Yes, a boutique real estate agency can outrank the big brokerages on Google, and it doesn't take a 300-agent roster to do it. It takes a well-maintained Google Business Profile for every agent, kept up consistently. I tested it live: when you search "best real estate agent in Jericho NY," our 20-agent brokerage owns the top three spots in the map pack, while in nearby towns where the national brands have offices with 300+ agents, nobody owns anything. Size buys you a logo on the sign. It doesn't buy you the map.
🎥 Watch the full search below. No script, no edits, just Google.
Why Did I Even Run This Search?
Someone emailed me a question, and it's one I hear constantly from Realtors, sales agents and local business owners: does a Google Business Profile really matter that much?
Short answer: more than almost anything else you're doing online.
A little background. Besides running AskAuggie and Ask8, I'm a licensed real estate agent in New York and a partner and the Chief Marketing Officer at Integrity Core Realty in Jericho. When I came on board about two years ago, one of the first things I did was tighten up every agent's Google Business Profile. My theory was simple: when somebody in Jericho Googles a real estate agent, one of our agents should pop up.
Because honestly, how do you not own your own neighborhood?
Then the other day I Googled it, almost by accident, and my reaction was, "Holy poopers." So I hit record.
What Showed Up in Jericho
Here's what came up for "best real estate agent in Jericho NY":
The map pack (top 3): all three spots are our agents. All of them.
The full Places list: we hold four of the top five. One big, high-volume team snuck in between, and that's fine.
A brand-new profile is already ranking. One of our agents set up her profile only about six months ago, and she's already near the top. That's how fast a properly built profile can move.
Google's AI answer: the first agent it cited was one of ours, and our people were in the first three citations.
For a boutique agency with about 20 full-time agents, that's not luck. It's maintenance.
Now Compare That to the Big Brands
Next I ran the same search for Manhasset and Great Neck. Those towns have offices from big national, even worldwide, brands, some with 300+ agents. I'm not naming them. You can probably guess.
What came up was a mix: a few agents from one big brand, a couple from another, an independent team, and some solo agents. Several of the top spots were sponsored ads, meaning someone paid to be there. One "local" result was a Manhattan agency that only showed up because it was running an ad.
Even when two agents from the same big brand showed up, they weren't from the same office.
No single agency owned either town. Not one. These are big companies with strong offices, plenty of agents and a marketing budget way bigger than ours, and none of them controls their own backyard on Google.
That's the whole point. Google doesn't rank the logo on your sign. It ranks the profile.
"But Google Knows You, Auggie"
Fair. Google personalizes results, so I opened an incognito window and ran the Jericho search again.
The Map Results Held
Our agents were still all over the map results. That's the Google Business Profile doing its job, and it's the part that sends real phone calls.
The AI Answer Shifted
Google's AI answer was different this time. One of our agents was still in there, hanging on for dear life, but the rest of the list changed.
Here's the honest part: AI search is what we're still working on. AI answers do use your Google Business Profile as a signal, but they also pull from reviews on other sites, directories, articles, and anything else that mentions you. A strong profile gets you in the conversation. It doesn't guarantee the AI picks you every time.
So if you've nailed your profile and still aren't showing up in ChatGPT or Google's AI Mode, that's the next layer. It's not a sign you did the first part wrong.
What Does a "Well-Maintained" Google Business Profile Actually Mean?
Plenty of agents have a profile. Very few maintain one. Here's the difference.
The Basics, Done Right
Accurate, consistent info. Name, address, and phone match everywhere you're listed: your website, Zillow, Realtor.com, your brokerage page, Facebook.
The right categories. Your primary category is the one Google weighs most, so set it to what you actually do.
A complete profile. Service areas, services, hours, description, website link. Blank fields are a missed chance.
The Ongoing Stuff (Where Most Agents Quit)
A steady flow of reviews. Not 30 in one month and then nothing for a year. Consistency beats a burst.
Replying to reviews. All of them, good and bad. Try to embed your service keyword into the review; if the client could, that would be great.
Fresh photos and posts. Listings, closings, the neighborhood. Activity tells Google you're open for business.
Keeping it current. Real example: an agent who recently moved to another brokerage still shows up under our old address, because the profile hasn't been updated. Google keeps what you give it until you tell it otherwise.
None of this is complicated. It's just consistent. That's exactly why a small team that actually does it can beat a 300-agent office that doesn't.
What If You're at a Big Brokerage?
Good news: this works for you too. Your brokerage's brand doesn't rank you on the map; your profile does. An agent at a 300-agent office with a sharp, active profile can beat the coworkers who set theirs up once and forgot about it.
And if you're a broker or team leader, ask yourself the question I asked two years ago: do we own our own neighborhood? If the answer is no, you know where to start.
Here's the takeaway. A boutique agency can outrank the big brands on Google, and in Jericho, ours does. Brand size didn't win the map. Well-maintained Google Business Profiles did. AI search is the next frontier, and it pulls from more than your profile, but the profile is still the foundation. Google yourself the way a client would. If you don't like what you see, that's your to-do list.
Want a second set of eyes? I run digital audits for agents and local businesses all the time. Send yours in here, or reach out by email, phone or on social.
And if this helped, subscribe to AskAuggie so the next one lands in your inbox.
All The Best To Your Success.