Google Maps Rank Tracker: Geo-Grid Local SEO

See where a business ranks on Google Maps at every point of a grid around it, for up to 5 keywords. A pay-per-point alternative to Local Falcon, BrightLocal Local Search Grid or Whitespark grids: no subscription, no credits that expire, a 5x5 grid for one keyword costs $0.25 plus $0.002 per run (less on higher Apify plans).

For each point of a 3x3, 5x5, 7x7 or 9x9 grid (0.1 to 20 km apart), the Actor searches Google Maps from that point and returns the business's rank there and the top 3 places competing for it. Then one free summary row per keyword: average rank, share of local voice (% of points in the top 3), points where it ranks, the competitor ranked first most often and the rank grid itself, ready for a heatmap.

It calls a commercial data API instead of driving a browser: no proxies, no CAPTCHAs, no Google account. Only business data is returned (names, IDs, ratings of places), no personal data.

Typical uses

• Local SEO agencies: monthly geo-grid reports for each client, at cost per point, scheduled and sent to a spreadsheet or a dashboard.
• Business owners: see the streets where you disappear from the map pack, and who takes your place there.
• Before / after: measure the effect of a Google Business Profile change, new reviews or a new category on the same grid.
• Competitor research: the competitor ranked first at the most points, with its rating and review count.
• AI agents (MCP): "how visible is this dentist in its neighbourhood?" answered with numbers.

Input

{
  "business": "Monmouth Coffee Company, Borough, London",
  "keywords": ["coffee shop", "espresso"],
  "gridSize": "5",
  "gridSpacingKm": "1",
  "country": "GB",
  "maxRank": 20
}

Field	Description
business	Name and city, Google Maps link, place ID (ChIJ...) or CID. Accepts the placeId, cid and googleMapsUrl of Google Maps Businesses. Found once at the start (free); if it is not found, the run stops and nothing is charged. With a name, the first of the top 3 results whose name matches the name you typed (before the first comma) is used; if none matches, the run stops for free and lists the candidates. A place ID is the surest.
keywords	1 to 5 keywords, without the city: each search is made from the grid point.
gridSize	3, 5 (default), 7 or 9 points per side.
gridSpacingKm	Distance between neighbouring points (default 1 km).
centerLat, centerLng	Optional grid centre (default: the business location).
country, languageCode	Country of the business and search language (default: the country's main language).
maxRank	How many results to read at each point (default 20, up to 100). The price per grid point does not depend on it.
zoom	Map zoom at each point (default 15). Keep it constant to compare runs.

What you get

One row per point and keyword (type: "grid-point", billed):

Field	Description
keyword, row, col	Keyword; grid position (row 0 = north, col 0 = west)
latitude, longitude, distanceKm	The point and its distance from the centre
rank	Position of the business on Google Maps at this point (1 = first), null when not in the first maxRank results
inTop3	Rank 1 to 3 (the local pack)
top3	The first 3 places at this point: rank, name, place ID, CID, rating, number of reviews, isYourBusiness
resultsChecked	Results read at this point
businessName, businessPlaceId, businessCid	The tracked business
observedAt	When the search was made (UTC)

Then one row per keyword (type: "keyword-summary", free): pointsTotal, pointsChecked (points searched and delivered), pointsFound, pointsInTop3, averageRankWhereFound, averageRankAllPoints (not ranked counted as maxRank + 1), shareOfLocalVoiceTop3Pct, foundPct, topCompetitor and rankGrid (ranks laid out as the grid, north row first).

The business is matched by its place ID or CID, never by name, so a branch of the same chain is not mistaken for it. Sponsored pins are not counted in the rank.

Pricing

Pay per event:

• Grid point: $0.01 (free Apify plan), $0.008 (Bronze), $0.007 (Silver), $0.006 (Gold), per point and keyword where Google Maps returned places, whether the business ranks among them or not.
• Actor start: $0.002 per run.

Free: the business lookup, the summary rows, a business not found (or a name that matches none of the first results: the run stops and lists them so you can pass the right place ID), points where Google Maps returned no place, and any point where it did not answer or answered something unreadable.

Grid points per keyword (add $0.002 per run for the Actor start):

Grid	Points per keyword	Free plan	Gold
3x3	9	$0.09	$0.054
5x5	25	$0.25	$0.15
7x7	49	$0.49	$0.294
9x9	81	$0.81	$0.486

The run's maximum cost is respected. Before any search, the Actor keeps only the keywords whose full grid fits in it (skipped keywords are skipped whole, the budget never cuts a grid in half), and a maximum cost below one grid plus the $0.002 start stops the run before any search: for one keyword, set at least $0.252 for a 5x5 on the free plan or $0.056 for a 3x3 on Gold (exactly $0.25 or $0.054 is refused).

Points are searched from the centre of the grid outwards. A run can still end with part of a grid: when the data service fails or answers in a form the Actor cannot read, or when searches with no place at all cost more than the points the run charged (about 6 such searches before the first point with places: a grid that reaches out to sea, for example), the run stops. Points not searched are not charged; the run's warnings give their number and the summary shows pointsChecked below pointsTotal. On the free Apify plan, runs are limited to 1 keyword and a 3x3 grid.

Good to know

• Rankings depend on the searcher's location, time and Google's tests: two runs a few minutes apart can differ by a place or two. Compare averages, not single points.
• A point where Google Maps returns no place at all for the keyword gets a free row (rank: null, billed: false, with a note).
• With 5 keywords on a 9x9 grid (405 searches) a run takes a few minutes.

Related Actors

• Google Maps Businesses: all places for a search, with contacts.
• Google Maps Reviews Scraper: reviews of the business and its competitors.

More PlainRows tools

Same pay-per-result pricing, same clean JSON, built to chain together in n8n, Make, Zapier or AI agents.

• SEO and keywords: Keyword Search Volume, CPC & Difficulty · Keyword Ideas Generator · Google Autocomplete & People Also Ask · Google Trends Explorer · Website Organic Traffic & Top Keywords · Bulk Domain Authority Checker · Backlink Checker · Broken Link Checker · AI Search Visibility Tracker (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode)
• Leads and companies: Google Maps Scraper · Website Technology Checker · ATS Jobs Scraper (Workday, Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby) · Google Jobs Scraper · Google Ads Scraper (Transparency Center) · Company Registry Lookup (SIRENE, LEI, Brreg) · Public Tenders Search (EU TED & UK)
• E-commerce and travel: Amazon Product Search Scraper · Google Shopping Prices Scraper · Google Hotels Prices Scraper · Tripadvisor Reviews Scraper
• Content and media: Google News Scraper · YouTube Search Scraper · YouTube Comments Scraper · Google Images Scraper · Website Screenshot API · Google Maps Reviews Scraper · App Store & Google Play Reviews Scraper

Compared with other APIs: Local Falcon alternative without a subscription