Vicinity update
Also called: November 2021 local search update, Google November 2021 local update, Vicinity local algorithm update
The Vicinity update is Google's local search algorithm change from late 2021 (rolled out November 30 to December 8) that increased the weight of physical proximity in Map Pack rankings and cut the ranking boost businesses got from stuffing keywords into their Google Business Profile name.
What actually changed
Google confirmed the update on December 16, 2021, calling it plainly “a rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results.” Google never named it; the local SEO community (led by Sterling Sky) coined “Vicinity.” It was the biggest shift to the local algorithm since Possum in 2016.
Two things moved. Distance from the searcher started to count for much more, so one office could no longer blanket a whole metro. Map Pack results zoomed in and showed a wider spread of nearby businesses. At the same time, the old trick of naming a profile “Best Personal Injury Lawyer Chicago” lost most of its punch. Sterling Sky’s research found firms with keyword-stuffed names losing 80 to 90 percent of their 3-pack rankings, while legitimately named, established firms that had never ranked suddenly surfaced, one going from zero to 248 top-3 rankings.
None of Google’s three published local factors (relevance, distance, and prominence) changed by name. What shifted was their weighting: distance up, and the fake relevance signal from a keyword-stuffed name down. The practical takeaway has held since: your registered business name should be your real name, and being physically close to the people searching matters more than it used to.
How it affects your traffic
Since Vicinity, your Map Pack visibility depends more on genuinely being near the searcher and less on gaming your profile name. If competitors lost rankings from name stuffing, there is room to take their spots with a clean profile, real reviews, and strong location signals. If you slipped because you served a wide radius from one address, you likely need location pages, local citations, or additional verified locations to hold ground. Our Local SEO work audits your Google Business Profile against these post-Vicinity weightings and builds the proximity and prominence signals that still move local rankings.
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