How To Create a GBP Ranktracker Project in YACSS - Google Business Profile Ranktracker explained

In the sidebar, go to GBP Ranktracker then click Add New Tracker.

This is the full form you'll fill in to create a tracker. On the left are all the input fields, and on the right is a live interactive map that updates as you type.

A label for your own reference inside YACSS. Give it something descriptive so you can find it later, like "Joe's Plumbing – London" or "Client A – Main Location."

Choose how you want to locate the business:

• Search By Company/Address — Type the business name or address into the Search Address field and let Google autocomplete find it. The easiest option for most businesses.
• Google Maps URL — Paste the full Google Maps URL for the business directly. Use this if the address search doesn't find the right listing, or if you already have the Maps link handy.

(Search By Company/Address mode) Start typing the business name or address and a dropdown will suggest matching places from Google. Click the correct result and the system will automatically fill in the company name, coordinates, Place ID, and other details.

(Google Maps URL mode) Paste the full URL from Google Maps (e.g., https://www.google.com/maps/place/Business+Name/@lat,lng,...). The system extracts the coordinates and company name automatically, then looks up the Place ID.

The exact name of the business as it appears on its Google Business Profile. This is critical — the system searches for this name inside the Google Maps results to determine the ranking position. If the name doesn't match exactly, rankings will show as position 20 (not found).

A unique ID that Google assigns to every business listing. The system fills this in automatically when you use Search By Company/Address. If you need to find it manually, click the question mark icon next to the field — it links directly to Google's Place ID Finder tool.

Upload a logo image (JPG or PNG, max 500KB). This logo appears on the generated rank report, making it branded for your client. Completely optional.

The latitude and longitude coordinates of the business location. These are filled in automatically when you search by address or paste a Maps URL. You can also drag the map pin to adjust the position manually — the coordinates will update accordingly.

How far apart each grid point is from its neighbour. This controls the scale of your scan area.

• Small distances (50m, 100m, 200m) = very local scan, ideal for businesses in dense urban areas like a restaurant or hair salon.
• Larger distances (1km, 2km, 5km) = broader area scan, good for service-area businesses like plumbers or electricians who cover a wider region.

The shape of the scanning grid — how many points are checked in total.

• 3x3 = 9 points checked (small, fast, cheap)
• 5x5 = 25 points
• 7x7 = 49 points
• 9x9 = 81 points
• 11x11 = 121 points
• 13x13 = 169 points (large, thorough, costs more DataForSeo credits)

The search terms you want to track rankings for. Enter one keyword per line. These are the queries a potential customer would type into Google Maps to find this type of business.

Example for a plumber: plumber near me, emergency plumber, boiler repair. You can add up to 5 keywords per project. Each keyword is tracked separately and gets its own heat map grid.

Tick this checkbox if you want the scan to run automatically on a recurring basis, so you can track ranking changes over time without manually re-running it. Once ticked, three scheduling options appear:

• Daily — runs every day at the time you set.
• Weekly — runs once per week.
• User Determined — you choose which specific days of the week to run it (Monday through Sunday checkboxes appear).

Schedule Runtime — the time of day the scan should run (in 30-minute intervals from 00:00 to 23:30). Select Timezone — the timezone the runtime refers to. Make sure this matches your client's local timezone so the scan runs at the expected time.

The map on the right side of the form updates live as you fill in the fields. It shows a red pin at the business location (draggable — move it to fine-tune coordinates) and blue dot markers showing each grid point that will be scanned. This gives you an instant visual preview of the scan area before you commit to generating. If the grid looks too large or too small, adjust the Distance or Grid Size and the map updates immediately.

Once you click Generate, the system sends a rank-check request to DataForSeo for every grid point × every keyword combination. For a 5x5 grid with 3 keywords, that's 75 individual checks. Results come back as a colour-coded heat map.

This table lists every ranktracker project you've created, showing the DataForSeo balance, a Compare data to toggle, and a row for each project.

# — A simple row number. Project Name — The name you gave the project when you created it. Company — The name of the business being tracked. Grid Size — Shown as a dimension such as 7x7 or 13x13, this tells you how many geographic points are being checked in each scan.

Grids (Initial / Latest) — This is the most important column. It shows two small colour-coded grid thumbnails side by side: your first scan and your most recent scan, with each tiny square coloured green, amber, or red. Below each thumbnail is the exact date of that scan and its average rank score. If a scheduled scan is active, a small blue calendar icon appears next to the thumbnails.

Avg Rank — The current average rank across all grid points for the first keyword, with a colour-coded percentage pill showing how much rankings have changed. The Compare data to toggle at the top controls whether that change is measured against the initial scan or the latest scan. Created At — The date and time the project was first created. Status — Shows a spinning cog while a scan is in progress, or a green Completed badge once finished.

Clicking this opens a popup summary of all the project settings — company name, address, grid size, distance between points, created date, all tracked keywords, company website URL, and Google Business Profile URL. This is a read-only information popup.

The popup that appears — showing Company, Address, Grid Size, Distance Btw Points, Created Date, Keywords, Company Website, and Google Business Profile Url. Close it with the Close button when you are done.

