Rank Map

What Rank Map does

Rank Map runs your keyword from a grid of real coordinates around your client's business and shows where they rank on Google Maps at every point. Green cells = top 3. Yellow = 4-7. Orange = 8-12. Red = 13+. You see the whole local market at a glance.

Most rank trackers stop at the heat map. Vouch Local's Rank Map is the entry point: every cell is clickable, and clicking it exposes the top three competitors winning that exact coordinate, their full local footprint filtered to that area (citations, chamber memberships, neighborhood blog mentions, sponsorships), the exact content pages they have ranking in that neighborhood, and per-cell content recommendations generated from the gap between you and the leaders.

How to use Rank Map

1. Pick a keyword- Add any commercial-intent keyword tied to your client's business. You can track multiple keywords per business and switch between them.
2. Choose grid size and spacing - Configurable from 7×7 up to 13×13. Use larger grids for bigger service areas, tighter spacing for dense urban markets.
3. Run the scan - Vouch Local hits Google Maps from every grid point. Results render live as the scan progresses. Each cell shows your rank at that exact coordinate.
4. Read the map - Heat map highlights green hot zones and red dead zones. Hover any cell to see your rank and the top result there. Switch between keywords side by side.
5. Click any cell for the details - The left panel swaps in-place when you click a cell. You see:
   • Who wins this cell - the top three competitors with their review counts, Local Authority score, and distance
   • Why they win - click any competitor to see their local signals filtered to that cell
   • What they rank for - the exact content pages on that competitor's site that rank in this area
   • What to write for this area - per-cell content recommendations tied to the actual neighborhoods covering that coordinate
6. Scan a competitor not in your top 20- If a competitor shows up on the map but isn't in your saved Competitor Links list, click them in the cell popup and run an on-demand lite scan. Returns within seconds.
7. Save content topics - Click the save button on any per-cell recommendation to add it to your Content Gaps list. The AI Article Writer takes it from there.
8. Compare scans - Run the scan again any time. Full scan history is preserved - compare any two dates to see what moved.

Understanding the data per cell

Every cell is a real Google Maps search from that exact latitude/longitude. The cell label shows your rank at that coordinate (1-20+). The leaderboard popup shows what Google returns from that search point.

When you click a cell, the data on the left panel auto-filters to that cell:

• Top 3 competitors are the businesses Google ranks ahead of yours at that exact coordinate
• Local signals are filtered to citations and mentions geographically relevant to that area (city + neighborhood matching)
• Pages are filtered to the competitor's site pages that target the neighborhood/area of that cell (neighborhood-match = green badge, city-match = blue badge, generic service-area = gray badge)
• Recommendations are generated for the specific neighborhoods covering that cell, using Claude. Each topic includes a defensive (protect what you have) or offensive (take what you don't have) angle

Tips for using Rank Map

• Start with your client's most commercial-intent keyword. That's where the rankings matter most.
• If the entire map is red, you need authority work first. If it's a mix, you need per-cell content and outreach.
• Click red cells closest to your client's actual physical location first - those are usually the easiest wins.
• For multi-location clients, run one Rank Map per location and compare them. The maps tell you which markets to invest in.
• Use the per-cell content recommendations as a writing queue. Save 10-20 topics, hand them to the AI Article Writer, and publish through the month.
• Re-scan every 30 days to track progress. The visual proof of green spreading across the map is the best retention tool in agency life.

Related guides

• Competitor Links- The full per-competitor view of citations, footprints, and pages that powers each cell's detail panel.
• Content Gaps - Save per-cell topic recommendations here, then turn them into full articles with the AI Article Writer.
• Scout - Citation discovery + outreach. Citation gaps surfaced from any cell can flow to Scout for outreach.
• Reports - Roll rank-map visuals and per-cell data into monthly client reports.