We ran the same search, a dental clinic, from 25 spots around Headington in Oxford. You appear first at your own location. In many spots you are on the first screen, but in most you sit below the top three. Each dot is one of those spots. Green means the practice is in the top three there.

Where the map is weak, someone nearby may not come across you on their phone. So what does a stronger nearby map look like?

Manor Dental Clinic shows up both close by and further out than you, so a patient nearby is more likely to see them on the map.

This is the same search, from the same spots around Headington in Oxford, so the two maps can be read side by side.

That suggests a wider local presence is reachable here when someone nearby searches on their phone. The next question is what happens when they tap through to a website.

This estimate suggests most people who reach your site from Google were not looking for you by name. They arrive through searches like 'white spots on teeth' around Headington in Oxford.

• That means your website is already doing part of the hard work of helping new people find you, not just people who already knew the practice.
• Someone with a tooth problem can find useful pages on your site before they know your name.

So what are those searches, and where do they land on your site?

These are searches from people who do not know your name yet. They group around tooth marks and white spots, rather than a general search for a dentist around Headington in Oxford.

• 'white marks on teeth' shows up among the first results and leads to your page about white spots on teeth, their causes, treatment and prevention.
• 'white spots on teeth' shows up among the first results and leads to your page explaining white spots on teeth and the treatment options people can read about there.

Tooth marks and white spots are already what brings new people to your site before they know your name.