We track Google Places rank, but analyzing your Places with regard to optimization may not be too productive – that’s what most people think.
The Places Pack rank is about physical proximity – the distance between 2 locations that may be true and you can read about it here https://moz.com/blog/proximity-to-searcher-is-new-top-local-search-ranking-factor
However what the above article fails to mention is that…
a listing in the Places Pack is an indication that Google understands your business is local
Therefore, if you are in the Places Pack, it should be possible to get the Business Card instead with some optimization.
- Work your SEO to get your business to show up as a Business Card.
- Know your hyperlocal search rank so you know exactly WHERE you have to pay for ads to beat those Places competitors.