Local Rank Grid

Google Maps results depend on where the searcher is standing. A plumber can be #1 for someone two streets away and missing for someone across town. The grid checks the same search from a set of points laid out around your business and records where your listing ranks at each one.

Each point is colored by your rank there:

• Top 3
• 4 to 10
• 11 to 20
• Not in the top 20

Under every map you get three numbers:

• Found: how many points you appeared at in the top 20, for example "14 of 25".
• Top 3: how many points you were in the first three results.
• Avg rank where found: your average position, counting only the points where you appeared. Points where you were not found are left out, so always read it next to Found.

Your listing is matched by its Google listing id, so a similar listing from the same website is not counted as you.

Open Local Rank Grid in the project sidebar. If you do not see it, the grid is not turned on for your workspace yet. Setup takes four short steps:

1. Confirm your business. Search for your Google Maps listing and pick the one that is yours. Listings that match your website are marked. If the listing has no map pin, you choose the center of the grid on a map later.
2. Pick keywords. We suggest searches that already showed local results in your rank checks, and ones that look local (they name a city or say "near me"). You can also type your own.
3. Confirm the area. Choose the grid size (3 x 3, 5 x 5 or 7 x 7, depending on your plan) and the distance from the center (1, 2, 3, 5 or 10 km). A preview shows where the points will land.
4. Start weekly monitoring. The first scan starts right away and takes a few minutes. You can leave the page. After that, each keyword is scanned every week at the same time.

You can change a keyword's size, radius or schedule later under Grid settings. Changing the area, size or radius starts a new history for that keyword, because scans of different areas cannot be compared fairly.

The top card, Where you stand on Google Maps, sums up the latest weekly scan in a few sentences and tells you when the next weekly scan runs. If a weekly scan did not run (for example, your plan's allowance was used up, or the map data provider could not finish), it says so there.

Maps side by side shows the scans you pick. You can switch each one between a street map and a plain grid. A partial scan (some points could not be measured) is labeled, and the missing points are not counted as misses.

Over time has two tabs. Coverage charts the share of points where you were found in the top 20 and in the top 3, week by week. Rank shows three separate charts that share the same dates: your average map rank where found, your Google organic position, and your Local Pack position. A gap in a line means the grid settings changed, or there was no measurement that week.

The trend needs at least two weekly scans, so it appears from your second week. Manual scans are shown in the scan list but are never part of the weekly trend.

All scans lists every scan with its date, type, grid, found, top 3 and average rank. You can export the latest map shown as a CSV file.

Under Maps side by side, open Choose dates and tick up to four scans. The oldest one is the baseline; you can make any other one the baseline instead. By default you see the first and the latest weekly scan of the current settings.

Turn on Show changes against the baseline to color each point by what changed: Improved, Newly found, No change, Dropped, No longer found, Not found in either scan, or Not measured in both scans.

Some scans cannot sit next to each other, and the date list says why:

• scans with different grid settings;
• a manual scan next to a weekly one, because they are measured differently;
• scans that are still running or could not be completed.

Comparing needs at least two weekly scans with the same settings, so it is available from your second week.

The Who outranks you card starts with your own standing in the latest scan, for example "You showed up at 23 of 25 points; best rank #1". The table then lists only the businesses that ranked above you at one or more points, with:

• Outranks you: the points where they ranked better than you, including how many of those were points where you were not in the top 20 at all;
• Top-3 presence: the points where they were in the first three;
• Best: their best position anywhere on the grid;
• Reviews: their rating and review count as Google showed them on the scan date.

Businesses that made the top 3 but stayed below you are listed separately. When there is something worth checking, a short What to look at next list follows.

On the Coverage chart, an amber dot marks a weekly scan where we recorded changes since the scan before, such as a title, description or word count change on your pages. Pick a date under Changes we recorded near this date to see the list, with before and after text where we have it.

These changes happened around the same time as the scan. They are context, not proof of why your number moved. Edits made outside CrawlTide and Google's own updates are not tracked.

• Map Scan Ready: when the first weekly scan for a keyword finishes. Sent once per keyword and area. Email and in-app by default.
• Map Visibility Change: when a weekly scan finds you at clearly fewer (or more) points than the week before, with both maps, who moved above you and the changes we recorded near that date. Drops are on by default, gains are off. Email and in-app by default. You can set how big a change has to be.
• Local Pack Change: when your confirmed listing enters or leaves the Local Pack, or moves, confirmed by two checks in a row. In-app by default.

Change these in Settings > Alerts. Alert emails go to workspace owners and admins, and each email has a link to stop that kind of email for you only.

Yes. Click Share with a client under All scans, or go to the project's Reports page and use Local visibility report. The link opens without a login and shows Google Maps coverage now against the baseline, the week by week trend, who outranks you and what changed.

• Include up to 10 searches, over the last 30, 60 or 90 days.
• Choose a Snapshot that never changes, or a link that updates automatically as new weekly scans finish.
• Set the link to expire in 30 days, 90 days, a year, or never.
• Show the area on a map is off by default, so the report shows the grid of points with no location. You cannot change this on an existing link; create a new one instead.

Only keywords with a finished weekly scan can be shared; manual scans are not part of client reports. See also the client reports guide.

On the Keywords page, the Local column and the expanded keyword panel show three different measurements. They answer different questions, so they will rarely be the same number:

• Google search: your position in normal Google results, from your rank checks.
• Local Pack (for example "Pack #2"): your place in the map box at the top of the Google results page, from those same rank checks.
• Map grid (for example "Map 14/25"): how many grid points you appeared at in the top 20 on Google Maps in the latest weekly scan. Click Open the map to see it.

Each part shows its own check date.

Weekly keywords are counted across the whole workspace. To free one up, set a keyword to Manual only in Grid settings or remove it.

Paid plans also include a monthly allowance of manual scans (Scan now). The Included in your plan box on the page shows how many weekly keywords you use and how many manual scans are left this month. Manual scans do not use your weekly keywords and do not affect the weekly trend.

More on roles in the teams and roles guide.

Map results change with where the searcher is, so a search on your own phone can show a different order than any single grid point. The grid measures the same points the same way every week, so read it as a consistent measurement over time, not as exactly what every customer sees.