Local search · Franchise SEOTwo places to win now: the map and the answer.
People nearby see the Google map first, and for many other searches an AI answer now sits on top. We check the map for every location and the AI answers city by city, show where each one stands and do the work to move it.
A Google Maps grid of up to 49 points around each location, with the businesses that beat it at each point.
In a study of more than 350,000 locations, ChatGPT put 1.2 percent of them among its first five picks. The average location showed in Google's top three map spots 35.9 percent of the time.
Among restaurant chains with five or more locations, 13.9 percent showed up in Google's AI answer for nearby searches, against 84.3 percent on Google Maps.
Of 302 searches we tracked for one local company, 90 showed the map. Only 3 of those 90 had an AI answer on top.
The map and the AI answer reward different work.
Searches with a place in them still show the map. Questions mostly get an AI answer. In what we tracked, they were mostly different searches.
So each location needs both: a strong map position for people nearby, and pages, profiles and reviews that AI answers can quote.
When an AI summary appeared, people clicked a regular result in 8 percent of visits, against 15 percent when it did not.
One rank number hides the whole map.
Where a location ranks depends on where the searcher stands. A shop can be first near its own door and much lower across town.
So we search from a grid of up to 49 points around each location and record its rank at each one, with the businesses that beat it. Grids rerun about weekly for each tracked search.
The Maps grid
Up to 49 points around one location. At each point we record its rank and the businesses that beat it.Is your brand named? We check, city by city.
Our team asks Google's AI Overview, ChatGPT and other assistants the questions your customers ask, city by city. We record whether your brand is named and which pages the answer cites.
Then we work on what they read: the location page, the Google Business Profile, the listings and the reviews.
Google Analytics added an AI Assistant channel on May 13, 2026, for visits that come from chat assistants.
Your locations should not compete with each other.
Each location gets its own set of searches and its own service area, matched to its territory. We watch the grids for overlap and adjust when two locations start to chase the same streets.
What our team does month after month.
- Keeps each Google Business Profile complete: categories, hours, services and photos, with manager access from each profile's owner.
- Keeps each location listed under the brand name on the directories that matter, checked every six hours.
- Writes and improves location pages.
- Asks for reviews and answers them.
- Reports each month, per location.
Owners see their map. Head office sees every map.
Each owner sees their own grid and the competitors on it, and our team shares the AI answer checks for their city. Head office sees every location's average map rank on one page, with a map colored by rank and the locations past 10 flagged.
From the first call to every location.
We pick the searches that matter in each territory.
We run the first grid for each location and the first AI answer checks for your cities.
We fix the basics: profile, listings and the location page.
Grids rerun about weekly, and each location gets a monthly report.
Asked often, answered plainly.
How does my location show up in the map when someone nearby searches?
Google says local results weigh relevance, distance and how well known a business is. We work on the parts you can change: a complete profile, accurate listings, a strong location page and steady reviews. The grid shows you, point by point, where that work is landing.
How do our locations get named by Google's AI answer or ChatGPT?
AI answers draw on what they can find about a business: its pages, its profile, its listings and what customers say in reviews. Our team asks the assistants, city by city, whether they name your brand and which pages they cite. Then we work on the pages and profiles they read.
How do we stop our locations from competing with each other?
Each location gets its own searches, its own service area and its own page, matched to its territory. We watch the grids for overlap and adjust when two locations start chasing the same streets.
How often are rankings checked?
Search positions are checked about every 30 minutes, with a daily snapshot. Maps grids rerun about weekly for each tracked search. Listings are checked every six hours.
Can you promise a top three spot on the map?
No, and be careful of anyone who does. Google decides the map. We show you exactly where each location stands and what we are doing to move it.
More on marketing many locations.
See one location's grid and its AI answer check.
On a 30 minute discovery call we walk you through a working location: its Maps grid, the competitors on it and what the assistants say about it.
Sources
- The 2026 Local Visibility Index, published January 28, 2026
- A study of how 10,000 U.S. restaurants appear in AI search, May 2026, published June 12, 2026
- Our own tracking of 302 searches for one local company, June 30 to October 1, 2026
- Pew Research Center, Google users are less likely to click on links when an AI summary appears in the results, July 22, 2025
- Google Analytics Help, release notes, May 13, 2026