How to choose Google Maps queries that find the right businesses

Start with what your customer does, not with your product. If you sell a solution for transport operators, ‘transport management software’ describes your offer and may lead to its suppliers. ‘transport company London’ is a more suitable starting point for finding customers. Then check what type of transport the businesses you find actually provide.

Visit the websites of a few businesses that already fit your customer profile. Note the terms they use to describe their activities. Distinguish terms that refer to different business models: manufacturer, wholesaler and store are not three versions of the same thing. Similarly, freight forwarding does not establish that a company carries goods itself. A useful query captures a distinction that matters to your offer.

Do not start with a long list of cities and similar terms. First test a broad business description, then a more specific version in the same city. This helps you assess whether the change in wording leads to a different type of business. If you change both the term and the location, the difference between the results will be harder to understand.

Suppose you are interested in transporting goods, not passengers. The series below is a comparison plan, not a promise that version B will be more relevant. Run trial C after assessing the first two. If neither term finds the right customer type, refine the business description before expanding the area.

Once the data has been collected, open the campaign in your dashboard and check what the businesses do. A listing's name or category may not be enough. Review the website: does the company actually transport goods, what services does it describe and where does it operate? Assess both trials against the same criteria so that the basis for comparison stays consistent.

Record one relevant and one irrelevant result, with a reason for each assessment. This is more useful than a general comment such as ‘poor list’. Repeated businesses do not necessarily indicate an error: related queries can find the same companies. What matters is whether another version adds new, suitable businesses or helps you identify the right group.

Keep the versions whose purpose you can explain. One may describe the core activity well, another a specific specialism, and a third the same segment in a different city. Avoid combining several locations in a single query, such as ‘transport London Manchester Birmingham’. Separate queries help keep your review organised.

If two versions produce very similar results, note that instead of automatically adding more synonyms. If you change your target customer or sales objective, give a separate campaign a name that makes the difference clear. Assess search relevance separately from willingness to talk: finding the right business activity does not tell you whether a company needs your offer.