What is share of local voice (SoLV)?

Share of local voice (SoLV) is a local SEO metric that measures the percentage of geo-grid points where a business ranks in the top 3 of Google's local pack. It was coined to address the fundamental limitation of average local rank: a single rank number cannot represent visibility across a trade area where rank varies dramatically by the searcher's exact location. SoLV converts a spatial dataset — dozens to hundreds of individual rank readings across a geographic grid — into a single percentage that meaningfully captures how much of the search area a business 'owns'.

SoLV is calculated by dividing the number of geo-grid points where the business ranks in the top 3 by the total number of grid points, then multiplying by 100. For a 7×7 grid (49 points), a business ranking top 3 at 35 of those points has a SoLV of 71%. The 'top 3' threshold reflects the click-share reality of the local pack: positions 1–3 capture the vast majority of local clicks; position 4 and below see minimal engagement. Some implementations use 'top 5' SoLV for less competitive verticals, but top-3 is the industry standard.

Average rank flattens spatial variation into a single deceptive number. Consider two businesses: Business A ranks #1 at 30 grid points and #25 at 19 grid points, for an average rank of ~11. Business B ranks #3 at all 49 grid points, for an average rank of 3. Business A's average rank looks better than Business B's at certain calculations — but Business A is invisible to 39% of its trade area. SoLV captures this: Business A has a SoLV of 61%, Business B has a SoLV of 100%. SoLV also correlates more strongly with business outcomes (calls, directions requests, visits) because it reflects the proportion of potential customers who can actually find the business when they search.

SoLV benchmarks vary significantly by industry and market density. In low-competition markets (rural towns, niche verticals), a SoLV of 80%+ is achievable for the market leader. In dense urban markets with multiple established competitors (urban dentistry, personal injury law, plumbing in major metros), a SoLV of 40–60% for the top-performing location is competitive. The most useful SoLV comparison is not against an industry benchmark but against direct competitors in the same trade area — which is why competitor tracking on the same geo-grid is standard practice. A SoLV of 55% looks weak until you see that your nearest competitor is at 38%.

SoLV improvement comes from the same levers as local pack rank improvement — but targeted at the specific geographic areas where you are losing. Dead zones on the south side of a grid often indicate a competitor with stronger proximity, review velocity, or category relevance in that micro-area. The optimization sequence: (1) identify the dead zones where you are below top 3, (2) check who is ranking there instead and compare their GBP category, review count, and review velocity to yours, (3) address the gap with targeted review request campaigns, category optimization, or content at the location landing page level, (4) re-scan after 30 days to measure the movement. SoLV is a lagging indicator — optimization changes typically take 2–6 weeks to appear in the geo-grid.