What is distance in local search?
In local search, distance is how far each business is from the searcher or the place they searched. It is one of Google's three main local ranking factors.
Distance is how close a business is to the person searching, or to the location named in the search. If no place is named, Google estimates the searcher's location. This is why your map ranking can change from one side of town to the other. It is one of three main local factors, along with relevance and prominence, and it is the one you control least.
Why it matters for your business: Distance explains why you may rank well near your office and lower farther out. Rank heatmaps show this pattern across your service area.
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