Your report opens with a handful of numbers and a map of your area covered in coloured spots. This guide explains what each one means, which to watch, and why a week-to-week change is sometimes not shown.
How the map is made
We lay a grid of points over your area, from 3 × 3 up to 15 × 15 depending on your plan, with your business in the middle. At every point we search Google Maps for each of your tracked searches and read the top 20 results. We match your business on Google's own ID for it, never on its name, so a similarly named business down the road can't be mistaken for you.
Points with no postcode nearby, such as the sea, a harbour or open country, are left out of every score.
You can change the shape (circle, square, or an area you draw), the spacing and whether distances are in miles or kilometres:
- Open the business.
- Press Map area.
- Choose a shape, the distance between points and miles or kilometres. You can also click any point to switch it off. What you see in the designer is exactly what the scan checks.
- Press Save map, then press Scan now or wait for the weekly scan.
Reading the colours
Each circle on the map is a real spot in your area, and the number in it is where you appear in Google Maps for someone searching from there. Dark green is the top three, lighter green 4 to 9, amber 10 to 16 and red 17 to 20. Grey means you weren't in the top 20 at that spot. Tap a circle to see who is in the top three there.
If you track more than one search, the tabs above the map switch between them, or show all searches averaged. The Search by search table underneath gives each search its own row, including your position at your door. Most businesses rank well at their own door, so that figure says little about the rest of the area.
The headline numbers
| Number | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Top-three share | The percentage of spots where you're in Google's top three map results. This is the headline. |
| Average position | Your average position across every spot. Anywhere you're not in the top 20 counts as 21. Lower is better. |
| Average position where found | The average across only the spots where you do appear. Shown alongside, never on its own. |
| Top-ten coverage | The percentage of spots where you're in the top ten. It tends to move before the headline does, so it shows early progress. |
Top-three share
This is the number to watch. The top three are the businesses Google shows first in its map results, before anyone scrolls. If your top-three share goes up, more people nearby are seeing you first. When you track several searches, the headline is the average of each search's own figure.
Average position, and where found
Average position is the honest figure because it counts the spots where you don't appear at all. Average position where found leaves those out, which flatters. A business visible at 2 spots out of 49, both in first place, would score 1.0 where found while being invisible almost everywhere. That's why we show both side by side.
Blind spots
A blind spot is a group of three or more neighbouring spots where you don't appear at all. Each is named by compass direction, such as "the north" or "the south-east", so you can picture it straight away.
Blind spots tend to sit furthest from your premises, because distance is one of the three things Google says it weighs, along with relevance and prominence. A blind spot close to home is more worrying, and it will usually appear near the top of your job list. The competitor comparison shows who holds the top three in those areas instead.
Not found and no data
Two kinds of gap look different on the map, and they're treated differently:
- Not found means we looked and you weren't in the top 20. It counts against you, as position 21.
- No data means we couldn't get an answer for that spot. It's shown as a hatched square and is never scored.
When changes are compared
Each report shows how your numbers have moved since the last reading. That comparison is only made when the same searches were measured over the same map. If either is different, a comparison would mean nothing, so the report says map changed or searches changed instead of showing a rise or fall.
That's worth remembering before you edit your searches or redraw your area. Earlier scans are always kept, but the next reading starts a fresh line. Choosing which searches to track has advice on settling your list early.
For what tends to move these numbers, see how to rank higher on Google Maps.