Frequently Asked Questions
Since Local Falcon is a different way of visualizing ranking data, we know you have a lot of questions. Let's just start with the basics…
What does Local Falcon do?
Local Falcon displays Google My Business rankings for listings that show up either in the Maps portion of the organic search, or from a search in the Google Maps Local Finder (i.e. Google Maps). It scans multiple points at varying distances from the target business and displays them at the same onto a Google Map.
Does the Rank Scanner work for all businesses?
If your business auto-fills in the form below, then you are good to go.
At this time, Local Falcon does not accommodate business listings that are designated as Service Area Businesses (SAB) with hidden addresses. If your business does not come up in the autocomplete above, then unfortunately our tool won't work for you.
What localities does this Rank Scanner work in?
Local Falcon works everywhere in the world and with any language!
How Accurate is Local Falcon?
What pricing plans to do have available?
There are two current plans to access to our scan system. A pay as you model, or a flat rate monthly plan.
The pay as you go plan allows you pay for each scan individually. You are able to fund your account with any initial amount. This is a great way to test out the scan and make sure you are happy with the information it is providing you.
The flat monthly pricing requires you to acquire your own API key from Google. This enables you to take advantage of the montly data credit that Goolge provides to each Google account. At this time that amount is $200 US. For more information about that Google credit, please visit: https://cloud.google.com/maps-platform/pricing/ Note that you will be responsible for all Google data charges when using your own API key, and that you are basically renting the use of our system the run scans.
Which pricing model is best for you is up to you to decide.
If you are a casual user, a pay as you go scan might be less expensive than a monthly flat rate subscription.
If you are an agency with moderate usage, then setting up a Google API key would probably make more sense.
If you are a large agency, please contact us for pricing.
What happened to the old pricing plans?
On May 1st 2019, Google increased our data fees by almost 50 times. A scan that used to cost five cents now costs $2.50! We needed to remove flat rate unlimited style scanning and create a new pay per scan model. We understand that this is a shock to all concerned and we have done our best to reduce the data usage in our code to reduce each scan to its lowest cost possible.
How do I create a Google Maps API key?
Why does my screen have a 'development use only' message after I have subscribed to the API plan?
Make sure you have properly linked your billing account in the Google Cloud Platform to your API project. You must also have an active credit card on file in your Google Billing account.
Do you have a yearly price instead of pay as you go?
Scans are pay as you go. Google charges us for data usage and the fairest method of pricing is to have each account holder pay for thier own data usage. That way no one is taking advantage of the system.
Alternatively, a flat priced monthly plan is available if you wish to use your own Google API key.
What payment processing do you accept?
Currently we are only accepting automated payments through Stripe.
Why are the results a bit different than when I check in my browser?
If you have used your browser to perform a search, Google will remember that and personalize search results it further provides for you. Since we are pulling our numbers directly from the Google API, this raw data might be slightly different than a browser search.
If you are performing a search on Google Maps, the zoom level of the map will be a factor as to what results are displayed as well. Since we need to set the zoom to a default level, it might be different than the zoom level you are looking at.
Lastly, we want to stress that rankings are highly variable and dependent on many factors. These include variables such as has the IP address been used before to perform a similar search, are you logged in to Google or not, is the browser in incognito mode, are you using a mobile or desktop. There is no 'perfect' rank scan for local results, because everyone sees slightly different results in a real world scan.
Local Falcon will provide for you a picture of the coverage area of a business for a specific keyword. This helps you compare your listing to competitors, and to see if your optimization tasks are improving the coverage area for specific keywords.
Why are the results a bit different than some other rank trackers?
Other rank trackers make you choose a location to scan from, usually a zip or postal code, and will choose one spot to scan from within that area. Since a map ranking scan result can be different with even a small amount of distance, it is normal that this difference would sometimes appear.
That's not to say that there won't be any anomalies. The Google API can return some funky data sometimes. If you see anything that doesn't make sense, please let us know.
Can I scan my competitors?
Definitely! If they show up in the autocomplete field above, then they can be scanned. Best part is, they won't even know you are looking. ;)
My industry has a lot of hidden address businesses, can this tool still be useful?
Sure! If your business can be found in the field at the top of the page, then your business can be scanned. It's true, the results may not be accurate to real world because any businesses hiding their address won't be counted in our scan. :( However, the scan can still provide some meaningful data.
Running a scan to gather a visual idea of your rankings can be compared to a scan at a later date after search engine optimization tasks have been performed on your listing or your website. So even though the scan numbers might show lower (better) than they actually are, a comparison of scans over time will be helpful to show you if your optimization tasks have generated any positive changes.
Do you save the results of a scan that is performed?
Every scan is saved in your account. Saved scan results will be found in the Results page menu item. Data will be recorded in a csv (spreadsheet) file which includes the longitude-latitude coordinates of the scan points, and an ordered list of businesses that appeared at each of those locations.
If you wish to record a visual representation of the scan, you will need to save a screenshot before performing another scan. We will need be added saved screenshots as a new feature shortly.
Can your tool scan multi-location businesses at the same time?
Not at this time. Multi-location business scanning features will be added shortly.
If I change the address of the business on GMB will the scan still work?
Yes, however…when you update your address in the GMB dashboard, Google might ask you to reverify listing, usually by postcard. This means that you won't have ownership access for a week or more, (to respond to reviews for example) until you receive your new PIN.
Also note that once verified, the listing won't show up in the tool autocomplete right away as it will take a few extra days for the Google API to update completely. However, you can always send over an email to us and we'll let you know how to get a scan completed in that in-between period.
Do I have to always center the scan at my business location?
You are not limited to only scanning from the business location. You can drag the red center pin on the map to re-center the scan point and begin scanning from any point you want.
What information do you collect about me while using the site?
We will only ask for information that is necessary to be in compliance with the law. For example, we will need your address when upgrading your account to comply with tax regulations. All scan data is saved in your account for future reference and that information is kept on our servers. We are in compliance with GDPR and will not release any information about you or your account without your authorization or compelled to by law.
How do I cancel my account?
With credit based plans, there is no forced subscription and nothing to cancel. All charges are initiated by you unless automatic billing has been setup when your balance falls below a threshold set up by you.
To cancel a flat rate monthly plan, you can do that from your dashboard.
If I provide multiple Google API keys, can you rotate them in my account (to take advantage of the Google monthly credit multiple times)?
We will not rotate API keys. This would be in violation of Google's API Terms of Service as it would be an obvious circumvention of the rules to take advantage of their system. If we were to do so, and Google decided to enact a policy enforcement, every one of our account holders would also be caught in Google's net!
Google can easily monitor API usage coming from our system. It would not be fun down the road for each API key holder to suddenly have to pay Google back for all the free account usage via their multiple API billing accounts. We will not take that risk, nor will we put our customers at risk either.
What does ARP & ATRP mean?
ARP = Average Rank Position
ATRP = Average Total Rank Position
The difference is that the ARP is an average of only the pins that actually have a result (position 20 or less). ATRP averages all the pins even when a business is not found (20+).
This difference helps you compare if a business is ranking well across a wide area, or if they are ranking well in only a small area in the search grid.
