Local search · 3 min read · Published 2026-09-09
The same search ranks differently from each station
I checked our ranking and it was high. So why are customers not coming?
Short answer
That ranking was the ranking where you stood. Customers search from somewhere else. Map results vary by location, so one reading tells you very little.
A ranking is not one number
Google Maps results depend on where the device is. Searching outside your own front door will of course put you near the top, and that says nothing about the rest of your catchment area.
So a measurement has to come from several points, using identical wording. aitani measures from the nearest station and from the neighbouring stations customers could realistically arrive from.
Why stations rather than a radius
In urban Japan, a visit is usually decided by the line and the station. “Near” is not a distance — it is which station you can walk from.
Broken out per station, it becomes clear how far your reach extends and where it stops. Once you know which stations you are absent from, adding information aimed at those places becomes a concrete piece of work rather than a guess.
Checking it yourself
Run the same keyword near your closest station, then near one two or three stops away. Where the position falls off sharply is the edge of your catchment area.
Because this depends on device location, you either go to those places or use a tool that can set the location for you.
Sources and assumptions
- That map results vary by the searcher's location follows Google's published guidance on local search.
- Measuring station by station is aitani's own method; it is described on the How we measure page.