HOW STRONG IS THE IMPACT OF CTR MANIPULATION ON GBP RANKINGS?

We hypothesized that by leveraging click-through rate (CTR) manipulation, we could positively influence the local rankings of a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing. By searching relevant brand terms and keywords, and interacting with the listing using proprietary software with local proxies acting as local individuals in the service area, we expect Google to recognize this behavior as an increased interest in the business. This listing engagement signal could correlate with improved visibility and rankings for those terms.

As more users searched for specific terms related to the business (e.g., “city towing” or “24-hour towing”), the increased engagement with the GBP listing would lead to better rankings in the local pack (top three listings) for those terms. These higher rankings should then improve the overall visibility and click-through rate of the GMB listing for users searching for towing services in the target area. We could further this result by observing additional terms that our listing is being shown for during this time, and increase engagement with those terms and related terms. This should in turn lead to additional increases in local rankings in the maps.

The CTR campaign began on August 16th, 2024, with the first Geo grid baseline snapshot taken on that same day. Our proprietary software utilized local proxies with individual user footprints, simulating authentic interactions from local users searching for brand-related terms such as “city towing”, “towing company”, “24-hour towing”, and “fast towing”. The initial campaign focused on a small set of primary keywords.

Initial Search Terms:

CITY towing
towing company CITY
towing service CITY
car towing service CITY
24 hour towing service CITY
local towing service CITY
fast towing service CITY
anytime towing CITY
long distance towing service CITY
towing service near me
towing service
car towing service
24 hour towing service
24 hour towing service near me
local towing service
fast towing service

As we progressed, we monitored Google’s search engine results page (SERP) data from the GMB listing and made adjustments based on the metrics provided. Over time, we expanded the list of search terms to include more long-tail keywords, such as “long distance towing service city” and other specialized services that were frequently searched in our industry. We also slightly increased the search velocity to enhance the interaction rate, without scaling the volume of searches drastically.

-----------
Get the whole report and keep reading for free!
Sign Up or Login