Most-Reviewed Firm Won Just 30 of 100 Google Map Pack Searches, PlatinumProfile Study Finds
The personal injury firm with the most Google reviews in a given market won the top map pack position in only 30 of 100 local searches, according to a study released by PlatinumProfile.
The study collected 2,000 Google Business Profile placements across 20 US cities in August 2026, covering five query types: personal injury, car accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, and slip and fall. It captured 773 distinct law firm profiles.
Review count showed little relationship to first-place finishes. Of the 100 profiles that ranked first, 52 had fewer than 1,000 reviews, 28 had fewer than 500, and 14 had fewer than 250. First-place finishes were spread almost evenly across every review band measured, from under 250 reviews to more than 2,500.
One attribute was universal. All 100 first-place profiles used "Personal injury attorney" as their primary Google category. No firm ranked first in these searches on a different primary category.
Hours settings showed a weaker effect than the raw number suggests. While 94 of the 100 winning profiles were set to open 24 hours, so were 87 percent of all 2,000 profiles measured, making the setting closer to table stakes than an advantage.
The average rating among first-place profiles was 4.82.
"Firms assume the map pack is a review contest, so they spend years accumulating reviews and wonder why they still aren't in the three-pack," said Jacob Malherbe, founder of PlatinumProfile. "The data says review volume is not what separates the top result from the rest. Primary category was the only attribute every single winner shared."
PlatinumProfile manages Google Business Profile optimisation for personal injury law firms, covering category and services configuration, NAP consistency, LocalBusiness schema, weekly Google Posts, review response, rank tracking, and suspension recovery. The service is $2,000 per month with no setup fee and no long-term contract, billed month to month after a 90-day measurement window.
Full methodology and the underlying placement data are available on request.