What does a local rank grid tell you about map rankings?
A single rank check from your office tells you almost nothing about how customers across town see you. A rank grid samples many points around the business. This page explains how to set one up, how to read it, and what it cannot show.
What is a local rank grid?
A local rank grid checks your position in map results for one search from many sample points laid out around your business. Each cell shows the position a searcher at that point would likely see. Green cells near the centre and red cells at the edges are normal, because distance is one of the three main local factors.
The grid is a picture of reach. It shows how far from your door you still appear in the top three, and in which direction you fade first. That is more useful than a single position checked from your own desk, which mostly reflects the fact that you are standing right next to the business.
When is a rank grid worth running?
A grid earns its place when you need to know where you are visible, not just whether you rank. Run one when:
- You serve customers across a wide area and want to know which neighbourhoods see you.
- You changed something that affects relevance, such as your primary category or service pages, and want to see whether the pattern moved.
- Calls dropped and you want to rule visibility in or out before blaming the phones or the season.
- You are deciding whether a second location or more work on location pages is worth the cost.
Skip it when your customers come almost entirely from one building, one campus or referrals. The Business Profile performance report and your enquiry log will tell you more for less effort.
What can a rank grid not tell you?
Every grid tool works the same way: it asks for results as if a searcher were standing at fixed coordinates. That leaves three blind spots you should explain to anyone who reads the report.
| Limitation | What happens | How to handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Personalization | Real searchers carry their own search history, signed-in state, device and language. The grid sees a clean, generic result. | Read the grid as a trend line. Never quote a single cell as "what customers see". |
| Distance | Positions fall with distance from the business, so outer cells will always look weaker. That is how local results work, not a fault you can fully fix. | Judge outer rings against competitors at the same distance, not against your centre cell. |
| Sampling | A 5 × 5 grid checks 25 points on one day. Results between points, on other days or at other times are not measured. | Keep the same grid and day of the month. Look for patterns across several months before acting. |
| One keyword | Each grid answers one search. Close variants such as "physio near me" can rank differently. | Run separate grids for your two or three money searches. |
For background on why distance and relevance shape the grid, read relevance, distance and prominence. The short version: a grid can show you a pattern, but it cannot tell you which of those three factors caused it.
How do you set up a useful grid?
- Pick one search per grid. Use the wording customers use, such as "emergency plumber" rather than your internal service name.
- Choose the centre. For a storefront, the business address. For a service-area business, the base you work from, with the grid stretched over the areas you actually serve.
- Set size and spacing to your real catchment. A café may need 0.5 km between points. A roofer covering a region may need 3 to 5 km.
- Record the settings. Keyword, grid size, spacing, centre and date go at the top of the report.
- Repeat on the same day each month. Comparing a Tuesday morning grid with a Saturday night grid adds noise you cannot separate from real change.
Most grid tools also show which competitors hold the top spots at each point. That list is often more useful than your own numbers, because it tells you whose Business Profile and reviews you are up against in each neighbourhood.
Compare grids only with identical settings.
Change the keyword, the spacing, the centre point or the number of points and you have a new baseline. Note the settings in the report so next month's grid is a fair comparison.
What does a before and after grid look like?
Below is a fictional plumbing company that hides its address and serves a region. Before the work, it showed well only around its base. After four months of fixing categories, adding service pages and asking every customer for a review, the strong area widened toward the south and east.
The honest reading: the grid moved, calls rose in the same period, and the company changed several things at once. You cannot credit one change. You can say the pattern widened in the direction the work targeted.
What mistakes make grid results misleading?
- Changing settings between runs. A tighter grid will always look better. Keep a fixed template.
- Averaging away the story. An average position of 6 can hide a strong core and a dead zone in the suburb you most want. Look at the map, not only the average.
- Gridding a keyword nobody calls about. Check the search terms in your profile performance report first.
- Moving the pin to look closer. Changing your address or service area to stretch a grid breaks Google's rules. Read storefront or service-area before touching it.
- Treating the grid as a sales forecast. A green cell is visibility. Whether that becomes a call depends on your reviews, photos, hours and how fast you answer.
ShoutEx view: one grid a month per money keyword is enough for most single-location businesses. Weekly grids mostly measure noise and invite reactive changes.
What should you track from rank grids?
Keep a short table that sits next to your profile and enquiry data, so visibility is always read alongside results.
| Measure | June | October | How to read it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Centre cell position | 2 | 1 | Should be strong; if not, check relevance first |
| Cells in top 3 (of 25) | 1 | 4 | Width of your strongest area |
| Cells in top 7 (of 25) | 5 | 10 | Where you are still in the expanded map list |
| Cells at 20+ (of 25) | 12 | 3 | Dead zones to compare with where customers live |
| Top competitor in most cells | Riverbend Drains | Riverbend Drains | Whose profile to study |
Pair the grid with calls, direction requests and website clicks from the same month. The monthly report template shows how to put them on one page.
Frequently asked questions
What is a local rank grid?
A map of sample points around your business, each showing your position in local results for one search from that point. It shows how far your visibility reaches and where it fades.
How many points should a rank grid have?
A 5 by 5 or 7 by 7 grid suits most small businesses. Match the spacing to how far customers actually travel or how far you drive to serve them.
Why is my business first at the centre and missing at the edges?
Distance from the searcher is one of the main local factors, so positions fall as points move away. Compare outer cells with competitors at the same distance.
Do rank grids show what customers really see?
Not exactly. Real searchers have their own history, device and precise location. A grid shows a generic result from fixed coordinates, so use it for trends.
How often should I run a rank grid?
Monthly is enough for most single-location businesses, on the same day each month with the same settings. Weekly runs tend to show noise.
Can a service-area business use a rank grid?
Yes. Centre the grid on the base you work from and stretch it over the areas you serve. Expect weaker cells farther from that base.
Should I move my address to improve the grid?
No. Changing your address or service area to look closer to customers breaks Google's rules and can get the profile suspended.
Does a better grid mean more calls?
Not always. Visibility is the first step. Reviews, photos, hours and how quickly you answer decide whether a searcher contacts you.