🔍 Understanding the Problem
Grid map scans (also called Local SEO Heatmaps) may sometimes display N/A across most or all grid points, appear to scan indefinitely, or show a "scan is taking longer than expected" message. When a scan does complete, rankings may not match what you see on a live Google search.
These issues can be caused by a few different factors, including incorrect grid configuration, coordinate mismatches, or a temporary backend processing delay. The good news is that most of these problems can be resolved by following the steps below.
⚙️ Common Causes of N/A Results
- Incorrect grid spacing or radius: If the grid spacing setting does not align with the scan radius, the system may scan the wrong area entirely and return no usable ranking data.
- Coordinate mismatch: In some cases, the coordinates stored for your business location may not match what is being passed to the scan, causing pins to appear in the wrong place or not at all.
- Scan timeout: Large grid sizes (for example, a 21×21 grid or higher) require significantly more processing time. If the scan exceeds the expected window, it may return incomplete or empty results.
- Cached or stale scan data: The last-scan date shown in the list view may sometimes differ from the detail view, meaning you could be looking at outdated results rather than the most recent scan.
- Competitor data not loading: Pins may complete without populating competitor analysis, which can make rankings appear artificially low or show unexpected drops.
🛠️ Steps to Resolve the Issue
- Check your grid settings before scanning. Go to your Local SEO Heatmap configuration and confirm that the grid size, point spacing (in miles or kilometres), and scan radius are set consistently. A mismatch between spacing and radius is one of the most common causes of inaccurate results.
- Verify your business location pin. On the map setup screen, confirm that the centre pin is placed directly on your Google Business Profile location. If it appears offset or in the wrong area, drag it to the correct position and save before rescanning.
- Reduce the grid size for a test scan. If you are using a large grid (15×15 or higher), try running a smaller test scan first (for example, 7×7 or 9×9). This completes faster and helps confirm whether the issue is grid-size related or something else.
- Wait and then refresh the results. If the scan shows "taking longer than expected," do not cancel it. Leave the page open or return after 10–15 minutes and refresh. Large scans process in the background and will complete.
- Run a fresh scan rather than relying on cached results. If the last-scan date looks inconsistent between the list view and the detail view, start a new scan manually to ensure you are viewing up-to-date data.
- Compare results against a live Google search. After a scan completes, manually search your target keyword on Google Maps in an incognito window from the same approximate location. If the ranking shown in Search Atlas is significantly different (especially for positions above 10), note the keyword, grid point, and date — this information helps our team investigate further.
📊 What Good Results Should Look Like
A successfully completed scan should show colour-coded ranking pins across all (or nearly all) grid points. Green pins indicate strong rankings (positions 1–3), yellow pins indicate mid-range rankings, and red pins indicate weaker positions. N/A should only appear for grid points where your business genuinely has no ranking data — for example, points that fall outside a serviceable area or where Google returned no result for that keyword.
If the majority of pins show N/A after a completed scan, this is a signal that something went wrong during the scan process rather than a reflection of your actual rankings.
🚀 When to Escalate to Our Team
Try the steps above first. If you have verified your settings, run a fresh scan, and are still seeing widespread N/A results or rankings that clearly do not match live Google data, our team can investigate the backend scan data directly.
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.
To help us resolve your issue faster, please have the following ready: the business name, the keyword used in the scan, the grid size, and a screenshot of both the heatmap result and the live Google search result you are comparing it to.