Grid Scan (map ranking)

Google Maps ranking is proximity-dependent: you can be #1 at your storefront and invisible 2 km away. Grid Scan measures that spatial reality — it scans your keyword across a grid of points spread around your business and plots your rank at each point on a map. It runs from the Grid Scan screen.

Grid shape, size and radius

The grid is a circle or a square (deterministic — the preview you see before starting is exactly what gets scanned):

Radius: 0.5 / 1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 10 km (center to the outermost point). Before scanning you can drag a single pin, a selection or the whole grid. Each point is one Google Maps query; paid results are not counted as ranks.

If your business has a service area on Google, you can scan one of its places instead of a grid: points spread inside that place's boundary (district, neighborhood) and the map shows the boundary and the pins.

Running a scan

1. Enter a keyword. Separate with commas to scan up to 10 keywords on the same grid in one go (each keyword is its own scan and uses its own allowance). Your profile's category and service names show up as suggestions under the box; keywords you have already scanned are left out.
2. Optionally pick the search language (125 languages): the search runs as someone using Google in that language; the keyword is not changed.
3. Pick shape, point count and radius → points preview live on the map.
4. Hit Start scan; pins color in as results arrive.

For a newly added business, the system runs the first scan itself with the primary Google category as the keyword (it uses the monthly allowance).

Metrics (industry standard)

Because each point carries the full local-pack list at that location, the metrics below are computed from a single scan at no extra cost:

• ARP (Average Rank Position): the average over only the points where you APPEAR. "How strong am I where I show up?"
• ATRP (Average Total Rank Position): the average over ALL points; points where you're invisible are penalized (21). "What's my true area-wide standing?"
• SoLV (Share of Local Voice): the % of points where you're top-3. Being in the local pack practically means top-3.

Competitors

The area ranking sorts the businesses in the scan by how many points they beat you at, average rank or top-3 share. Hover a business and the map repaints with their ranks instead of yours. Highlights name your strongest and weakest direction and the rival ahead of you most often.

Analysis report

Every finished scan has an analysis report: weak and strong zones (with direction and distance), the rival leading there, rating/review gaps against rivals and a prioritized action list. The report is free and computed from the scan data. You can add an AI commentary on top (it doesn't use your AI credits; written once per scan and language, then kept). Save the report as PDF from the browser's print dialog.

Trend and image

Scans of the same keyword are laid out on a dated trend chart (ATRP or top-3 share, up to 26 scans). The map can be downloaded as a PNG with a header and your branding.

Comparison, results, periodic scans, sharing

• Scan comparison: puts two scans of the same keyword side by side — metric changes, ▲/▼ per point, the biggest movers and how area businesses moved.
• Scan results: every scanned keyword's latest state and trend, plus a filterable table of all scans.
• Periodic scans: save a keyword with its grid to rescan weekly or every 2 weeks (up to 3 keywords per business). When a run finishes, the account owner gets a summary email and a panel notification. If ATRP gets worse by 1.5 or more, or top-3 share drops by 15 points or more versus the previous scan, a separate ranking drop notification is sent and the email shows a warning.
• Share link: a link that opens without signing in, in two kinds: This scan (that scan and the history before it) or Live report (one link per business; the latest scan of every keyword, new scans appear automatically). Your report branding is shown, and you can revoke the link anytime.

Limits

The monthly grid-scan allowance is one account-wide pool (the admin's per-business monthly value × your plan's business count); it renews every month on the day your subscription started, and during the free trial the trial limit is the total for the whole trial. Periodic runs and the automatic first scan use the same allowance. A scan with the same setup within 24 hours is served from cache but still uses the allowance. One active scan per keyword at a time. Scans are retained 400 days (about 13 months). Permission: rank_tracker.manage.

Why it matters

The grid answers "where am I strong, where's the gap" as a map; the weak regions guide your category/review/proximity work. To measure change, compare two scans.

What's next

For rival movements in your area, see Competitor analysis; for your listings across the web and NAP consistency, Citations.