How big should a geo-grid scan be for local search?

What is a good starting size for a geo-grid scan?

Start with one or two baseline scans, then choose recurring settings from what the scans need to show. Local Falcon recommends one or two baseline scans before recurring settings are fixed. Its starting radius examples are 2 miles for urban areas, 5 miles for suburban areas, and 10 miles for rural areas. Those are vendor starting points, not Google requirements.

The grid size and radius answer different questions. Grid size determines how many points you sample. Radius determines how far the outer points are from the center. Their combination determines point spacing. A small radius with too few points can miss local variation. A wide radius with too many points can spend effort on places outside the business question.

How should I choose a grid size for my service area?

Choose the grid from the measurement goal and the area the business needs to understand. Keep each starting point tied to the provider that recommends it.

Local Falcon's 11×11 suggestion and BrightLocal's 5×5 suggestion are different product recommendations. Neither is a Google standard. Record the provider, grid dimensions, radius, and included points so a later reading does not look comparable when the sampling changed.

Google's Business Profile guidance says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance, and popularity. Distance is measured from the customer who searches. Google therefore gives a reason to measure across locations, but it does not turn a vendor's grid recommendation into a ranking rule.

Should the scan radius match my Google service area?

No. A Google service area and a scan radius are different settings. Google says a service-area or hybrid business cannot define its service area as a radius. It must specify cities, postal codes, or another type of area. A scan provider uses radius to place measurement points around a center.

Use the actual service area to decide what the scan should cover. If the business serves a wider area than one compact grid, widen the measured area or define additional points that represent the customer locations you need to understand. Do not describe the scan radius as the Business Profile's service-area setting.

Google also says local results depend on the searcher's context. Its Search Console guidance names time, place, device, and recent history as reasons a person may not reproduce a result. Google's location guidance says Google estimates a general search area and may use precise location when permission is granted. A geo-grid is therefore a declared sample of local observations, not the result every customer must see.

The distinction matters for a service-area business. The geo-grid definition explains the observation method, while Google's service-area guidance describes how the business tells Google where it serves customers. Keep those records separate. The answer about why Google Maps results differ between searchers covers the same location and device context from the searcher's side.

How do I know when to widen or narrow a geo-grid?

Widen a geo-grid when the business question covers more territory than the current outer points, when the service area is broader or less dense than the current sample, or when the baseline does not reach the customer locations the business wants to compare. Widening changes the question from local detail to broader coverage, so save the new radius and points as a new baseline.

Narrow a geo-grid when the radius includes places that are irrelevant to the customer area or when a dense area needs closer local detail. Local Falcon says many red points, especially near the grid edges, indicate that its radius is likely too big. Use that result pattern as a reason to test a smaller radius, not as proof that the Business Profile changed.

Do not widen a scan just because the observed rank is poor. A larger map can make the picture harder to interpret. Change one measurement control at a time, then note whether the goal was local detail, edge detection, or service-area coverage.

What should I record with every geo-grid observation?

Record enough context that another scan can answer the same question:

1. Query set. Save the exact branded, non-branded, and geo-specific queries. Local Falcon says the keyword count is flexible and recommends mixing those query types. Its documentation says around 10 is common for simultaneous scans, not a required count.
2. Points and center. Save the coordinates or named points, the business location used as the center, and any points excluded for water or another irrelevant area.
3. Grid and radius. Save the grid dimensions, point spacing if shown, and center-to-outermost-point radius. Grid size and radius are separate controls.
4. Device and search context. Save the device, language, location setting, and scan time. Google identifies device and place as result context, and its location guidance explains why the search area matters.
5. Ranking cutoff and scan date. Save whether the question uses the top 3, top 10, or another cutoff, plus the date and time of the scan.

For recurring measurement, run the same query set, points, radius, device, cutoff, and reporting convention. If one of those changes, label the result as a new measurement design rather than a clean before-and-after comparison. The guide to tracking local search rankings keeps map observations separate from Business Profile activity and website Search Console data.

What does Share of Local Voice mean in a geo-grid scan?

Share of Local Voice, or SoLV, is Local Falcon's scan-scoped measure of how often a business appears in the top three positions for the keywords and points included in one scan. The denominator is the total possible top-three appearances for that scan. SoLV is a vendor metric, not a Google ranking factor.

Local Falcon says a scan report keeps the target keyword, grid size, geographic radius, and other scan settings with the result. Read a SoLV number with those settings, the included points, the top-three cutoff, and the scan date. A score from a different query set or grid does not answer the same measurement question.

That is why a SoLV change is meaningful only when the scan design stays comparable. If you widen the radius, change the point set, or replace the query set, explain that the measured area or queries changed before comparing the scores.