Why Pins Appear in Unwanted Locations
When you run a Local SEO Heatmap, Search Atlas automatically places ranking pins across a grid centred on your chosen location. Depending on your grid size and centre point, some pins may land on lakes, parks, highways, or other areas that are not relevant to your business. These pins are not errors — they simply reflect how the grid overlays your map. The good news is that you can eliminate them by adjusting three grid settings: grid size, centre point, and radius.
What Not to Do
You cannot click individual pins to turn them red or exclude them from data collection. There is no per-pin toggle or colour-coding control in the heatmap. Any instructions suggesting otherwise are incorrect. The only supported method for removing unwanted pins is to reshape or reposition the grid itself, as described below.
How to Adjust Your Heatmap Grid Settings
Follow these steps to reconfigure your heatmap and remove pins from irrelevant areas:
- Navigate to your Local SEO Heatmap project within the platform.
- Open the heatmap you want to edit and locate the grid configuration settings.
- Apply one or more of the three adjustments below based on where the unwanted pins are appearing.
The Three Adjustments That Remove Unwanted Pins
- Shrink the grid size: Reducing the number of grid points lowers the total number of pins generated. Use a smaller grid when your target service area is compact and only a few surrounding pins are landing in irrelevant zones.
- Move the centre point: The grid radiates outward from your centre point. If pins are consistently falling into a lake or off-target area on one side, shift the centre point away from that area and toward the heart of your actual service zone.
- Reduce the radius: The radius controls how far the grid extends from the centre point. A smaller radius pulls all pins closer to your centre, which is the most effective fix when irrelevant pins appear around the outer edges of the heatmap.
Tips for Choosing the Right Adjustment
- If unwanted pins are scattered across the entire heatmap, start by reducing the radius. This has the broadest effect and often resolves the issue in one step.
- If unwanted pins are concentrated on one side (for example, a coastline or river to the west), move the centre point eastward so the grid shifts away from that boundary.
- If your service area is small and dense, use a smaller grid size combined with a tighter radius to keep all pins within relevant streets and neighbourhoods.
- You can combine all three adjustments. Preview the updated grid before saving to confirm that pins now fall only within your intended service area.
If you are unsure which setting to start with, try reducing the radius first, then preview the result before making additional changes.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.