Yandex.Maps and 2GIS for business in 2026: card optimization and promotion

Every month, 55 million people search for businesses on Yandex.Maps, another 75 million in 2GIS. However, most small businesses still maintain cards using the “create and forget” principle. I’m analyzing how geoservices work as a channel for attracting customers, and not just as a navigator.

I have been marketing local businesses since 2019 - coffee shops, dentists, car services, fitness clubs. On my current projects, geoservices provide from 18% to 34% of all incoming calls, and this is free traffic with a correctly filled out card. At the same time, not a single client came to me with a normally configured card from the beginning - there are always at least 5 critical spaces.

Yandex.Maps and 2GIS are not “where they will find me.” This is a full-fledged lead generation channel, which most competitors keep at zero. Your task is not to “be on the cards”, but to be the best there in 6 parameters at the same time.

1. Yandex.Maps vs 2GIS: where are your customers

Both services solve the same problem, but each has its own audience. Yandex.Maps are built into the ecosystem: search, Alice, Navigator, Yandex Browser. If a person Googles “dentistry nearby” via Yandex, he gets to the card. 2GIS is historically stronger in detail: diagrams inside a shopping center, routes by floor, category search in the style of the yellow pages.

According to the services themselves for 2025: Yandex.Maps - 55+ million MAU, 2GIS - 75+ million MAU (including third-party maps on their engine). But 2GIS counts unique users differently - including built-in maps in other applications. It's really difficult to compare. A rule of thumb: in Moscow and St. Petersburg Yandex.Maps is a little stronger, in the regions there is parity or a slight advantage of 2GIS.

2. Anatomy of a perfect card

Yandex evaluates cards based on “completeness”. This is no secret - in your Yandex Business personal account there is a direct indicator of occupancy. Cards with 90%+ completion receive a ranking boost. Check the list:

Title. Only the official name - no “Dentistry Health | dental treatment | Moscow". Keywords in the title are a direct violation of the rules, and the card may be frozen. The keys go to the description and services.

Categories. Yandex allows 1 main + up to 9 additional. 2GIS - 1 main + several categories. Fill in all that apply: dentistry appears for the queries “dentist”, “dental treatment”, and “whitening”. Each category is a separate entry point.

Photo. Minimum 10, optimal 20-30. The first three are the most important (preview in the SERP). Take photos of the entrance from the outside with a sign (the client should recognize the place), the interior, the product, the team. Stock photos don't work - the algorithm knows how to identify them, but people don't trust them.

Description. 400-600 characters, the first sentence is the most important (it is shown in the snippet). Don’t list the services in a list - write how you really differ: “We accept without a queue by appointment”, “The only one in the area with a children’s room”, “We work from 7 in the morning”.

3. Reviews are the main ranking factor

A rating below 4.3 is a red flag. A rating above 4.7 with 50+ reviews is a competitive advantage. The Yandex.Maps algorithm takes into account not only the average score, but also the dynamics: a card with a rating of 4.2 and growth over the last month is ranked higher than a stagnant 4.5 without new reviews.

How to receive reviews systematically: QR code at the checkout with a direct link to the review form (link like yandex.ru/maps/org/[your_id]/reviews/add), a request at the end of the visit from an employee (“if you liked everything, we will be glad to hear your feedback”), a post-sale SMS or a message in the messenger in 2-3 days. The main rule: never buy reviews - Yandex filters fakes based on behavioral patterns and bans cards.

Be sure to respond to negativity - but not in the style of “your complaint has been reviewed.” Live answer: “Anton, I understand your disappointment. Call me personally at +7 (xxx) xxx-xx-xx - we’ll sort out the situation.” This response is read by all potential clients, and a competent response to a negative converts better than the complaint itself repels.

4. Paid promotion: when does it pay off?

Yandex Business offers three paid levels: “Start” (priority in the area, from 3,000 ₽/month), “Promotion” (top in the city category, from 9,000 ₽/month), “Maximum” (dedicated display + banner, from 30,000 ₽/month). In 2GIS the structure is similar - priority in a category from 4,500 ₽/month.

