What It Takes to Reach the Google Maps Top 3 in the GTA: 11,429 Businesses Analyzed
Key findings
- Businesses in the Google Maps top 3 had a median of 134 reviews, about 3x the 42 of businesses ranked below 10th.
- Star ratings didn't separate them: the median was 4.9 in both groups.
- Top-3 profiles had twice as many photos (median 28 vs 14).
- 31% of GTA trades businesses had fewer than 10 reviews, the most of any industry we looked at.
- Only 10% of top-3 businesses had fewer than 20 reviews, compared with 32% of the rest.
Every local business owner in Toronto asks some version of the same question: why does that clinic, that law firm or that roofer show up in the top three on Google Maps, and not me? Agencies (us included) have opinions. We wanted numbers.
So we looked at 11,429 Google Maps listings across the Greater Toronto Area in five industries where local search decides who gets the call: dentists, health clinics, law firms, trades and real estate. Here's what the businesses at the top have in common, and what it means if you're not there yet.
How We Did It
On September 26, 2026, we collected Google Maps results for common local searches, like "dentist Scarborough", "family lawyer Downtown Toronto" and "roofing contractor Mississauga", across 12 GTA areas: Downtown Toronto, North York, Scarborough, Etobicoke, East York, Mississauga, Brampton, Oakville, Vaughan, Markham and Richmond Hill, plus searches for Toronto as a whole. For each listing we recorded its position in the results (1 to 100), rating, number of reviews, number of photos, whether the profile was claimed and whether it linked a website. Data was collected through the DataForSEO Google Maps API.
We compared the 290 listings that appeared in positions 1 to 3 with the 10,346 that appeared below position 10. All numbers are medians unless we say otherwise, because a few businesses with thousands of reviews would distort averages. We're reporting patterns across thousands of businesses, not naming any of them.
Top 3 vs Everyone Else
| Metric | Maps top 3 | Ranked below 10th |
|---|---|---|
| Median number of reviews | 134 | 42 |
| Median star rating | 4.9 | 4.9 |
| Median photos on the profile | 28 | 14 |
| Share with fewer than 20 reviews | 10% | 32% |
| Share with a website linked | 97% | 91% |
| Share with a claimed profile | 98% | 94% |
Two things stand out. First, review count matters far more than rating. Almost everyone has a 4.8 or 4.9. What the top businesses have is volume: three times as many people who took the time to write something. Second, the basics like a claimed profile and a linked website are nearly universal in the top 3, but they aren't what separates the top from the rest anymore. Almost everyone has done them.
Results by Industry
| Industry | Listings | Median reviews, top 3 | Median reviews, below 10th | Under 10 reviews |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dental | 1,174 | 372 | 158 | 3% |
| Clinics (physio, chiro, medical) | 2,620 | 217 | 81 | 11% |
| Law firms | 2,357 | 72 | 37 | 20% |
| Trades (roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, contractors) | 4,128 | 75 | 21 | 31% |
| Real estate | 1,150 | 115 | 46 | 9% |
| All five industries | 11,429 | 134 | 42 | 19% |
Dentists: the most crowded map in the GTA
Dental is the most review-heavy market we measured. Top-3 clinics had a median of 372 reviews, and even clinics ranked below 10th had 158. Almost every clinic has a claimed profile and a website. In a market this mature, a new clinic or one that hasn't asked for reviews consistently is competing against years of accumulated reviews. The clinics that win tend to have a review request built into every appointment.
Trades: the biggest opportunity
Trades were the opposite. Nearly a third of roofers, HVAC companies, plumbers, electricians and contractors had fewer than 10 reviews, and 13% didn't link a website at all. The top 3 had a median of about 75 reviews, which is reachable for an active trades business within a season if it asks every customer. If you're a contractor in the GTA, the bar for the map is lower than in almost any other industry we looked at.
Law firms: fewer reviews, higher stakes
Law firms had the fewest reviews of the professional industries: a median of 72 in the top 3 and 37 below 10th, and one in five firms had fewer than 10. Clients are often reluctant to review a lawyer publicly, which makes every genuine review count more. Firms also need to keep review requests within their law society's rules.
Clinics and real estate
Physio, chiro and medical clinics looked like a smaller version of dental (217 vs 81 reviews). Real estate agents in the top 3 had a median of 115 reviews versus 46 for the rest, with nearly all profiles claimed and linked to a website.
What This Means for Your Business
Google says local results come down to relevance (does your profile match the search), distance (how close you are) and prominence (how well known you are, which Google says includes reviews and your presence across the web). You can't move your office, but you can work on the other two.
- Find your gap. Search your main service and area, and count the reviews of the three businesses on the map. That's your target, not a national average.
- Ask every customer. Send a direct review link by text right after the job or appointment. Ask everyone, and don't offer anything in return; Google doesn't allow incentives or only asking happy customers.
- Add real photos. The top 3 had twice as many. Photos of your team, location and real work also help customers choose you.
- Make the profile match the search. The most specific primary category, every service listed, accurate hours and service areas.
- Answer the calls it brings. More map visibility means more calls. If they go to voicemail, the next business on the map gets them.
Limitations
This is a snapshot from one day, for specific searches and areas, and Maps results change with the searcher's location. It shows what top-ranked businesses have in common, not what causes their position: businesses that rank well also get more customers and therefore more reviews. We think the consistency of the gaps across five industries and 12 areas makes them worth acting on, but treat them as benchmarks, not rules.
Common Questions
How many reviews do you need to rank in the Google Maps top 3 in Toronto?
In our September 2026 data, the median business in the Google Maps top 3 across five GTA industries had 134 reviews, compared with 42 for businesses ranked below 10th. It varies a lot by industry: about 75 for trades and law firms, and about 370 for dentists. There's no fixed number, but being well below your local top 3 is a clear gap.
Does star rating affect Google Maps ranking?
In our data, star ratings barely separated the top from the rest: the median rating was 4.9 both in the top 3 and below 10th. Most businesses have high ratings, so the number of reviews stood out far more than the average rating.
What are Google's official local ranking factors?
Google says local results are based mainly on relevance (how well a profile matches the search), distance (how close the business is to the searcher or the location in the search) and prominence (how well known the business is, which Google says includes reviews, links and articles about it).
Is this study saying reviews cause higher rankings?
No. It shows what top-ranked businesses have in common, not what causes their rankings. Businesses that rank well also get more customers and so more reviews. But the gaps are large and consistent across industries, and they match what Google says about prominence.
Using this data? You're welcome to cite it with a link to this page. Related: Toronto SEO · Mississauga SEO · Brampton SEO · How much SEO costs in Toronto
Want to know your own map gap?
Book a free 30-minute call. We'll show where you rank on the map for your main search, how your profile compares with the top 3, and what would close the gap.
Written by Laith Nasrallah
Founder of Leonyx AI and an SEO specialist based in Mississauga, Ontario. Builds the SEO, AI receptionists and automation systems Leonyx AI ships for clients, and writes from firsthand implementation work rather than secondhand research.
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