The Short Answer
Google's Maps 3-pack ranking is driven by three factors: proximity (how close your verified office is to the searcher or the searched location), relevance (how well your Business Profile matches the search intent), and prominence (your overall reputation and authority, including reviews and web presence). Proximity is largely outside your control, but relevance and prominence are both directly improvable.
What's Actually Within Your Control
Relevance is improved by accurate, specific categories and complete service listings — see how to optimize your Google Business Profile for the specifics. Prominence is improved by consistent NAP data across the web, a strong volume of genuine client reviews, and overall website authority.
Because proximity favors firms physically located near the searcher, a downtown Ottawa firm and a Kanata firm will naturally rank differently for searches centered on each area — which is exactly why service-area content genuinely tailored to different parts of the region (not just one generic 'Ottawa' page) helps capture searches happening across the sprawling geography of the city.
The Three 3-Pack Ranking Factors
Related Questions Ottawa Firms Ask
Firms asking this usually end up asking a handful of related questions too — How Important Are Client Reviews for Local SEO in Ottawa?, What's the Difference Between Local SEO and National SEO for an Ottawa Law Firm?, What Does a Technical SEO Audit for an Ottawa Law Firm Actually Check?, and What Keywords Should an Ottawa Law Firm Target for SEO? all sit close to this one. A few steps further out, How Often Should an Ottawa Law Firm Blog for SEO?, How Do Ottawa Law Firms Build Backlinks Ethically?, and Do Legal Directories Like Avvo and Justia Still Help SEO for Ottawa Firms? round out the picture. If you'd rather see how it all fits together as one system, the Ottawa hub is the place to start, with AI Website Design for Ottawa Law Firms and AI SEO for Ottawa Law Firms covering each half of the work in depth.