How much los angeles Google maps ranking factors 2018

I'm going to assume you're asking about the ranking factors that influenced Google Maps results in Los Angeles back in 2018, since that's the most useful interpretation of your question.

In 2018, Google Maps rankings in competitive markets like Los Angeles were heavily influenced by the same core factors that still matter today, though the algorithm has evolved. Distance from the searcher's location was absolutely critical—a business's physical proximity to where someone was searching determined much of the visibility. Relevance came second, meaning your business category and how well your Google Business Profile matched the search query made a real difference. A plumber searching in Los Angeles would see results weighted toward plumbing businesses with accurate categorization. Authority was the third pillar, and this involved review signals like the number and quality of customer reviews on Google, as well as citations across the web. A business with 200 five-star reviews outranked competitors with five reviews consistently. Completeness of your Google Business Profile also mattered—having a full description, regular posts, photos, and all business information filled in gave you ranking advantages over incomplete profiles.

The competitive landscape in Los Angeles specifically meant these factors were more pronounced than in smaller markets. Because major cities have hundreds of businesses in every category, Google's algorithm had to rely more heavily on these signals to determine relevance. If you were ranking a local business in LA in 2018, your practical priorities should have been ensuring your Google Business Profile was completely filled out and optimized, generating legitimate customer reviews consistently, getting listed on relevant local directories with consistent name, address, and phone number information, and making sure your website's on-page content aligned with local search intent. Unlike today where link quality matters more in local rankings, 2018 weighted reviews and local citations more heavily. The takeaway for your agency work is that fundamentals like profile completeness and review generation drove most of the ranking movement—flashy tactics mattered far less than consistent execution of these basics.