Paid promotion makes sense only under two conditions: the card is already completely filled and the rating is above 4.0. Otherwise, you're buying impressions for a card that doesn't convert. Typical economy: a restaurant in Moscow with a check of 1,500 ₽ with a call → visit conversion of 30% and an average of 80 calls per month from Yandex.Maps receives a CPL of about 375 ₽. For comparison: Yandex Direct in the “Moscow restaurants” niche - CPL 800-1,200 ₽.

5. Analytics: what to watch and how to connect it with CRM

Yandex Business has built-in statistics: card views, number clicks, routes, clicks to the site. This is sufficient for basic monitoring. To communicate with CRM you need more.

Tracking scheme: in the “Site” field in the card, insert the URL with UTM: ?utm_source=yandex_maps&utm_medium=geo&utm_campaign=gmb_card. Now in Yandex Metrica you can see visits specifically from the card. For calls - a replacement number through a call tracker (Calltouch, CoMagic, Roistat): in the card we indicate the replacement number, not the direct one. All calls from the card go through the tracker, are recorded in the report, and tagged with “Yandex cards”. Then they get into amoCRM or Bitrix as leads with a source.

Without this link, you do not know the real value of geoservices and most likely underestimate them. One of my clients, a car service center in Balashikha, found out that 41% of requests come from Yandex.Maps, although he was sure that this was a maximum of 10%. After this discovery, the budget was redistributed from Direct to the “Promotion” tariff in Yandex Business - CPL dropped from 900 to 130 rubles.

6. Features of 2GIS for business

2GIS was historically built as a “smart city map” - hence the key difference: detail inside buildings and shopping centers, where Yandex cannot cope. If your business is in a shopping center - 2GIS is critically important: people are literally looking for “where in the Mega shopping center is...”.

Plus 2GIS: price list right in the card. Not a link to a website with prices, but a real price list with positions. This reduces the number of untargeted calls - people see prices before the call. Disadvantage: technically, the price list needs to be updated manually through the account, and many forget about this a month after filling it out.

Another feature of 2GIS is that category search is stronger. People are not searching for “dentistry,” but for “dentistry → root canal treatment → available” or “car service → body repair → nearby.” Therefore, carefully fill out the categories and additional services - this directly affects your entry into the desired search threads.

7. Mistakes I see every time

1. Title with keywords. "Dent's Dentistry | dentist | inexpensive | Moscow" is a direct violation of the rules of both platforms. Yandex demotes the card or freezes it for this. All the keys are in the description, services, responses to reviews.

2. One card for several addresses. If you have 3 points in different areas - three separate cards, each with its own address and telephone number. One card with different addresses in the description - the algorithm does not understand where you are and lowers you in the local search results.

3. Ignoring 2GIS in favor of only Yandex. It takes 3-4 hours to fill out both cards once. Then support - 30 minutes per month. For this you double your coverage in geosearch. There is no rational argument to run only one platform.

4. No UTM markup for the link. Without UTM tags you don't know how much traffic comes from the card. The Yandex Metrica output will classify everything as “direct hits” or “Yandex / organic” - and geoservices will not receive the attribute they deserve.

5. Reviews without answers. 78% of users read business responses to reviews before making a decision. A card with 40 reviews without a single response looks like an abandoned business.

8. Summary

Geoservices provide the cheapest local traffic of all available channels - provided that the card is filled out correctly and is updated. Investment: 4-6 hours for initial setup, 30-60 minutes per month for support, optional 3-30 thousand rubles for a paid plan. Return: 15-40% of incoming calls in most local niches with a CPL that is several times lower than paid advertising.

Related materials: setting goals in Yandex Metrica, CPL calculator, landing page conversion benchmarks, a complete guide to performance marketing.

If you want to analyze a specific card and find growth points, write to Telegram or through form. Starting consultation - 0 ₽.