fixed-fee measurement check.
For keeping every location's profile accurate, which every Maps ad depends on, see Local Intelligence and how we help multi-location brands.