How geo-grid rank tracking works, one pin at a time
The five steps at every pin, what “as a phone sees it” means, and the evidence with its limits.
Read the guide: How geo-grid rank tracking works, one pin at a timeGuide
A Phoenix benchmark: how six kinds of business rank on Google Maps.
Phoenix, November 2, 2026: the first 10 businesses Google Maps showed for each category’s “near me” search, from one central point, each scanned on a 9×9 phone grid, 0.5 miles apart, around its own address. Aggregates only: no business is named.
Last updated · Written by the Local Pinmeter team in Phoenix, Arizona
The numbers
Six categories, 53 businesses, one day
53 businesses, scanned once each: 4,293 pins, none failed. Pinmeter Score is the share of a business’s 81 pins where it is in the top 3. Pin Rank is its average rank, with “not in the top 20” counted as 21, so lower is better.
| Category | Businesses | Average Pinmeter Score | Average Pin Rank | Median distance from the search point |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nail salon “nail salon near me” |
10 | 19% lowest 0%, highest 69%* |
12.2 best 3.6, worst 20.8 |
0.7 mi |
| Dentist “dentist near me” |
10 | 19% lowest 0%, highest 65% |
12.2 best 4.5, worst 20.8 |
0.2 mi |
| Restaurant “restaurant near me” |
10 | 4% lowest 0%, highest 35% |
17.0 best 9.7, worst 20.7 |
0.1 mi |
| Auto repair “auto repair near me” |
10 | 14% lowest 0%, highest 32% |
14.5 best 9.3, worst 19.1 |
1.3 mi |
| Law firm “law firm near me” |
10 | 11% lowest 0%, highest 63% |
15.4 best 6.6, worst 20.9 |
0.0 mi |
| Plumber “plumber near me” |
3 only 3: do not compare with the others |
47% lowest 1%, highest 72% |
8.8 best 2.7, worst 20.2 |
1.6 mi |
* One of the 10 nail salons is a location of Element Nail Bar, the brand in our case study, and it is the highest score in that row. Element Nail Bar is a client of EDGE Salon & Spa Marketing (opens in a new tab). EDGE is owned by the same founder as Local Pinmeter.
Among the 5 categories with 10 businesses each, the average Pinmeter Score ran from 4% (restaurants) to 19% (nail salons and dentists). Plumbers are left out of that comparison: only 3 qualified.
Read it with the numbers
What this does and does not show
- Not a ranking of the market. Phoenix only, one keyword per category, one day, 10 businesses per category (3 for plumbers). These are what the scans found, not what they mean for rankings.
- Plumbers are only 3. 17 of the 20 plumbers Google listed showed no address, and our rule skips those. The 3 left were listed 17th, 19th and 20th. Do not compare them with the other categories.
- The sample may run strong. These are the businesses Google showed first from one central point, so they may be stronger than a typical business in their category, and the scores may run higher than a typical business’s. This test does not measure that.
- The sample sits near the search point. The median business in each category is 0.0 to 1.6 miles from it (last column), in downtown Phoenix, where many competitors are close together. We did not test what that does to the scores.
- Low scores are not a matching error. All 53 businesses were found in the results at their own centre pin.
- One scan each. A map moves from day to day: our case study scanned the same five salons twice, 17 days apart.
How the businesses were chosen
A rule written before the first scan
- Search: each category’s “near me” search on Google Maps, as a phone sees it, from one fixed point in downtown Phoenix (33.4484, -112.0740), at 1:22 PM Arizona time on November 2, 2026.
- Who: the first 10 organic results that list an address. A sponsored result is not counted.
- Scan: each business once, on a 9×9 grid 0.5 mi apart centred on its own address, phone view at zoom 14, top 20 results: 81 pins each, 53 scans, 4,293 pins in all.
- The rule came first. It was written down before the first search and followed as written: nothing dropped, added or re-run.
- Names: not published, so one business’s score cannot be looked up here.
Using it
Judge a client against its own scans
There is no single good Pinmeter Score (how to read a geo-grid report), so do not treat these averages as targets. Judge a client against its own earlier scans and against the businesses ranked above it. A first scan is a baseline; “what changed” starts with the second. The case study shows two scans of the same five salons.
Questions
Questions
How were the businesses chosen?
By a rule written before the first search: the first 10 organic Google Maps results that list an address, for each category’s “near me” search, from one fixed point in downtown Phoenix, on a phone view. Nothing was dropped, added or re-run afterwards.
Why are most of the scores low?
Pinmeter Score counts only the pins where a business is in the top 3, and a business that ranks first at its own address can drop out of the top 20 a mile away. We checked for a matching error: all 53 businesses were found in the results at their own centre pin, so the low scores are not a mistake in finding them.
Why are there only 3 plumbers?
17 of the 20 plumbers Google listed showed no address, which is common for businesses that go to the customer, and our rule skips those. Do not compare plumbers with the other categories.
Is this a ranking of Phoenix businesses?
No. It is one keyword per category, one day, and the first businesses Google showed from one point. It shows what these scans found, not which businesses are best, and not what it means for anyone’s rankings.
Why are the businesses not named?
We report averages and ranges only, so nothing on this page is a claim about any one business. The list is kept internally and is not published.
Can I run this for my own market?
Yes. A 9×9 scan is 81 credits per keyword. The free trial is 1,000 free credits, no card. Pick a category, scan your clients and prospects, and compare each one with its own earlier scans.
