Kansas City SEO Services

Manual Map Pack Rank-Check Worksheet

See where your business shows in the Google map pack, side of town by side of town, with a phone or laptop, a signed-out window, and this grid. No paid rank trackers, no APIs, no location-faking extensions. Repeat it on the same weekday and time so the results can be compared.

What you are measuring

The local pack is the map block inside regular Google results, usually three listings. Who shows there can change with where the searcher is, so one search from your desk only tells you about your desk. A grid of searches from around the metro shows where you're in the pack, where you're below it, and where you don't show at all.

Step 1: Lock in your queries

Pick one to three searches and write them out exactly. Type them the same way on every check.

Type	Exact query (write it once, never change it)
Q1: "near me" query (example: plumber near me)
Q2: trade plus city (example: plumber kansas city)
Q3: optional specific service (example: water heater repair near me)

Step 2: Pick one location method and keep it for the whole grid

Method	How	Close to a real customer?	Caveat
A. Search from inside the area (best)	Be in the neighborhood: on a job, running an errand, or have a crew member search from their phone where they are.	Closest to what a real "near me" searcher sees.	Takes time. You only cover the squares you actually visit.
B. Add the neighborhood to the query	From wherever you are, search Q1 with the area name added, for example "plumber waldo kansas city".	Partly.	This is a different search. It shows who Google ties to that place name, not what someone standing there sees. Never mix A and B in one grid.

Method used for this check: A   B     Device (same one every time):

Step 3: Go signed out

• Open a private or incognito window, or sign out of Google. This cuts down personalization from your own search history.
• It does not hide your location. Google still estimates where you are from the device, GPS on a phone, Wi-Fi, or IP. For method A, that's what you want.
• Don't search your own business name first, and don't tap your own listing before you write down the result.
• Use the same kind of device (phone or laptop) for every square and every repeat.

Step 4: Record what you see

• Write your position in the map block: 1, 2, or 3.
• Skip anything marked Sponsored or shown as an ad, including Local Services Ads. They aren't rank. Jot them in the margin if you like, but don't count them.
• Not in the three? Tap "More places" and count down the longer list. Stop at 20 and write "20+".
• Write down the three businesses in the pack for that square. That's how you learn who is winning each side of town.

Grid A: 3x3 metro grid

Roughly by compass direction, not to scale. Built from areas named on our site plus nearby anchors. Cross out any square outside your service area, and write your own areas over the labels if they fit better.

Date:   Weekday:   Time window:

West	Center	East
Parkville / Platte sideQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __	Northland (North KC)Q1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __	Liberty / Clay sideQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __
KCK / Shawnee sideQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __	Downtown / PlazaQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __	IndependenceQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __
Overland Park / OlatheQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __	Brookside / WaldoQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __	Lee's SummitQ1 __   Q2 __   Q3 __

Who is in the pack, square by square (Q1)

Square	#1	#2	#3
Parkville / Platte side
Northland (North KC)
Liberty / Clay side
KCK / Shawnee side
Downtown / Plaza
Independence
Overland Park / Olathe
Brookside / Waldo
Lee's Summit

Grid B: 5x5 close-in grid (optional)

For businesses that serve one part of town and want more detail. Put your shop or home base in the center square. Pick 24 points around it, spaced about evenly: intersections, schools, parks, or shopping centers you can name and reach. Write the point name in each square and your Q1 position under it.

Date:   Weekday:   Time window:   Method: A   B

		Your base Q1 __

Step 5: Repeat on a schedule

Honest limits of this method

• Results can shift with time of day, day of week, and device. That's why the schedule matters. One off-schedule search is noise.
• Method B is not a real "near me" search from that spot. Read a B grid as a rough map of which businesses Google ties to each place name.
• A signed-out window cuts personalization. It doesn't make you an average searcher.
• Nine or twenty-five searches is a sample. Use it to spot a pattern, like strong near base and gone past a certain point, not to argue over one square.
• Ads can sit above the map block, so being #1 in the pack doesn't always mean being the first thing a searcher sees.
• Nothing here predicts or promises a ranking. It records what was true on the days you looked.

Reading your grid

What you see	What it may mean	Where to look next
Top 3 near base, gone a few squares out	Common for a single-location business. Who shows tends to change with where the searcher is.	See who holds the far squares and which primary category they use (checklist item 2).
Not in the top 3 anywhere, even at base	Something on the profile may be off, or a competitor is stronger across the board.	Work through the fix-up checklist. Send us both sheets for the free fix-up.
Different businesses in the pack for Q1 and Q2	"Near me" and "trade plus city" are different searches with different winners.	Decide which one your customers actually type and give it more weight.
You show for the city query but not "near me" in your own neighborhood	Possible location or category mismatch on the profile.	Checklist items 2, 5, and 14.