When your heatmap shows "Quota Exhausted," your Local SEO Points for the current billing cycle have been fully consumed — or an expected top-up was never added. This article explains how points are calculated, when they reset, how to spot a failed recurring top-up, and how to fix a pin-placement bug that may have wasted credits.

## ⚠️ What "Quota Exhausted" Means

Heatmaps draw from a pool of Local SEO Points included in your plan. Each pin on the heatmap grid costs 1 point per keyword layer. Once you've used all your points for the billing cycle, Search Atlas blocks new scans and displays "Quota Exhausted."

## 📊 How Heatmap Points Are Consumed

Point usage scales with your grid size and keyword count:

- Each grid pin = **1 Local SEO Point per keyword**
- A 7×7 grid with 1 keyword = **49 points**
- A 7×7 grid with 3 keywords = **147 points**
- Larger grids and more keywords consume proportionally more
- Refreshing a heatmap costs the same number of points as creating it
- Deleting a heatmap does **not** restore points already consumed

## 🔄 When Local SEO Points Reset

Points reset monthly on your **billing anniversary date** — the day you subscribed or last changed your plan. This is not the 1st of the month.

To find your exact reset date:

1. Click your profile icon (top-right).
2. Select **Billing**.
3. Read your next billing date, displayed under your plan name.

## 💳 Failed Recurring Top-Up (Points Never Added)

If you have a recurring Local SEO Points top-up — for example, 5,000 points for $50/month — those points are only added to your quota when the monthly charge succeeds. Charges most often fail because of an expired card, an invalid or removed payment method, or insufficient funds. When the charge fails, your top-up shows as **Past Due** and the extra points are never credited, so your quota runs out far sooner than expected.

### How to confirm a failed top-up

To verify whether a top-up was processed, go to your profile icon (top-right) → **Billing** → **Activity Log**. The Quota Log lists every Local SEO Point addition and every heatmap consumption, each with a timestamp. If your top-up date is missing from the log, the charge failed and no points were added.

1. Open Top-right corner (avatar) → Billing → Activity Log tab to review point activity.
2. Look for points being consumed normally but hitting the limit early, with no top-up credit added for the cycle.
3. Click your profile icon (top-right) → **Billing** and check whether your top-up is marked **Past Due**.

### How to fix it

1. Check your payment method in **Billing** settings.
2. If your card is expired or invalid, update it.
3. The top-up will retry automatically within 24–48 hours, or you can retry the Past Due charge manually in **Billing**.
4. If it continues to fail, contact Support with your invoice number.

Once the charge goes through, your top-up points are added to your quota and you can run heatmaps again.

## 🧾 Recurring vs. One-Time Top-Ups

There are two ways to add Local SEO Points to your quota:

- **Recurring top-up:** A fixed number of Local SEO Points added automatically each month when the charge succeeds (see the failed top-up section above).
- **One-time top-up:** A single purchase of Local SEO Points that is auto-credited to your quota right after payment.

One-time top-up points normally appear in your quota within **15 minutes** of a successful payment. If they don't, open your order history under **Billing** to confirm the purchase completed, then contact Support if the points are still missing.

**Note:** A past bug (QPB-786) caused some one-time top-ups to under-allocate Local SEO Points — crediting far fewer points than were purchased. This has been fixed. If you bought a one-time top-up previously and your quota looks lower than expected, check your Quota Log and contact Support so we can review and correct the allocation.

## ❓ Common Misconceptions About Points

**"I deleted heatmaps — why didn't my points come back?"** Points are consumed at creation or refresh time. Deleting a heatmap does not refund them.

**"I only created a few heatmaps."** Check your grid size and keyword count. A single large heatmap can consume hundreds of points.

**"My points should have already reset."** Resets happen on your billing anniversary date, not the 1st of the month. Check Billing for your exact date.

**"I have a recurring top-up — why is my quota so low?"** If your top-up charge is Past Due, the points were never added this cycle. Check your Quota Log and update your payment method in Billing.

## 📍 Incorrect Pin Placement (Lat/Long Bug)

If your heatmap pins appear in the wrong geographic location — for example, dropped in Lake Michigan, or 250–375 miles away from your actual business address — even though the correct address is saved in your business profile, this is a **geocoding issue, not a quota issue**. It most commonly affected **Service Area Business** profiles, where the heatmap coordinates were resolved incorrectly from the saved address.

This was a known bug affecting how heatmap coordinates were resolved from saved addresses. It has been resolved by our engineering team. Retry your heatmap to confirm that pins now display in the correct location.

### How to correct misplaced pins

1. Open the affected heatmap and **drag the pin** to the correct location, or reconfirm your business address in your profile.
2. **Rerun the heatmap** to generate accurate results.
3. **Delete the incorrect scans** that returned false results. Note that deleting a heatmap does **not** restore the Local SEO Points already consumed.

### Were your Local SEO Points consumed by an affected scan?

If you ran heatmaps that returned false results due to incorrect pin placement, you may be eligible for a refund of those Local SEO Points. Contact Support with:

- The affected business location(s)
- The date(s) the impacted heatmap scans were run
- The number of Local SEO Points you'd like reviewed (e.g., "2,000 Local SEO Points")

## 🛠️ How to Fix a Quota Exhausted Error

Choose the option that fits your situation:

- **Fix a failed recurring top-up:** If your top-up is Past Due, update your payment method or retry the charge in **Billing** so the points are added.
- **Top up immediately:** Click your profile icon (top-right) → **Billing** → **Plans & Top-ups** → **Top Up**.
- **Upgrade your plan:** Higher plans include more Local SEO Points per month.
- **Wait for your reset:** Points reset on your next billing date. Check Billing to see the exact date.
- **Request a Local SEO Points refund (specific cases only):** If points were consumed by scans affected by the pin-placement bug, contact Support with the details listed above.

**🎯 You now know how to read your Quota Log, confirm whether a Past Due top-up left points uncredited, and choose the right fix — top up, update your payment method, upgrade, wait for your reset, or request a refund. If your top-up still won't process or your Quota Log doesn't match what you expect, contact Support so we can review your account.**