Incipient plasmonic bubble formation is observed around gold nanopillars with different inter-nanopillar separations. The experimental measurements and theoretical analysis show that the nanobubble formation is due to the enhanced plasmonic resonance rather than from the laser heating. Inter-nanopillar distribution may lead to threshold fluence variations. The lifetime of plasmonic bubbles can reach several minutes. Furthermore, both the radius and the growth rate of the plasmonic nanobubble increase as the inter-nanopillar distribution decreases. Smaller-spacing distributed arrays produced larger bubbles. The maximum growth rate of the bubbles can be reached at about 883.5×10 6m/s on 1 μm nanopillars, but it is only 56.9×10 6m/s on 4 μm nanopillars.