Why your competitor shows up above you on Google

Your competitor usually shows up above you for one of a few ordinary reasons: they are closer to the person searching, they have more and newer reviews, their Google Business Profile is more complete, or their website has a clear page for exactly what was searched. Sometimes it is an ad, or a business name stuffed with keywords. Some of these you can change and some you cannot. Before you change anything, check what your customers actually see, because it is often different from what you see.

First, check what customers really see

The results you see on your own phone are not the same as everyone else's. Google adjusts them for:

Location. Someone searching from two miles north of you can get a different set of map results than someone two miles south.
Device. Phones and computers can show different layouts.
History. If you often visit your competitor's site, Google may show it to you more.

To get a fairer view:

Open a private or incognito window in your browser.
Search the way a customer would: "roof repair near me", "roofer Springfield".
Try it from a few places: at the shop, at home, in the town where you want more work.
Write down who appears in the map box and in the first few regular results each time.

You may find you are above them in some places and below in others. That is normal.

Ads are not rankings

Results marked "Sponsored" are paid ads. Your competitor may be paying for Google Ads, or for Local Services Ads, the boxes at the very top with a green check badge and a "Book" or "Call" button. Those spots are bought per click or per lead, not earned. If the only place they appear above you is in an ad, they are simply spending money on it. Whether you should too is a business decision, separate from your website.

The map results: distance, relevance and prominence

For local searches, the map box with three businesses is often what customers see first. Google says it chooses those results using three things:

Distance. How far the business is from the searcher, or from the area they searched for. You cannot change where you are, and a competitor closer to a big neighborhood will often appear there first. A service-area business can set its service areas, but Google still weighs where the business is based.

Relevance. How well the profile matches the search. This is where the details count:

Primary category. If your competitor's category is "Roofing contractor" and yours is "Contractor", theirs is a closer match for "roofer". Check that yours is the most specific one that fits.
Additional categories for other work you really do, such as "Gutter cleaning service".
Services listed in the profile.
Description that says plainly what you do.

Prominence. How well known and trusted the business seems. This draws on:

Reviews: how many, how recent, how good, and whether they mention the work.
Your website and the other sites that mention or link to you.
Activity: photos, answers to reviews, up-to-date hours.

Google Maps and getting your pin right covers the location side; reviews are covered in asking customers for reviews the right way.

The regular results: whose page answers the search

Below the map, the regular results are web pages. Here the question is whose page best answers what was typed.

Common reasons a competitor's page appears above yours:

They have a page for the exact service. Someone searches "metal roof installation", and they have a page called "Metal Roof Installation" while you have one "Services" page with a list.
They name the town. Their page says "We install metal roofs across Springfield, Nixa and Ozark." Yours never says where you work.
Their page title says what it is. "Metal Roofs in Springfield, MO | Ozark Roofing" against yours, "Home".
Their site works better on phones or loads faster.
They have been around longer, with more local sites linking to them over the years.
Your site has a problem: pages blocked from Google, old addresses broken after a redesign, or a hacked page.

When they are breaking the rules

Sometimes the reason is something they should not be doing. Look at their Business Profile:

Keywords stuffed into the business name. "Ozark Roofing - Best Roofer Springfield Roof Repair" when their sign says "Ozark Roofing". Google's guidelines say the name must match the real-world name.
A fake address, such as a mailbox store or an empty office, to appear in a town where they are not.
Several profiles for the same business.
Reviews that look bought, many in a few days, vague, from reviewers who review businesses all over the country.

You can report these. On the competitor's profile in Google Maps, click "Suggest an edit" to correct the name. For bigger problems, Google has a business redressal complaint form you can find through the Business Profile help center at support.google.com. Report facts, not opinions, and include screenshots. Then get back to your own business; you have more control there.

What you control

Concentrate on these, roughly in order of effort:

Your primary category. Change it to the most specific one that fits your main work.
Profile completeness. Hours, services, service areas, description, real photos, website address.
Reviews. Ask every happy customer, steadily, with your direct link. Reply to the ones you get.
A page for each main service on your website, with the service and the towns in the title, the heading and the first paragraph. Writing a page for each service you offer shows how.
Your phone layout and speed. Check your site on your own phone.
Consistent details on directories: same name, address and phone everywhere.
Local links, earned honestly: your chamber of commerce, suppliers, sponsorships, local news.

None of this guarantees you will appear above them. Nobody can promise that. What it does is remove the reasons Google has to prefer them.

What you cannot change, and should not worry about

Where they are located. If they sit in the middle of town and you are on the edge, they will often appear first for searches made in the middle of town.
How long they have been in business. Years of reviews and mentions add up. You catch up by doing the basics well, steadily.
Their ad budget. You do not have to match it.

What to do this week

Search for your main service in a private window from three different places, and note where you and they appear.
Compare your profile and theirs, field by field, and fix the gaps on yours.
Check your primary category.
Ask five happy customers for reviews this week.
If they are clearly breaking the rules, report it once, with screenshots, and move on.

If the gap is your website, with no page for the service and nothing about your towns, you can see your site rebuilt first, with a page for each service and old addresses kept working.