Geogrid rank tracking: how to read a local rank grid
A geogrid, also called a search grid or a local rank grid, checks a business's Google Maps ranking from many points laid over a map instead of from one. Each point asks Google what a person standing exactly there would see for one keyword, and the answer becomes one number on the grid. Read together, the numbers show where in town the business is found and where it fades.
What each point means
BrightLocal's 2024 comparison of these tools describes them the same way: a rank for individual local searches across an area, shown as colored pins over a map. There is no industry-standard name for them, so the same thing is sold as a geogrid, a search grid or a local map rank tracker. A 7×7 grid is 49 searches and 49 numbers.
The tool sets an exact location for each point, so Google answers as if the search came from that spot rather than from the tool's own server. Each number is the business's position among the map results at that point, 1 being first. In these examples the count stops at 20: a point marked 20+ means the business was not in the first 20 there. Cornerlens itself reads each point down to the 100th place.
The number to watch: the share in the top 3
Google's local pack, the box of businesses with a small map in the regular search results, shows three. So the most useful single number from a grid is how many of its points have the business in the top 3. On a 7×7 grid, 15 points in the top 3 is 31% of the grid.
Average rank is the other common figure, and it has a trap. Points past 20 have no real rank, so a tool must either count them as some number, such as 21, or leave them out. Left out, a business that drops off the list at its weakest point can see its average get better, because a bad number has left the sum. Read the average next to the top 3 share, never instead of it.
Choosing the grid's size and spacing
Two settings shape every grid: how many points it has (3×3, 5×5, 7×7 and up) and how far apart they are. The aim is a grid whose outer points show where the business stops being found.
- Too tight: every point is in the top 3. The grid has no room to show improvement, and you will be tempted to resize it, which breaks every comparison.
- About right: the top 3 in the middle, fading toward the edges. There is room to grow and a visible line to push outward.
- Too wide: most points are past 20. The grid mostly measures places the business does not serve.
Local SEO consultant Tim Kahlert, writing for BrightLocal, gives a practical test: if the two outer rows show many strong ranks, the points are too close together; if the four outer rows are all past 20, they are too far apart. On the Local Search Forum, a 2024 thread on setting up accurate grid reports uses 7×7 as a rule and keeps 5×5 for a small service area, since it likely leaves too much space between points over anything bigger. For a service-area business it suggests trying one keyword at a few distances first, for example 10, 20 and 30 miles, and keeping the distance at which not every point ranks well, before setting up every keyword.
More points give a finer picture but cost more, since every point is one search. Kahlert adds that in competitive markets, where pushing the top 3 outward is harder, tighter spacing is usually more practical.
Compare like with like
A grid is a measuring instrument, and changing the instrument changes the reading. Keep the center, the number of points and the spacing the same from check to check; Kahlert calls comparing two grid sizes comparing apples and oranges. If a grid must change, start a new series and do not draw a trend line across the change.
Keep the time of day the same as well. Whitespark's Darren Shaw writes that rankings vary hour by hour, and a moderator of the Local Search Forum notes that whether a business is open at the time of the search can change its rank.
Reading a grid from week to week
- One point is noise, a ring is a change. A point that flips between 3 and 4 from week to week means little. A ring of points that moves from 4 to 3 and stays there for several checks is a change.
- The edge matters more than the center. The center is usually strong already. Growth shows up as the top 3 area spreading outward.
- Look at who wins where you do not. The business in first place at your weakest points is your real rival for that part of town.
For why rankings depend so much on where the search is made, see why your Google Maps ranking changes from street to street.
The short version
A geogrid replaces one misleading rank with a map of ranks. Watch the share of points in the top 3, size the grid so its edges show where you fade, keep every setting the same between checks, and trust changes that hold for several checks.
Sources
- Jamie Banks, BrightLocal, Geo grid ranking tools compared, July 15, 2024.
- Tim Kahlert, BrightLocal, How I improved my local SEO strategy with Local Search Grid, read October 16, 2026.
- Local Search Forum, How to set up search grid reports for accurate reporting, from April 5, 2024.
- Darren Shaw, Whitespark, Why do I see different rankings than what my rank tracker reports?, April 27, 2026.
- Local Search Forum, Odd rankings: tools vs human results, from June 23, 2026.