The Local SEO Grid: How We Map Your Geographic Visibility
What Is the Local SEO Grid?
The Local SEO Grid is a geographic ranking analysis that shows where your business appears in local search results across your service area.
Instead of just checking one location, we create a grid of points around your business and check your ranking at each point. This reveals:
- Where you're dominating
- Where you're invisible
- Where competitors are beating you
How It Works
- We center a grid on your location - Using your business address as the center point
- We create search points - Based on your selected grid size (3x3, 5x5, or 7x7)
- We search from each point - Simulating a user searching from that location
- We record your ranking - Position 1-20, or not found
- We visualize the results - Color-coded map showing your visibility
Reading the Results
The Colors
- Green (1-3): Excellent - You're in the local pack
- Yellow (4-10): Good - You're on page one
- Orange (11-20): Fair - You're visible but buried
- Red (20+): Poor - You're not ranking here
The Patterns
Strong center, weak edges: Your proximity ranking is working, but you may need more area-specific content or citations.
Patchy coverage: Inconsistent rankings suggest citation issues or competitors with stronger local signals in certain areas.
Consistently weak: You may have fundamental GBP or website issues affecting all locations.
Grid Size Guide
| Grid | Points | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| 5x5 | 25 | Standard analysis, most businesses |
| 7x7 | 49 | Detailed analysis, large service area |
Radius Options
| Radius | Distance | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| Medium | 5 miles | Most local services |
| Large | 10 miles | Service-area businesses, contractors |
Improving Your Grid Score
- Optimize for specific neighborhoods mentioned in your weak areas
- Build citations with consistent NAP in directories
- Get reviews mentioning locations where you're weak
- Create location pages for areas you want to rank in
- Update your service area in GBP if needed
Competitive Insights
The grid also shows you who's ranking where you're not. Use this to:
- Identify your real competitors (by geography)
- Study what they're doing differently
- Find gaps you can exploit
Pro tip: Often the businesses ranking in your weak spots are doing something specific to that neighborhood—a local citation, neighborhood mention on their site, or reviews from that area.
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