What is geo-grid rank tracking?
A plain guide to measuring Google Maps rankings the way customers actually see them.
Maps rankings depend on where you search from
Google's local results weigh three things: how relevant a business is to the search, how prominent it is (reviews, links, mentions), and how close it is to the searcher. That last factor means the top 3 for "dentist" changes as you move across a city. A single rank check, run from one spot, can't show that.
How a geo-grid scan works
A grid of points is laid over the area around a business, for example 7×7 points spaced 1 km apart. The same Google Maps search runs from each point, and the business's position is recorded at every one. Plot those numbers on a map and you get a heatmap of visibility.
Reading the numbers
- Average rank is the mean position across all points. Points where the business isn't in the top 20 count as 21, so a grid full of misses can't look good.
- Top-3 share is the percentage of points where the business shows in the top 3. On a phone, the top 3 is most of what people see without scrolling.
- Coverage is the percentage of points where the business appears at all.
Choosing grid size and spacing
Match the grid to the area the business actually serves. A café in a dense neighbourhood might use 0.5 km spacing. A roofer serving a whole county might use 5 km. Bigger grids show more, and a 9×9 grid with 2 km spacing covers about 16 km across.
What moves the map
Primary category, reviews, relevant photos and posts, consistent business details across the web, and local links all tend to widen the green area over time. Weekly scans show whether a change worked, and where.