Manage columns 
Manage columns 
Column save changes Added columns Column settings Delete columns No columns added
Advanced options
OK
Select locations 
OKClose
Change language settings to use Topvisor in your preferred language. You can select and set a preferred language later in the Account settings. Change language settings to use Topvisor in your preferred language. ru Русский Apply

Rankings don't match: Google

When you check keyword rankings on Google and in Topvisor, make sure that you select a right location, a keyboard layout, the same language, filter options, and the search type: desktop, tablet or mobile search to check rankings.

Check keyword rankings in the incognito mode to avoid getting personal results (search history, visited webpages).

Use the tips and tricks below to get accurate keyword rankings.

Tips and tricks

Target location


Google automatically detects your computer’s location using its IP address, Location History (if it’s turned on), and recent locations you’ve searched for. Your current location is displayed at the bottom of search results page.

Make sure that your location in Topvisor project settings matches a location in Google when you check your rankings manually.



Google has forbidden to change and manage your location, lately. Now they deliver search results relevant to your current location. You cannot change your location in Google on your own.

You can use a free AdPreview tool to check keyword rankings in the location different from your own. AdPreview tool allows to set a necessary country domain and location to view relevant search results for a given keyword.

To access AdPreview tool, select it in the Settings menu on the top of your page in the Google Ads account or follow the link: https://google.com/AdPreview/.

Personal search


Google show you targeted ads based on your search history even if you signed out of your account. They use your browsing history: your search queries and the search results you viewed, including links to apps.

To avoid getting personal results, check rankings in the incognito mode. Your browsing history, including visited pages and downloaded files won't be saved. All new cookie files are removed after you close your browser window.

Furthermore, you can clear and stop saving browsing history in the search settings on the Search Customization page.

Front servers


Search engines use servers located worldwide to process search queries and provide search results as fast as possible. A search query is sent to the front-server and processed to return relevant search results. Different front-servers might display different search results

Important!
Google can assign certain front servers to user search queries sent from different IP addresses. If you refresh a page, search results won't change or change just slightly. That's because Google caches search results (caching session) to make Google search work faster.

If you go incognito, delete all browser data or use another browser, you can see that the search results changed. It means that Google assigned you to another front server.

Google keyword rankings can change when you refresh browser pages during search engine updates (SERP fluctuations), even if you don't change IP address.


Google front servers can be closer or further from a user's location. For example, a user is in the US, New York City enters a search query in Google. Google will try to pull and return search results from the closest front server.

Front servers help to detect a user's location when the location is unavailable or for search queries from technical locations (e.g. countries or states): the United States, New Oregon.


You can target technical locations in the advertising services, like Google Ads, for wider context ad outreach.

A user from the US, New York City submits a search query for the US location and gets search results that match search results for New York City almost completely. However, if you select the US location in AdPreview settings and submit a search query, you might see completely different search results. User's location impacts Google search results even if you disable location tracking or when it's unavailable.

In Topvisor, we highly recommend to avoid using technical locations to check or track keyword rankings. In most cases, regular users cannot access these search results. Add real locations, e.g. cities, instead of countries or states to get accurate and relevant results in Topvisor and on Google.

Related links

FAQ