Map ranking discrepancies

[Timur]

Hi
Since April, I’ve noticed discrepancies in my Google Business Profile (GBP) rankings when comparing tools like Localo and GridMyBusiness to Google’s own anonymous preview tool. That raises the question: which source provides more accurate local ranking data — Google’s tool or third-party grid-based platforms?

 

[Colan Nielsen]

When I am unsure of the accuracy of a rank tool I tend to cross reference with a chrome ext like GS Location Changer and do manual searches.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

Another perspective on this, which I like a lot. Credit to @danaditomaso, I think. (I believe Dana said this during a webinar presentation years and years ago.)

Pick a ranking tool that you trust and stick with it. Don't try to reconcile differences between tools. There will be differences!

Dana probably said this specifically about analytics platforms but I think the idea still applies.

(Personally, I poke around using GS Location Changer, as @Colan Nielsen suggests!)

 

[Timur]

Thanks guys @Colan Nielsen @Stefan Somborac, both Ad tool and GS location changer show MUCH better rankings compared to grids. Like I am first in Ad Preview and 20th on the grid-based, drives me nuts

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@Timur - A tool that shows ranking at one specific location (e.g. Whitespark or a manual spot-check using GS Location Changer) is fundamentally different from a grid ranking report.

I wonder if maybe you're comparing apples to oranges. (i.e. Make sure you know what the ranking tool is reporting!)

 

[Timur]

@Stefan Somborac not really sure if I am following. Let`s pretend I'm in LA near the LACMA. Ad preview shows me in 2nd place at 90036 while grid indicates place 15th throughout the whole sector including LACMA. What are the oranges, what are the apples?

 

[fisicx]

A bit of both. Google will display information based on your location, device, browser, time of day, search history, cookie data, how you use youtube, shoe size and which school you attended. Discrepancies are common and will vary all the time. Don't try to get an exact anything, instead look a trends rather than absolutes.

 

[Stefan Somborac]

@Timur - A grid shows the ranking at each pin. Each pin represents a precise location.

On the other hand, 90036 is a zip code. It's an area covering 2.46 square miles. (By comparison, the 73737 zip code in Oklahoma covers 263.60 square miles! A zip code can represent a very large area!) If you were to put a grid across a zip code, you'd certainly see different rankings at different pins. That is, you'd find different rankings across the zip.

Tools that provide a ranking based on a zip generally use the centre of that zip code as the location where the ranking is measured. (You'll see the term "centroid" used to describe this point.) It's like measuring at a single pin in the centre of the zip code area.

Grids take a ranking measurement at each pin. Rankings "at a zip code" generally take a ranking measurement at the centroid of the zip area.