How to read a geo-grid report and explain it to a client
Pins, colours, Pinmeter Score and Pin Rank, with a real scan and the words to use with a client.
Read the guide: How to read a geo-grid report and explain it to a clientGuide
How geo-grid rank tracking works, one pin at a time.
A geo-grid scan is a lot of small searches. Here is what happens at each pin, step by step, and the evidence behind it.
Last updated · Written by the Local Pinmeter team in Phoenix, Arizona
Five steps
What happens at every pin
A point on the grid
Your grid is a pattern of points around the business. Its size and the distance between points are your choice.
A Google Maps search from that spot
We search Google Maps as a phone does, with the point’s coordinates as the location, at zoom 14.
The top 20 are recorded
The first 20 businesses Google Maps lists at that point are kept, with the details Google shows for each.
Your client’s rank is its place in the list
1 is first. Not in the first 20 shows as 20+, which is a real result, not an error.
Everything is stored
Every pin’s full list is saved, so any rank in a report traces back to the search behind it.
The list in steps c and d is an illustration. A 9×9 grid runs these five steps 81 times for each keyword, once per pin, and lays the results out as one map.
The words
What “as a phone sees it” means
What “as a phone sees it” means
- A mobile Google Maps search.
- The pin’s coordinates as the location.
- Zoom 14 and the same settings on every scan, so a change is a real change.
What it doesn’t mean
- A physical phone standing at the pin. Our accuracy test used a virtual phone.
- One person’s personalized results.
- A promise about what every customer sees.
On a real map
Every pin is its own search
5466532214246522112265632134221111334231111243341113554442679810854410711172014965711192020+
- 1–3
- 4–10
- 11–20
- Not in the top 20
- What these mean
Real scan: Element Nail Bar 16th Street, “nail salon near me”, 9×9 grid 0.5 mi apart, October 16, 2026.
In this scan the pin in the middle ranked #1, the pin in the top-left corner #5 and the pin in the bottom-right corner not in the top 20 (20+). Each of the 81 pins ran its own search, so each one can differ. Open any pin in the app to see the businesses ranked above your client there (Rival Board™). How to read the whole map.
The evidence
We tested the choices against a phone
We scanned the same pins with several settings and measured how far each was from what a virtual phone showed at those pins. The phone view stayed close to the phone; the computer view was farther; leaving “near me” out of the keyword was farthest.
One business, one area, two keywords, two rounds two days apart. The phone is a virtual phone, not validated against a real phone. Context from the test, not part of the pre-registered claim. Method and limits
The pre-registered claim, with every table and limit, is on the accuracy page.
Ask anyone
Three questions to ask any rank tracker
Worth asking of any geo-grid rank tracker, ours included. Here is how we answer each.
- Which view does it scan, phone or computer?
Local Pinmeter scans the phone view by default, at zoom 14, and keeps it the same for every scan. - Does it keep the top 20 at every pin, so a rank can be traced to its search?
Yes. The top 20 businesses at every pin are stored, so any rank in a report traces back to the search behind it. - Does it publish how it tested accuracy, with the limits?
Yes. PinProof publishes its method, its numbers and its limits: one business, one area, a virtual phone. Read them.
Questions
Questions
Is a scan the same as searching on my own phone?
It is the same kind of search, made from the pin’s spot with fixed settings so that scans can be compared. Your own phone has its own location, history and settings, so what you see can differ. Our accuracy test compared our scans with a virtual phone at the same pins; the numbers and the limits are on the accuracy page.
Why zoom 14?
Zoom sets how much of the map is in view. In our test the phone view stayed within 0.53 to 0.62 ranks of the phone at zooms 12, 14 and 17, so zoom matters little on a phone. 14 is our default, and we keep it the same for every scan so a change is a real change.
Why only the top 20?
A phone scan records the first 20 businesses Google Maps lists at each pin. “20+” means the business is not among them there.
How many searches is one scan?
One per pin and keyword: a 9×9 grid is 81 searches for each keyword, and each one costs one credit.
Trust every pin.
See a pin’s search for your own client.
1,000 free credits, no card.
