Linda Buquet shared in her Local Search Forums a Google Maps ranking trick that she is even surprised that work.
She acknowledges that having keyword and city name in your business listing name works well for ranking in Google Maps or Local results. But when you do keyword stuffing in your name, typically, Google is good at filtering that out.
In Google Map Maker you can add alternate names for your business, but those names should be similar to your real business name.
She said she spotted an example of one of these listings that had 33 additional alternate fake names and those names were ranking well and securing 3-pack listings in Google.
She is not suggesting local SEOs go out and spam, but rather when doing consulting work, they should review the competition and see if they are taking this approach. If so, report them.
Linda goes through way more detail, with more examples in the forum thread.
Forum discussion at Local Search Forums.
