Run your first geo-grid scan

Run a geo-grid scan on Google Maps, Google Search + AI Overview or Google AI Mode: grid size, coverage, keywords and credit cost.

A geo-grid scan checks Google from many points across a map, not just one. That gives you a true picture of where you are visible in your area and where you fade out, which is far more useful than a single position number. Each scan runs on one engine: Google Maps, Google Search or Google AI Mode.

What you'll need

A location that is matched to a real Google listing. See Add your first location.
Enough scan credits for the grid size you choose (more on cost below).

Run a scan

Go to Geo-Grid Scans in the sidebar, under Track, and select New Scan to open the Run New Scan page.
Under What do you want to measure?, choose the engine: Google Maps (your Maps position at every point), Google Search + AI Overview (whether you're in the local pack's top 3, and whether an AI Overview shows and cites you) or Google AI Mode (whether it names you). If you're not sure, start with Google Maps. See Choose what a scan measures.
Choose the Location.
Choose one or more Keywords from that location, up to 20 at once. Each keyword runs as its own scan. If the keyword you want is not there, type it and press Enter to add it to the location. Use a phrase a customer would search, like "emergency plumber", not a question.
Set the Grid Size: 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, or 21 points across. A 5 means a 5x5 grid, so 25 points.
Set the Coverage, which is how wide the grid spreads across your area: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 or 50 km (or 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 or 20 miles), or Custom… for anything from 1 to 100 km. SearchOps spaces the points evenly across that distance. If you need to, use Rotation to turn the grid, or drag the grid on the map to move its centre.
Select Run Scan. The button shows the credit cost before you commit. With several keywords chosen it reads Run 3 Scans, for example, and shows the total.

Tip: For a first scan, a 5x5 grid over 2 to 5 km around a single location is a good, affordable baseline.

What a scan costs

On Google Maps, a scan costs one credit per grid point, so the cost is the grid size squared:

3x3 = 9 credits
5x5 = 25 credits
7x7 = 49 credits

Google Search and Google AI Mode cost two credits per point, so a 7x7 scan on either is 98 credits. Several keywords cost the same per keyword, so three keywords on a 5x5 Google Maps grid is 75 credits.

Coverage distance does not change the cost; only the number of points does. The button shows the cost as you change the grid size, and the box in the corner of the map shows your balance now and after the scan, so there are no surprises.

Note: You only pay for points that come back. If Google does not answer some points, the scan keeps trying them for a few minutes and refunds any it still cannot get. If fewer than half come back, the scan fails and every credit is refunded. See How credits and quotas work for what your plan includes.

A couple of guardrails

SearchOps warns you in two helpful cases:

Question-style keywords (starting with what, how, why and similar) often do not trigger Maps results, so you will be nudged toward a service-style phrase.
Very tight grids, where points sit closer than about 100 m, tend to return identical rankings, so you will be nudged to widen the coverage.

Larger grids depend on your plan: Starter goes up to 15x15, and Pro, Agency and Enterprise go up to 21x21. A size your plan does not include shows a lock. Google AI Mode scans run up to 9x9 and are available for locations in the US, UK and India.

After the scan

While it runs you will see live progress and an estimated finish time. If Google did not answer every point the first time, the scan shows Finishing up while it asks again. There is no need to start a new scan, and you are not charged twice.

When it completes you get a colour-coded grid, the headline numbers for that engine (such as your average rank on Google Maps, or how often you are in the local pack's top 3 and cited in AI Overviews on Google Search), and a competitor breakdown. Learn to read it in Reading your geo-grid results.

Back on Geo-Grid Scans, the Scoreboard shows where every keyword stands now, and All scans lists each scan you have run. Select a keyword to open its own page, with your history and the rivals around you.

To keep this refreshed automatically, set up recurring scans.