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What is a geo-grid rank scan?

A geo-grid rank scan checks where your business ranks in the Google map pack from a grid of points spread across your service area, then shows the results as a color-coded heatmap. It exists because local rankings are not a single number - they change with the searcher's location - and a geo-grid is the only way to see that whole picture at once. Here is how it works and why local SEOs rely on it.

What a geo-grid scan actually is

Picture a grid of pins laid over a map of your service area - say a 5x5 grid, 25 points, spread a mile or two apart. A geo-grid scan checks your Google map-pack rank for a keyword at every one of those points, as if a customer were standing there searching. Each pin gets a rank (or "not in the top 20"), and the whole grid is drawn as a heatmap: green where you rank in the top 3, red where you are invisible.

Why a single rank check is not enough

Local search is proximity-based - Google favors businesses close to the searcher - so your rank is different at every location. A normal rank checker returns one number from one spot (usually wherever you ran it), which hides the falloff completely. You can look great from your office and be missing across most of your city. A geo-grid scan replaces that single misleading number with a full map of reality. It is the difference between one photo and the whole movie.

Run your first geo-grid scan free

See your map-pack rank across your whole service area as a heatmap, with an AI diagnosis of what to fix.

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How to read the heatmap

The pattern is a diagnosis. A tight cluster of green at the center fading to red at the edges is proximity falloff - you rank near your location but Google is not confident you serve the wider area. Red almost everywhere, including your own spot, usually signals a Google Business Profile problem. And if a competitor's pins are green where yours are red, you can see exactly which neighborhoods they own. HopHQ's geo-grid scanner adds a plain-English AI diagnosis on top, so you do not have to interpret it alone.

What you do with the results

Once you can see where you disappear, the fixes get obvious: name those towns in your Google Business Profile and build real service-area pages for them, keep reviews coming in to extend your reach, and tighten your primary category and keyword relevance. Then re-scan a month later and watch the red turn green - a geo-grid is also the cleanest way to prove your local SEO is working.

How to run one

You do not need enterprise software. Enter your business name, a keyword, and a center point, pick a grid size, and run the scan - the heatmap comes back in about a minute. See how HopHQ compares to Local Falcon, the tool that popularized geo-grid scanning, or just run your first scan free.

Run your first geo-grid scan free

See your map-pack rank across your whole service area as a heatmap, with an AI diagnosis of what to fix.

Run My First Scan Free
ZH
Zachary Hoppaugh

Founder of Zachary Hoppaugh LLC, where he helps home-service contractors get found online. He built HopHQ after auditing dozens of local business websites and finding the same fixable problems on nearly every one.

What is a geo-grid rank scan - questions

What is a geo-grid in local SEO?
A geo-grid is a grid of geographic points laid over a business's service area. A rank tracker checks your Google map-pack rank at each point, revealing how your ranking changes by location instead of showing a single number.
How many points should a geo-grid scan use?
It depends on your area, but 5x5 (25 points) is a solid default and 7x7 gives more detail. Bigger grids and wider radii show more of your service area; smaller grids are faster and cheaper for a quick check.
Is a geo-grid scan better than Google Search Console for local rank?
They answer different questions. Search Console shows aggregate query and click data for your site; a geo-grid scan shows your live map-pack position by location. For understanding where you rank across a service area, the geo-grid is far more direct.

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