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. 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 Vancouver firm and a Richmond or Surrey 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 helps capture searches happening across Metro Vancouver's sprawling geography.
The Three 3-Pack Ranking Factors
Related Questions Vancouver Firms Ask
Firms asking this usually end up asking a handful of related questions too — How Important Are Client Reviews for Local SEO in Vancouver?, What's the Difference Between Local SEO and National SEO for a Vancouver Law Firm?, What Does a Technical SEO Audit for a Vancouver Law Firm Actually Check?, and What Keywords Should a Vancouver Law Firm Target for SEO? all sit close to this one. A few steps further out, How Often Should a Vancouver Law Firm Blog for SEO?, How Do Vancouver Law Firms Build Backlinks Ethically?, and Do Legal Directories Still Help SEO for Vancouver Firms? round out the picture. If you'd rather see how it all fits together as one system, the Vancouver hub is the place to start, with AI Website Design for Vancouver Law Firms and AI SEO for Vancouver Law Firms covering each half of the work in depth.