Google Maps Local Rank Tracker with Weekly Change Alerts (Geo-Grid)

Google Maps Geo-Grid Local Rank Tracker

Geo-grid local rank tracking for Google Maps, without a Google API key. This actor checks where a business ranks in the Google Maps local pack from a grid of geographic points spread around it, so you see your true visibility neighborhood by neighborhood instead of from a single spot. It is a pay-per-scan Local Falcon alternative for local SEO agencies, multi-location brands, and Google Business Profile consultants.

A single rank check lies: you might sit at #1 next to your storefront and vanish by #12 two miles away. Geo-grid scanning is the fix. Enter a business name, one or more keywords, and a location. The actor searches Google Maps as if a customer were standing at each grid point, records your rank at every point, and returns the ranks, a per-keyword summary (average rank, coverage, Share of Local Voice), the top competitors at each spot, and a color-coded HTML heatmap.

Because it runs on Apify, you get API access, scheduling, webhooks, and integrations (Zapier, Make, Google Sheets, Slack) out of the box, so a weekly rank scan per client becomes a hands-off automation.

Track rank changes week after week and get alerts

A one-off grid is a snapshot. The point of tracking is to see what moved. Turn on Track changes since the last run and schedule the Actor weekly (an Apify schedule, or one task per client), and every run is compared with the previous run of the same watchlist:

• Per keyword: Share of Local Voice before and after, average rank before and after, coverage change, and how many grid points were lost or won (a point counts after it moves 3 places or more, or appears or disappears).
• Per grid point: every dataset row gets previousRank and rankChange (positive means the business moved up), so a client report can show exactly where visibility was lost.
• Heatmap: the HTML heatmap gains a "since the last run" table, and a CHANGES record in the key-value store holds the same data as JSON.
• Alerts: add a Discord, Slack, Make, Zapier or n8n webhook, or a Telegram bot, and you get one message when a keyword's Share of Local Voice drops (or, if you choose, improves) by the threshold you set. Default 10 points, because Google Maps results shift a little between runs and small moves are noise.
• The first run saves a baseline. Changing the grid size starts a new baseline, since the points no longer line up.
• Paid plans only, and off by default. A run without it behaves exactly as before.

{
  "businessName": "Blue Bottle Coffee",
  "keywords": ["coffee shop"],
  "location": "San Francisco, CA",
  "gridSize": 5,
  "trackChanges": true,
  "alertWebhookUrl": "https://hooks.slack.com/services/..."
}

Tracking adds no extra charge: you pay for the grid points scanned, as before.

What is geo-grid rank tracking?

Geo-grid rank tracking measures a business's Google Maps ranking from many points across a map grid instead of one location. Each point is a real search origin, so the results reflect what nearby customers actually see. Plotting the rank at every point produces a heatmap that shows exactly where a business is visible and where it drops off, which is the core diagnostic for local SEO and Google Business Profile optimization.

Why use this Google Maps rank tracker?

• See your real local visibility. One number hides the truth. A 7x7 grid shows the streets and neighborhoods where you win and where competitors own the map pack.
• No Google API key, no per-call Google billing. It reads Google Maps' public local results directly. You pay Apify per grid point scanned, nothing to Google.
• Track competitors automatically. Every scan records who ranks around your target, how often each competitor appears, and their best position, ratings, and review counts.
• A Local Falcon alternative you can automate. Schedule a scan per client, pull results by API, and feed heatmaps into white-label reports.
• Share of Local Voice built in. Get the same headline metrics agencies report: average rank, coverage percentage, and Share of Local Voice (SoLV).

How to track Google Maps rankings: tutorial

1. Enter the Business name exactly as it appears on its Google profile (for example Blue Bottle Coffee).
2. Add one or more Keywords your customers search (for example coffee shop, espresso bar).
3. Set the Location (city, area, or full address). It is geocoded automatically, or you can pin exact centre latitude/longitude.
4. Choose a Grid size (5 means a 5x5 = 25-point grid) and a Radius (how far the grid reaches from the centre).
5. Click Start. The actor scans each point, matches your business in the local results, and pushes one row per point to the dataset.
6. Open the Storage tab: the dataset holds every grid point; the key-value store holds the SUMMARY metrics and a visual HEATMAP you can open in a browser.

