--- title: "Find your Google ranking for a keyword: 3 ways · PinRipple" description: "How to check ranking for keywords in Google. Three ways to find your Google ranking for a keyword: your own search, an incognito search, and a check from fixed spots. What each one gets wrong, and the three numbers to write down." url: "https://pinripple.com/learn/how-to-check-your-google-ranking" language: en --- # How to find your Google ranking for a keyword The honest answer to “where do I rank for dentist?” is “it depends where the customer is standing”. Your own search gives one answer, shaped by your location and your history. An incognito search removes the history but not the location. A check from fixed spots around your business is the only one you can compare week to week. This lesson walks through all three, so you know what each number means before you try to move it. By the PinRipple team · Checked and updated 25 October 2026 · 4 min read ## Method 1: how to check ranking for keywords in Google from your own phone Type the keyword into Google or Google Maps and look for your business. It is free and instant, and it is the least reliable of the three. Google's own help page says it uses your location and your activity to personalise results, and you are the one person who is nearly always next to your business and searches for it most. Your result is real, but it is the result for you, not for a customer. > Local results are based primarily on relevance, distance, and prominence. > > [Google Business Profile Help](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en) Use it for one thing only: to see what the listing looks like when it appears (photos, hours, rating). Never use it to decide whether your ranking has improved. ## Method 2: check your ranking in an incognito window Opening a private window signs you out and drops your search history, so the result is closer to what a stranger sees. It still uses your location, so it is still the result for someone standing where you are. It also still shows one spot. Use it to check a listing from a customer's point of view, not to track position. ## Method 3: a geo-grid rank check from fixed spots around you A rank checker makes the same search from several fixed points around your business, with no history, and records your position at each. Nine spots in a square around you is the smallest useful check; a 7 × 7 grid over the area your customers come from is the usual one. The result is a map, not a single number: green where you are in the top 3, grey where you are not in the top 20. *The same search for “dentist” from two places 2 km apart: second in one list, fourteenth in the other.* Why one spot is not enough: the same search from two places 2 km apart puts the business second in one list and fourteenth in the other. A 7 × 7 check for “emergency dentist”: each dot is one spot, coloured by position. The three numbers on the right are the ones to write down. This is the only method whose answer you can repeat next week with the same spots and the same keyword, so it is the only one that can tell you whether a change worked. ## Your Google ranking for a keyword in three numbers - **Average position** across the spots. Lower is better; anything not in the top 20 counts as 21. - **Spots in the top 3**: at how many spots you are in the [Map Pack](https://pinripple.com/learn/what-is-the-google-map-pack). This is the number that turns into calls. - **Position at your door**: where you come in at your own address. If you are not top 3 there, the problem is your listing itself, not your reach. Write them down with the date and the keyword. One keyword is enough to start: the one your customers type most, such as “dentist” or “plumber”, with no town name, because Google adds the location itself. ## Which local keywords to check your position for Check what customers type, not what you call yourself. “Emergency dentist” and “dentist near me” are keywords; “Bright Smile Dental” is your name, and you will rank first for it everywhere. Three to five keywords cover most small businesses: your main service, your most urgent one, and the one or two you most want more of. The Free plan tracks one keyword per scan, which is the right place to start. ## Check your keyword position today, free **Get your first three numbers, free** Run the [free rank check](https://pinripple.com/google-maps-rank-checker) for your main keyword: 9 spots, no sign-up, about a minute. Write down the average position, the spots in the top 3 and your position at the door, with today's date. Next week, run it again. The Free plan goes further for the same price: a 5 × 5 grid, 100 credits a month, and every scan saved so the next one shows what changed. ## Questions about checking your Google ranking Is there a free way to check my Google ranking? Yes. The check on our rank checker page is free with no sign-up: one keyword, 9 spots around your business, once a day. The Free plan adds a 5 × 5 grid and keeps your scans. Why is my ranking different on my phone and on my computer? Google knows your phone's location more precisely than your computer's, and the two may have different search histories. Both are one spot each; a grid check removes both differences. How often should I check? Once a week, same keyword, same grid. Rankings move a little every day; weekly checks show the trend without the noise. Daily checks only make sense when you are watching a specific change. Does checking my own listing a lot hurt or help my ranking? Neither, as far as Google says. It does make your own search results less typical, which is one more reason to check from fixed spots instead. Can I check a keyword with a town name in it? Yes, and sometimes you should, because some customers type “dentist leeds”. But Google treats a keyword with a town differently from one without, so check both and keep them as separate numbers. Next lesson [How do I know my SEO is working? A 10-minute local self-check](https://pinripple.com/learn/is-my-local-seo-working) ## Sources - [Google Business Profile Help: How to improve your local ranking on Google](https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en) - [Google Search Help: Find & control your Web & App Activity](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/54068?hl=en) ## Read next [Tool **Free keyword rank checker for Google Maps** Check your ranking from 9 spots around your business, free and without signing up.](https://pinripple.com/google-maps-rank-checker) [Lesson **What is the map pack Google shows above the results?** The box of three businesses with a map at the top of a Google search: what it is and who gets in.](https://pinripple.com/learn/what-is-the-google-map-pack) [Guide **How to rank higher on Google My Business and Google Maps** The changes that move a business up, in order, and the shortcuts that break Google's rules.](https://pinripple.com/guides/how-to-rank-higher-on-google-maps) ## Check your ranking from 9 spots, free One search term, 9 spots around your business, no sign-up. The answer comes back in about a minute. [Start free](https://pinripple.com/signin) 15 days free, with 1,000 credits. No card needed.