This opens the full detail page for the project where you can see the live heatmap, all scan history, the ranking trend chart, and all management tools. This is the main working area for the tracker.

Permanently deletes the project and all of its scan history. When you click it your browser will ask you to confirm before anything is deleted. Once confirmed this cannot be undone.

The full working area for a project — the average rank panel and trend on the left, the top statistics cards, the History panel, and the interactive heatmap.

Across the top of the page is a row of information cards giving you an at-a-glance overview of the project. Company — Shows the name of the business being tracked. DataForSeo Balance — Shows your remaining DataForSeo credit in dollars. Keep an eye on this before running large scans as each grid point costs a small amount of credit.

Keyword Card — Shows the currently active keyword with a dropdown to switch between keywords attached to this project (max 5). The Re-run button triggers a new scan for just the selected keyword — it changes to "Running" with a spinning cog while active. The + Keyword link opens a popup to add a new keyword.

Grid Size — Shows the dimensions of the grid such as 7x7. Distance Between Points — Shows the spacing between each grid point, in metres or kilometres. Schedule Card — Shows the current scan schedule in plain text, e.g. "Scheduled daily at 09:00 AM UTC" or "No Schedule". The Edit Schedule button opens a popup to change or remove the schedule at any time without recreating the project.

On the left side of the page is the average rank display block. This shows the current average rank number large and bold, with a small sparkline chart above it showing the trend across your most recent scans. The background colour changes based on the rank — green for top 5, amber for mid-range, red for above position 10. Clicking anywhere on this panel opens the History modal in Ranktracker chart view.

Clicking on the Average Rank panel opens this popup for the Ranktracker chart — a line chart plotting rank over time.

On the right side of the page is the History panel. This lists every individual scan that has been run for the currently selected keyword, with the most recent at the top. Each entry shows the date and time the scan was completed, e.g. "21st April 2026 - 09:00 AM".

A small sticky note icon button with a number showing how many notes are attached to that specific scan. Clicking this opens the Notes modal pre-filtered to that scan. If no notes exist the count shows zero.

When you click Notes, it opens this popup where you can add notes to a specific scan in the history.

Delete button — A small red trash icon that deletes just that individual scan entry from the history (confirmation required). Radio button — Selecting this loads that scan's heatmap onto the interactive map below and updates the average rank display to reflect that scan's data, letting you go back in time to see rankings on any previous scan date.

Above the history list on the right side there are several buttons: Notes, Delete Keyword, PDF, Re-run all, and Grid History.

Opens the Notes modal. This is the project-level notes view, not tied to a specific scan. You can add general notes about the project here or navigate to a specific scan's notes using the Attach To dropdown inside the modal.

The red trash icon removes the currently selected keyword and all of its scan history permanently from the project. You will be asked to confirm — this cannot be undone. If you only have one keyword, be careful as this leaves the project with none.

Opens the Export History popup, where you can generate a PDF report of the ranking history for the selected keyword.

Choose between two export modes — All (exports every scan in history) or Initial scan and newest scan (exports just the first and most recent). You can also optionally select a custom date range. Once you click Export, the system generates a PDF report containing the ranking history chart and downloads it to your computer.

Triggers a fresh scan for every keyword attached to the project simultaneously, not just the currently selected one. The button changes to "Generating" with a spinning cog while the scan runs and becomes disabled to prevent duplicate submissions. Use this to update rankings for all keywords at once.

The large green button with a grid icon opens the full History modal — the same as clicking the average rank panel, but accessible directly as a button.

The History modal gives you a detailed visual comparison of your scan history all in one place. All — Shows every scan that has ever been run as a colour-coded grid map displayed side by side, with the date and average rank shown below each. Useful for seeing gradual changes across many scans.

Shows only two grids side by side — your very first scan on the left and your most recent scan on the right. This is the clearest way to see the overall improvement or decline since you started tracking.

Ranktracker — Switches the entire view from grid maps to a line chart. The chart plots average rank on the vertical axis (rank 1 at the top as the best position) and dates on the horizontal axis. In this mode the keyword dropdown gains an additional All option which combines all keywords into a single averaged line so you can see the overall project trend.

At the top right of the modal there is a keyword dropdown that lets you switch which keyword's history you are viewing without closing the modal.

At the bottom of the modal is an Export Snapshot button. Clicking this captures the entire current history view as a high-resolution PNG image and downloads it to your computer — useful for saving a visual record of your progress or including it in client reports. Close the modal at any time using the Close button.

The large map takes up the main body of the detail page. It shows the most recently selected scan's heatmap overlaid on a real Google Maps view. Each grid point is a large coloured circle with the rank number printed inside it. In the top right is a live coordinate display, and in the bottom left is an Export Snapshot button that downloads the current map view as a PNG.

The Notes Modal is opened either from the Notes button in the history panel or from the sticky note badge on any individual scan entry. On the left is the note creation form with an Attach To dropdown (defaults to "Project (no scan)"); on the right is the notes list showing all existing notes with their date, scan attachment, and a delete option.