🗺️ Local SEO Heatmaps

The Local SEO Heatmap tool helps you track organic visibility for local searches. It shows where a business appears in the Google Map Pack for its target geographic locations and allows you to analyze rankings across specific areas.

You can sign up to get your Google Business Profile listed with Google at the following link: https://business.google.com/us/business-profile/

🔥Creating a Local SEO Heatmap

🗺️ How to Create a New Heatmap

Here is a Loom with the exact steps:

1. Navigate to Local → Local SEO Heatmaps (Local SEO Heatmaps) in the left sidebar

2. Select the business to track using the business name or business URL. (Note: Place ID lookup may currently return an error for some users — if you encounter an issue, please use the business name or URL instead, or contact support.)

3. Click Save to add the business to your dashboard.

4. Open the new business's heatmap

5. Choose your grid type: circle or rectangle (circle is the most common).

6. Define your layers

7. Select your refresh cadence:

   1. Daily
   2. Weekly
   3. Bi-weekly
   4. Monthly
   5. Once

8. Enter the refresh time (during business hours — rankings in Google Maps can differ when a business is open vs. closed, so scheduling scans during your client's local business hours ensures more representative data).

9. Add your keywords

10. Click + Save to save your heatmap configuration and add it to your dashboard.

⚙️ Configure Settings

Setting

Description

Shape & Radius

Circle or Rectangle, radius 1–100 miles

Layers / Pins

Larger service areas need more pins. As a rule of thumb: for a city-wide area, 3 layers (~37 pins on a circle grid) is typical; for a metro region, 5 layers may be needed.

Center Pin

Move to reorient the report (useful for Service Area Businesses)

Omitting Pins

Click a pin until it turns red to exclude that location

🔁 Set Refresh Cadence & Time

⏱️ Choose daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or once.
🕘 Always schedule during business hours (rankings vary by open/closed status).
🎯 For demos, select Once.

💡 Example Setup

For a small local business targeting a single neighborhood, the following configuration is a good starting point:

Circle · 3 Layers · 5 Miles · Monthly Refresh · 9:00 AM

Heatmap Import + Instant Project Creation

We've added a powerful new capability to streamline your local SEO workflow: you can now import heatmaps in bulk and automatically generate full heatmap projects from your uploaded data. This update eliminates manual setup and makes it significantly easier to analyze location-based rankings at scale.

How It Works

Step 1 — Download and Complete the Template

Start by making a copy of the Heatmap Template. Fill in all required fields, and before moving to the next step, ensure your Google Sheet link is set to "Anyone with the link can view."

Step 2 — Upload the Completed Template

Export your completed sheet as a CSV file. Then upload it using the Import from CSV option. Search Atlas will automatically process each row and instantly create your corresponding heatmap projects.

This new feature is designed to save time, reduce errors, and make large-scale local ranking analysis faster and more accessible than ever.

🧠Smart Suggest in Heatmap Setup

Smart Suggest is now available inside the Local SEO Heatmap setup flow. When you create a new Local SEO project, the system will automatically recommend relevant keywords based on the business nature.

This helps you:

• Pick strong, high-intent keywords faster instead of manually guessing
• Achieve more accurate heatmap scoring
• Speed up project setup
• Improve discovery keyword relevance

✅ Live for all users!

🗺️Using the Heatmap

1. View rankings by pin: Click a pin to see results for that location
2. Competitor comparisons: Compare your pins against competitor visibility
3. Date comparisons: Compare current scans with past scans
4. Grid adjustments: Center pin resets to GBP address after refreshes; move it manually if needed

💎Local SEO Points & Quota

Each heatmap scan consumes Local SEO Points from your account quota. The number of points consumed per scan depends on the grid configuration — larger grids with more pins consume more points. When your quota is exhausted, scans will be blocked and the Run Local Scan action may return an error.

What to do when quota runs out:

• Purchase a Local SEO Points top-up from your billing settings
• Wait for your monthly quota to reset
• Contact support if you need assistance

Note: If you have just purchased a top-up and still see a 429 error when running a scan, wait a brief moment for the new quota to apply, then retry. This was a known bug that has been resolved — if the issue persists, please contact support.

⚠️Known Limitations & Troubleshooting

Heatmap pins in shared/client reports: Heatmap pins and competitor analysis data may not display correctly in shared report links — they currently render only inside the Search Atlas platform. If your client or stakeholder cannot see pins in a shared report, please view the data directly inside the platform as a workaround, or contact support for assistance.

Place ID lookup: Place ID lookup when adding a business may currently return an error for some users. As a workaround, use the business name or business URL instead, or contact support.

📐SOP: Accurate Comparison of Local SEO Rankings

To ensure reliable comparisons over time, follow this SOP:

1. Pre-Setup Validation

   • Confirm business location (exact city/neighborhood/ZIP, not generic city/state)
   • Verify keyword lists are identical across comparisons

2. Ranking Report Configuration

   • Use consistent radius and grid spacing (e.g., always 5 miles)
   • Align timing with business hours
   • Adjust for time zone differences

3. Comparing Data Over Time

   • Compare only reports with identical settings
   • Always use the business's local time zone

4. Validate Location Accuracy

   • Simulate searches from the business's exact service area

5. Documentation & Standardization

   • Keep a log for each client/project with:
     • Location & time zone
     • Keywords tracked
     • R