Google localises results, so the same keyword ranks differently in every city and suburb. To see your true local visibility, track rankings from the specific places your customers search, keep the local pack separate from the organic results, and never trust the rankings you see in your own browser. This is the deep dive on the local part of rank tracking.
Why do local rankings differ?
Because Google decides local results on more than relevance. Its guidance on local ranking names three factors: relevance (how well a business matches the search), distance (how close it is to the searcher), and prominence (how well known and well reviewed it is). Because distance is in the mix, the same query genuinely ranks differently from one location to the next, which is why a single national position tells a local business almost nothing.
What is the local pack?
For searches with local intent, Google shows a local pack: a small map with a handful of businesses, sitting above the classic organic links. It is a separate surface with its own logic, driven mainly by your Google Business Profile, proximity and reviews rather than the on-page factors that decide organic rank. Because it is separate, you track it separately: your map-pack position and your organic position are two different numbers that can move in opposite directions.
How do you set up local rank tracking?
- Pick the locations that matter. The cities, or even suburbs, your customers actually search from, not a national default.
- Track by location, not average. Record each keyword's position for each place, so a strong city cannot mask a weak one.
- Track the pack and organic separately. Keep the map-pack result and the organic result on their own lines for each keyword and location.
- Track the right device. Local searches skew heavily to mobile; track it, and desktop too if it matters to you.
How do you get an accurate local read?
The trap is checking rankings yourself. Google personalises your results by your location, device and history, so what you see logged in at your desk is not what a customer in the next suburb sees. The only reliable way to know your position in a place you are not standing in is a rank tracker that queries from that set location. Eyeballing it in your own browser will flatter you, or scare you, for no good reason.
What do you do with the data?
Local ranking data is a map of where to work. It shows the locations where you are weak, so you can focus effort there: a more complete Google Business Profile, location-specific content and genuine local links and mentions. Track the same places over time and you can see whether that work moved you, which is the local version of proving your effort paid off.
How does Limecube help?
Limecube's rank tracking is built for multi-location work. You can track the same keyword across several cities and suburbs at once, each with its own position, ranking URL, Search Console clicks and visibility score, so a client operating in five places sees five honest local pictures instead of one misleading national average. The 7-day trial covers it, and the rank tracking guide covers the fundamentals.