How geotagging photos affects Google Business Profile rank: Study

A 10-week study on geotagging's impact on local search rankings reveals surprising results. Our team investigated whether adding coordinates to image EXIF data (geotagging) influences Google Business Profile (GBP) rankings.

Geotagged images showed a statistically significant positive effect on "near me" searches within the specified coordinates. However, searches including specific town names experienced a negative impact during the same period. For example, targeting Salt Lake City, Utah, boosted "[lawn care near me]" rankings but decreased "[lawn care Salt Lake City Utah]" rankings.

The Geotagging Debate: Fact or Fiction?

The SEO community is divided on geotagging's effectiveness. Some believe Google uses EXIF location data as a ranking signal, while skeptics argue this data is easily manipulated and therefore unreliable. Google's John Mueller previously stated geotagging is unnecessary for SEO. Independent tests with small sample sizes yielded inconclusive results.

Our Methodology: A Large-Scale Study

To address this gap, we conducted a 10-week study involving 27 lawn care clients. All other SEO activities were paused. Twice weekly, we uploaded client-owned images to their GBPs, adding coordinates to the EXIF data: one image targeting "Little Falls" and another targeting "Garrisonville." We tracked keyword rankings ("lawn care [town name]", "lawn care near me") in both towns. A five-week control period preceded the test, with EXIF data stripped from images.

Key Findings: A Mixed Bag

Our results largely supported the skeptics. Geotagging negatively impacted rankings for "[lawn care [town name]]" searches in both towns. Surprisingly, "[lawn care near me]" rankings increased in both towns, a statistically significant result. However, this positive effect didn't extend to the business's actual location ("Center of Business Address"). Across various ranking metrics (Average Total Rank Position, Share of Local Voice), geotagging showed no overall positive impact, and often resulted in decreased rankings.

Conclusion: More Harm Than Good?

While geotagging boosted "near me" searches in targeted areas, it simultaneously harmed rankings in other service areas. Uploading numerous images to every service area to compensate would lead to GBP spam and wouldn't address the negative impact on city-specific searches.

Therefore, our agency will not employ geotagging for client GBP images, focusing instead on more impactful SEO strategies.

(Note: The SVG images have been retained as requested, but they are placeholders and will not display visually. The .webp images are included as requested.)

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