A proximity signal refers to the physical distance between a searcher’s location and a business, which is one of the core factors Google’s local search algorithm uses to determine which businesses appear in local pack results for a given query.
Because proximity is largely outside a business’s direct control, local SEO strategy instead focuses on maximizing the other two core local ranking factors — relevance and prominence — to compete as effectively as possible within a given proximity range.
Understanding proximity’s role also helps explain why local rankings can vary meaningfully even for the same search term, depending on exactly where the person searching happens to be located at that moment.
We help clients maximize the factors they can control within our Local & Map SEO service.