Search engines Local Eliminating Business

[farm gate]

I've got (I presume) an unusual problem. I had (and for many search terms still have) good SERP results for my key terms but some of my most important ones are now displaying my businesses in the Local section and not on the natural listings.

Does anyone know what would cause a website to be stronger listed on Local than on the page itself? I'd much rather be 3rd ranked on the page than appearing 3rd where the first 2 are normal listings but the 3rd and 4th are Local listings then the 5th back to normal... in fact I'd rather be 5th than 3rd or 4th!

Any ideas how to change this? Does this mean I'm ranked as 3rd and if I move up to 2nd the problem will be solved? I just feel like there's a lack of detail in the local listing, there's a lack of impact because people may think you are a small company that only serves a small area and I also tend to scan over them myself as if they were PPC listings.

Thanks for your ideas in advance.