The Search Keywords feature shows you which keywords Google users searched for before they saw your listing in Search and on Google Maps. This tells you what customers were actually looking for, and that's one of the most valuable inputs for local SEO planning, choosing business categories, and writing posts, descriptions, or website content.
About the data in this module
The data comes directly from your Google listings (Google Business Profile). LocalZen collects it and presents it in one place, aggregated across all locations.
Each keyword in this module is a query that led Google to show your listing in the results, whether in Search or on Maps.
Some of this data is provided by Google as an approximate rather than an exact value (see Certain and uncertain data below), and the list of keywords only includes the most popular queries. That means rarer, long-tail keywords may not appear on the list at all. These limitations come from the way Google makes this data available.
Key metrics
At the top of the module, in the "Summary" section, you'll find three numbers that give you a quick overview of the selected period:
Impressions in search: the total number of times your listings were shown, generated by all keywords combined. The higher this number, the more often your listings appeared to users in Google's results.
Unique keywords: the number of different keywords that caused your listings to be shown. A high number means your listings are reaching customers who search in many different ways, not just by your business name.
Monitored keywords: the number of keywords whose search ranking you're actively tracking (more in the Search Keywords and rank monitoring section).
All figures depend on the date range and locations you've selected.
Most searched keywords
The donut chart shows how total traffic is distributed across individual keywords. The 5 keywords generating the most impressions are shown, and everything else is grouped as "Other."
Certain and uncertain data
For privacy reasons, Google doesn't always report an exact number of searches for a given keyword. Sometimes it returns only an approximate value, shown as "fewer than 15 impressions," without a specific figure. This usually happens with less frequently searched keywords.
To keep the data as transparent as possible, LocalZen lets you choose how these approximate values are counted. This is controlled by the "Include uncertain data" option, found at the top of the screen. Depending on your choice, the data is calculated differently:
Off (default setting): only values that Google reported exactly are counted, and for approximate values, their lower bound is used. This is the conservative option, so results are never inflated, though in some cases they may be slightly lower than the actual figure.
On: the result is shown as a min-max range. The lower bound is still the certain data, while the upper bound also accounts for the maximum possible value hidden behind each "fewer than 15."
The exact calculation method for both variants is explained in the "How do we present the data?" dialog, available directly within this module.
Search and ranking trends
This chart shows how the number of searches for a selected keyword changed month by month. Use the "Select keyword" dropdown to pick any keyword from the list, then hover over a given month's bar to see the exact number of searches for that period.
If the selected keyword is also monitored (see Search Keywords and rank monitoring below), a second line, labeled Position, appears on the same chart, showing the average ranking position of your listings for that keyword in a given month. This lets you see, in one place, both how many people are searching for a given keyword and whether your listings are visible enough to them.
List of searched keywords
Below the charts you'll find a full table of all the keywords that caused your listings to appear during the selected period. For each keyword you'll see:
Keyword: the exact text of the query a user typed into Google.
Number of searches: the total number of searches for that keyword within the selected date range.
Listings: the number of your locations that appeared in the results for that keyword.
Avg. position: the average ranking position of your listings for that keyword. This column only shows data for keywords covered by rank tracking. For all others, a dash is displayed to indicate that no data is available.
Rank tracking: shows whether a given keyword is already being monitored. If not, a "Monitor" button opens a new tab where you can add it to ongoing rank tracking.
In the table, you can sort the data, search for a specific keyword in the search field, and export the table view using the "View breakdown" button (for example, splitting results by city, group, or individual listing).
The export, like the list itself, includes a maximum of the 100 most popular keywords per listing.
Tip: This is the easiest place to find keywords that generate a lot of impressions but aren't being tracked yet. It's worth adding these to rank tracking first, so you can check their ranking position and growth potential.
Search Keywords and rank monitoring
The Search Keywords module and the Google Maps rank monitoring module work best together. The first shows what customers are actually searching for, while the second tells you how highly your listings rank for those keywords.
How to use this data in practice
Look for non-branded keywords. Phrases that don't include your brand name show how people genuinely search for products or services, which is the most valuable insight into customer intent.
Find "blind spots" in your rank tracking. Non-branded keywords with a high number of searches that aren't tracked yet should be added first, since real traffic potential may be hiding there.
Track the ranking of important keywords. A keyword with a high number of searches and a low ranking position is a signal that it's worth reviewing your categories or descriptions, as well as adding photos or posts, to improve visibility.
Draw inspiration from these keywords when writing content. Create posts on your listing that naturally include keywords that matter to you, since this strengthens local SEO.
Compare locations. If you manage multiple listings, it's worth checking whether the same keywords generate similar traffic across all of them, or whether some locations perform noticeably worse, since this can point to local visibility issues.
Watch for seasonality. The monthly chart lets you spot when demand for a given keyword rises (e.g. a seasonal peak, a promotion, or a marketing campaign). This is a good moment to strengthen your efforts.