Many are used to seeing Google’s local 3-pack appearing near the top of the search results – underneath the AdWords ads with occasionally a single organic result above the local 3-pack. This means that instead of the lcoal 3-pack appearing above the fold, it won’t show up until either near the bottom of the fold or requiring the searcher to scroll to see it.
I spotted a test where Google is placing the local 3-pack near the bottom of the organic results, and they are testing multiple positions. This one showed the local 3-pack after the 7th organic result:
And this one showed after the 9th organic result, leaving just a single organic result to display after the 3-pack:
Depending on where a local business appears in the local 3-pack or organic results, local SEOs either love or hate the fact the 3-pack has such high priority in the search results page. So this new test will be sure to get the attention of those whose listings appear prominently in the 3-pack but do not do as well in organic.
These appears to be a limited test, but it will be interesting to see if Google expands this further or not.
Added: Nick Rink shared this screenshot, with the local 3-pack appearing after the 8th result.
And Ryan Joos shared this one:
