Frequently Asked Questions

Using the Local Falcon Map Scan tool only takes a few steps. While there are multiple ways to perform a scan (Map Scan, Bulk Scanner, or via the API), we've outlined the basics in the steps and in the video, below: 

How to Use Local Falcon: 

1. You must have at least one keyword and one business in-mind (e.g. "Pizza Hut" wants to search for "Pizza Delivery Near Me"). 
2. Visit the Map Scan tool and select the business from your location list. 
3. Add the keyword(s) you would like to track (tip: use the new "Suggested Keywords" feature for a few ideas about where the business is already ranking). 
4. Choose the grid size (our most popular is the 7x7) and radius (1 mile, 2 miles, etc.). 
5. Tap "Run Scan" and when the scan is complete you can view the Scan Report (tip: you can also share the report with by tapping the share icon).  

Don't forget you can also convert your favorite scans into "auto scans" so you can see how business ranking changes over time by using the popular "Trend Report".  

Here's a quick overview video, narrated by Yan Gilbert: 

Yes!

Our rank scanner works for all businesses, including Service Area Businesses (SAB) with hidden addresses.

Local Falcon works everywhere in the world and with any language!

We would not have released the tool if it was not providing accurate information.

If you want more details, we created an article: comparing our scan to two other local rank trackers.

To provide as much flexibility to as many people as possible, there are four monthly packages, four enterprise packages, and a pay-as-you-go system. 

The details of the plans can be found here (when logged in): 

https://localfalcon.com/billing/purchase-credits

The details are also available on the public pricing page here: https://www.localfalcon.com/pricing 

Credits in the monthly package plans expire at the end of the billing month, while individual credit purchases do not expire and will stay in your account until they are used. 

At this point in time we only have a pay-as-you-go system, or monthly plans available.

We can process payments through credit cards and via ACH / Bank Account (using the Stripe system).

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 data directly from "clean" Google searches, 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.

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.

Definitely! You can initiate a scan from any listing and our reports will show you exactly how your competitors rank as well.

Yes! There is no limitation to our scans. All businesses will be displayed in our reports.

Every scan is saved in your account. Saved scan results will be found in the Results page menu item. Numerous reports are available after a scan is performed

Yes. Multiple locations can be tracked and reported on at the same time. 

Once the address is officially updated on Google Business Profile, you can update the address in your account by navigating to the Locations tab and using the pencil icon to enter a new address for your listing.

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.

We'd like to think it has, yes! We've been pretty well reviewed over the years.

Here's an article we wrote highlighting Local Falcon's coverage in the news. 

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.

To cancel your subscription, please visit this page and use the 'cancel subscription' button:

https://localfalcon.com/billing/purchase-credits

Your existing monthly credits will be available for use until the end of your billing month.

If you have any individual credits left in your account, those will not expire and will still be available to you after the end of your billing month.

Note: By canceling your credit package, at the end of your billing month your payment method will remain on-file and your Local Falcon account will downgrade to "Pay As You Go" (with no recurring monthly credit package charges). This is done in order to accomodate any auto-scans you may have set up. In order to remove a payment method entirely, all packages must be in a state of cancelation or fully canceled. 

No.

You can use Local Falcon without signing up for any Google API keys.

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.

Yes. Local Falcon works with SABs.  Most of the time our system will still be able to find the exact location of a listing. However, in those cases where our system is not finding a location, you can manually set a center point by navigating to the Locations tab and using the pencil edit icon to enter an address.

This occurs when the API was not able to find a center point for your (hidden address) listing. To correct this issue, navigate to the Locations tab and use the pencil edit icon to manually set a center point.

Yes. Local Falcon offers two different types of API access, the details of which can be found here: https://localfalcon.com/local-search-api 

Yes! It's easy to share the results of your Local Falcon scans. Just tap the "share" button on the report page. Sharing is available on all report types and for all account types. No login is necessary to view the results of a scan, and the reporting URL is provided in a "white label" format so you don't have to let the recipient know what tool you used to perform the scan, either! 

Local Falcon's Suggested Keywords feature saves you time when running Map Scans by providing relevant keyword suggestions based on terms that are already used to find your business on Google, as well as showing you the estimated monthly impressions your business is getting for those terms.

Local Falcon's Suggested Keywords will appear in the keyword search bar drop-down when you go to the Map Scan tool and select a business location to run a scan for.

You must connect the Google Business Profile account you use to manage your business listing(s) if you want to receive suggested keywords based on actual search terms and their volume of impressions.