Input

Field	What it does
businessName	The business to track, as shown on Google Maps
keywords	Searches to check at every grid point
location	City, area, or address for the grid centre (auto-geocoded)
gridSize	Points per side. 5 = 5x5 = 25 points
radius	Distance from centre to edge of the grid
distanceUnit	miles or km
maxRank	Positions beyond this count as "not found" (max 20)
placeId	Optional Google place ID for exact matching
centerLat / centerLng	Optional exact grid centre instead of geocoding
language / countryCode	Google hl and gl region settings

{
    "businessName": "Blue Bottle Coffee",
    "keywords": ["coffee shop", "espresso bar"],
    "location": "San Francisco, CA",
    "gridSize": 7,
    "radius": 2,
    "distanceUnit": "miles"
}

Output

One dataset row per grid point per keyword. Download as JSON, CSV, Excel, or HTML, or fetch by API:

{
    "businessName": "Blue Bottle Coffee",
    "keyword": "coffee shop",
    "gridRow": 2,
    "gridCol": 3,
    "lat": 37.7796,
    "lng": -122.4144,
    "distanceFromCenter": 0.71,
    "distanceUnit": "miles",
    "rank": 3,
    "found": true,
    "foundRating": 4.5,
    "foundReviews": 812,
    "topCompetitors": ["Ritual Coffee", "Sightglass Coffee", "Saint Frank Coffee"],
    "scannedAt": "2026-07-24T10:00:00+00:00"
}

The key-value store also holds:

• SUMMARY (JSON): per-keyword average rank, coverage, best/worst rank, Share of Local Voice, and the top competitors across the grid.
• HEATMAP (HTML): a color-coded grid per keyword you can open, screenshot, or drop into a client report.

What is Share of Local Voice (SoLV)?

Share of Local Voice is a 0-100 score of how much of the total available ranking strength across the whole grid a business captures. A business ranking #1 at every point scores near 100; one that appears weakly or only in a corner of the grid scores low. It is a single number for comparing visibility over time or against a competitor.

How much does it cost to track Google Maps rankings?

You pay per grid point scanned. One keyword on a 5x5 grid is 25 scans; a 7x7 grid is 49. Two keywords on a 7x7 grid is 98 scans. Pick the grid size that matches the area you serve: tighter grids for a single neighborhood, wider grids for a whole metro. Free-plan users are limited to a 3x3 grid and one keyword; subscribe to an Apify plan to unlock the full grid and multiple keywords.

Can I call this Actor from an AI agent?

Yes. It works with the Apify MCP server, so Claude, ChatGPT, or any MCP-enabled agent can run a scan and read the ranks and summary directly. The dataset and key-value store schemas are fully typed for agent consumption.

FAQ

Do I need a Google Maps API key? No. The actor reads Google Maps' public local results, so there is no Google API key and no Google billing.

Why are residential proxies recommended? Google blocks datacenter IPs. The default configuration uses Apify residential proxies and works out of the box.

How is this different from a plain Google Maps scraper? A scraper lists businesses near one point. This actor measures one business's rank across a whole grid of points and turns it into coverage, Share of Local Voice, and a heatmap: the local SEO diagnostic, not just a business list.

What grid size should I use? Odd sizes (3, 5, 7, 9) keep the business at the centre point. Use 5x5 for a neighborhood, 7x7 to 9x9 for a city, with a radius that covers the area you actually serve.

My business is not found at some points. That is the signal you want: those are the areas where you are invisible to Google Maps searchers and where local SEO work will pay off.

Is this legal? The actor only reads publicly visible Google Maps results, no login and no private data. You are responsible for using the output in compliance with applicable laws and Google's terms.

Found an issue or need a custom feature? Open a ticket in the Issues tab. Got a site you want scraped? Suggest it here.