Chapter 25 — Quiz

Twenty-four self-check questions: multiple choice and short answer. Answers are in the collapsed block at the bottom — commit to an answer before you open it.

1. Google's documentation states that local results are based primarily on which three factors? - A) Keywords, backlinks, and content length - B) Relevance, distance, and prominence - C) Reviews, citations, and schema - D) Bid amount, budget, and quality score

2. Which of the three local factors can you fundamentally not optimize for a given searcher? - A) Relevance - B) Prominence - C) Distance (proximity) - D) All are equally controllable

3. The "local pack" (or "map pack") usually contains how many business listings? - A) One - B) Three - C) Ten - D) It varies randomly with no typical number

4. True or false: the local pack and the organic links below it are decided by the same ranking system.

5. What was Google Business Profile called before its 2021–2022 rename?

6. Which single Google Business Profile field most strongly shapes which searches you're eligible for? - A) Business description - B) Primary category - C) Opening date - D) The number of photos

7. Putting extra keywords in your Business Profile name (e.g., "Ace Plumbing — Emergency Drain Repair Fast") is best described as: - A) A recommended best practice - B) Harmless but pointless - C) A guidelines violation that can get the profile suspended - D) Required for ranking

8. According to Google's own documentation, which two review attributes are stated to "factor into local search ranking"?

9. True or false: Google has published the exact percentage weight that reviews carry in local ranking.

10. "Review gating" means: - A) Responding to every review - B) Soliciting reviews only from customers you expect to be happy - C) Displaying reviews behind a paywall - D) Verifying a reviewer's identity

11. A citation is: - A) A backlink from a high-authority site - B) Any online mention of a business's NAP, with or without a link - C) A legal notice from Google - D) A footnote in a blog post

12. Regarding citations, the chapter's honest position is that you should prioritize: - A) The largest possible number of directory listings - B) Consistency across a short list of quality sources - C) Only listings that carry a followed link - D) Paid directories exclusively

13. A doorway page in the local context is: - A) The homepage - B) A near-duplicate "[city] + service" page created mainly to rank, with no real unique local value - C) A contact page - D) A page blocked by robots.txt

14. True or false: a genuinely excellent location page, on its own, can win the local pack.

15. For a business that goes to its customers rather than receiving them (like a home-services company), the correct Google Business Profile setting to declare where it works — while hiding its street address — is: - A) A separate profile per city - B) The service-area business (SAB) setting - C) A virtual office listing - D) The "temporarily closed" flag

16. True or false: reviews earned at one branch of a multi-location business also count toward its other branches' profiles.

17. For local link building, the chapter argues that ______ often beats raw third-party "authority."

18. Which of these is a legitimate local link source? (Choose all that apply.) - A) The local chamber of commerce - B) A youth sports team you genuinely sponsor - C) A manufacturer's "find a certified installer" page - D) A private blog network you rent

19. True or false: there is a way to pay Google directly for a higher organic local-pack ranking.

20. Why is "near me" described in the chapter as somewhat of a red herring?

21. In the U.S., what changed in 2024 that made fake and paid reviews a legal risk, not just a Google-policy violation?

22. Short answer: name the two contests a location page and a Google Business Profile respectively compete in.

23. Short answer: a competitor is stuffing keywords into their profile name and outranking you. Give the book-consistent response (what you do, and what you don't do).

24. Short answer: explain, using proximity and prominence, why "we guarantee you'll rank #1 in the map pack" is a claim to distrust.

Answer key 1. **B.** Relevance, distance, and prominence (Google's stated factors). 2. **C.** Distance/proximity — you can't move closer to a given searcher; you influence relevance and prominence instead. 3. **B.** Usually three (hence "3-pack"). The expanded "local finder" shows more. 4. **False.** The pack is driven mainly by the Business Profile; the organic links are classic SEO tinted by location. 5. **Google My Business.** 6. **B.** Primary category. 7. **C.** A guidelines violation (the name must be your real-world business name) that risks suspension. 8. **Review count** and **review score** (rating). Google has *not* published their weight. 9. **False.** Google publishes no weights; any exact percentage is fabricated or a third-party estimate. 10. **B.** Soliciting reviews selectively from likely-happy customers — a prohibited practice. 11. **B.** Any online mention of the business's NAP, with or without a link. 12. **B.** Consistency across a short list of quality sources; volume is largely a vanity metric. 13. **B.** A near-duplicate location page created mainly to rank, with no real unique value for that place. 14. **False.** A great location page wins localized *organic* and reinforces the profile; the *pack* is the profile's contest. 15. **B.** The service-area business (SAB) setting (with a real, verified address behind it). 16. **False.** Reviews attach to a specific profile and do not transfer between locations. 17. **Relevance and locality** (a locally relevant, locally trusted link beats a higher-scoring but irrelevant one). 18. **A, B, C.** (D, a private blog network, is a link scheme — understand-and-avoid; see Chapter 24.) 19. **False.** You cannot pay for a better *organic* local ranking; Google states this outright. (Ads are a separate, labeled paid placement.) 20. Because Google now localizes almost every commercial query automatically, so results are local whether or not the literal words "near me" are typed. 21. The **Federal Trade Commission (FTC)** finalized a rule banning fake and paid reviews, with financial penalties — making it a legal matter, not only a platform-policy one. (This is a statement of a public rule, not legal advice.) 22. The **location page** competes in **localized organic** results; the **Google Business Profile** competes in the **local pack**. 23. You keep your own name honest, win on the factors you're allowed to (categories, reviews, prominence), and *report* the stuffed competitor via Google's redressal form. You do **not** imitate the violation. 24. Pack ranking depends on **proximity**, which differs for every searcher (no universal "#1"), and on **prominence**, which is earned over months and measured against competitors you don't control — so you can improve the *odds*, never guarantee the *position*.