How does a landscaping company in Ontario get more customers from Google Maps and AI search?

Google Maps and AI search both reward the same thing: a business that looks real, relevant, and well reviewed in many places. Here is what to do, and what our August 2026 study showed.

What does Google use to rank a landscaper in Maps?

Google’s help pages say local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. Distance is how far you are from the searcher. Prominence is how well known you are, based on things like links from other websites and your reviews.

Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Anyone who sells you a ranking is selling something Google says does not exist.

How do I set up my Google Business Profile?

Follow these steps.

1. Verify your business, so Google knows you are authorized to represent it.
2. Pick the category that best matches what you do.
3. Fill in your hours, phone number, and a clear description of your services.
4. Add real photos and videos of finished work.
5. Keep everything up to date. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to appear in local results.

Should I show my address or a service area?

Most landscapers drive to the customer. Google defines a service-area business as one that visits customers but does not serve them at its own address. If that is you, remove your address and list your service areas instead.

Google lets you set up to 20 service areas, by city or postal code. You cannot set a radius. Google also says your overall area should not be more than about 2 hours of driving from where you are based. Be specific and accurate. Edits can take up to 48 hours to show.

How do I get more Google reviews?

Reviews feed prominence, and our study shows they matter in AI answers too. Ask every happy customer, soon after the job. Google says you can share a review link or a QR code.

Do not offer discounts or free work in exchange for reviews. Google calls this fake and misleading content and prohibits it. In Canada, misleading reviews can also raise problems under the Competition Act, which the Competition Bureau enforces.

If you ask by email or text, remember that CASL covers commercial electronic messages. Get consent first and check the rules for your situation.

Reply to reviews, including bad ones. Keep replies short, personal, and calm.

What does AI search do differently?

We asked ChatGPT, with web search on, who the best landscaper is in each of 39 Ontario towns. We also searched Google Maps for the same towns. The study asked one question per town and trade, so treat the figures as a snapshot, not a rule.

Being first in Maps did not mean being first in the AI answer. Across all 10 trades, the Maps leader was the AI first pick in 28.2% of questions.

Where does AI get its answers?

Mostly from third-party sites, not from company websites. Across all trades, the most cited was homestars.com, with 453 citations, or 27.3% of third-party citations. Then came reviews.birdeye.com, proscore.ca, threebestrated.ca, and bbb.org. The top five third-party sites made up 67.1% of citations.

So claim and complete your profiles on the review and directory sites that appear in your area. Keep your name, address, and phone number identical everywhere.

Do I need a website?

Yes, but do not expect it to do the work alone. Across all 10 trades, only 6.6% of AI citations went to a business’s own site. Build a clear page for each service and each town you serve, with real project photos. That helps relevance in Maps and gives AI tools accurate facts to read.

Where Georgian Bay SEO fits

Georgian Bay SEO is a local SEO agency in Collingwood, Ontario, and we run this site. Judge any agency, including us, by the checks on this page. Ask whether they follow Google’s rules, avoid paid review schemes, and promise no rankings.