You can run a Map Scan without a connected Google Business Profile, but you will only receive suggestions based on your business locations' current Google Business Profile categories.

You can select as many keywords as you want from the Suggested Keywords and run simultaneous Map Scans for all of them. Keep in mind that each scan will still cost the same number of credits.

The Map Scan Radius is a search area defined by the distance from your business that your Map Scan covers (in all directions), as well as the number of data points you are using within the search area.

Changing these parameters allows you to see better, more detailed data on how your business ranks for different keywords at specific distances, so you can pinpoint exactly where your rankings for different keywords start to fall off.

The larger the grid you select, the more data points your Map Scan uses, which means you get more detailed data and more accurate ARP and ATRP scores.

In general, it's always better to use more data points, but each data point you use also adds to the cost of your Map Scan, which is why you may sometimes choose to use smaller grids, depending on your budget and the number of locations you want to run scans for.

For example, Map Scans using 7 x 7 grids offer a good balance between detail of data and cost, which is why this is one of the most popular Grid Sizes among Local Falcon users, especially those running lots of scans for multiple locations.

Disable any data points over large bodies of water or other irrelevant areas, where people are not likely to be searching for your business on Google, to save credits on your Map Scan.

Yes, any Local Falcon Report you send to Looker Studio, including those generated using Looker Studio Templates, is fully downloadable, editable, and shareable.

The Campaigns tool allows you to schedule recurring Auto Scans for one or more business locations, using the same Scan Settings and delivering automated Campaign Reports to you and anyone else you want to keep in the loop each time a scan is completed.

Campaigns work best when you group together businesses that are in areas with similar population densities, such as businesses in rural areas and businesses in urban centers.

Yes, you can edit the business locations and keywords, Campaign schedule, and Campaign Report notification email, as well as turn the Campaign on and off, at any time after you create a Campaign in Local Falcon. Grid Size and Scan Radius settings can be edited up until the first scan runs.

We recommend running individual "baseline" scans for the business locations you want to create campaigns for in order to get an idea of what settings to use (this will also help you determine which business locations make the most sense to group together in Campaigns).

No, you can choose not to send Campaign Report notification emails while creating a new Campaign, or turn them off for existing Campaigns at any time.

Yes! There are many ways to do this, however, you'll need to have let a scan run twice in order to export in bulk or use Campaigns. You can also use this Looker Studio Template if neither of those cases are available to you. 

Please email us if you do not see a map on the Scan page.

You can always try loading the map scan page in another browser. If the maps loads, then it is specific to one browser and we need to change a setting. Here are some setting that may fix the problem.

Chrome Fix

Firefox Fix

Internet Explorer Fix

Microsoft Edge Fix

Mac / Apple Fix

There are millions of businesses with all kinds different variables and although we have done our best to accommodate the majority of them, there will always be some that don't fit the mold for whatever (technical) reason.

As always, we appreciate your continued use, and if you have any questions feel free to contact us at account [at] localfalcon.com.

Normally the best ranking position should be at the location of the business and then the numbered positions should get higher as you radiate away from the center.

If you see a scan that is very jumpy or ranks better further away from the center point, this can indicate an error and we would be happy to take a look at the specific search.

There are numerous applications for creating custom Local Falcon reports using Looker Studio, and getting started is simple! Our Knowledge Base has a step by step tutorial on how to get started: Using the Looker Studio Integration for Local Falcon.

All of them! In addition to the standard Local Falcon reports (Scan Report, Trend Report, Keyword Report and Location Report), power users of Looker Studio can blend data to create custom outputs and reports.  

Yes! If you are on the "Basic" subscription tier or higher, all of the data which appears in Looker Studio is white-labeled.

Nope! This is a free tool provided by the data nerds at Local Falcon. It is important to point out that you must be using a "Basic" subscription (or higher) in order to connect to Looker Studio. 

In addition to finding us on our live chat, or by emailing us directly, you can also use the step by step guide found over in our Knowledge Base. We've created a detailed article here: Using the Looker Studio Integration for Local Falcon. 

There are two ways to send Reports to Looker Studio. You can either view and send any Report directly from the Report's screen in Local Falcon, or select a recent Report to send using a Looker Studio Template.

You must have a Basic Local Falcon subscription or higher in order to use the Looker Studio integration and all of its features.

Looker Studio Templates are custom Report templates we've built out for different types of Local Falcon Reports, making it easier to instantly get the data visualization you need when you send Reports to Looker Studio.