# Selecting The Audit Area

Canonical: https://support.merchynt.com/kb/article/selecting-the-audit-area-ic-13188844

Learn how to choose the right audit area so Paige can accurately track your keyword rankings over time without resetting your data.

## What is the Audit Area?

The **Audit Area** is used **only for tracking** how your rankings improve for the target keywords you selected earlier. It creates a heatmap that shows where you rank well (green) and where you don’t (red).

👉 Important: **This does NOT affect your rankings.** Making the audit area bigger will _not_ help you rank farther away — it’s strictly for measurement and tracking.

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## How the Audit Area Works

- The audit area is built on a **13 × 13 grid of points**.
- Paige checks rankings at each point.
- **Smaller area = points closer together = more detailed data**
- **Larger area = points farther apart = harder to see changes**

If the area is too large, you may never see noticeable improvements on the heatmap.

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## Setting the Center Point

- If your business has an address, the **red pin will default to that location**.
- You can:
    - **Drag the red pin** to adjust the center, or
    - **Search for an address** in the search bar to reposition it

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## Choosing the Right Audit Size (Very Important)

It’s best to keep the audit area **as small as possible** while still covering your service area.

## Recommended Sizes

- **City / Major metro:**
    - Do **not exceed 6.5 × 6.5 miles**
    - You may even want **1.1 × 1.1 miles** in dense cities like NYC
- **Small city / suburban area:**
    - Up to **6.5 × 6.5 miles**
- **Rural area or very few competitors:**
    - Up to **9.75 × 9.75 miles**

⚠️ Only use larger sizes if you are **truly rural** or have **very little competition**.

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## Not Sure Which Size to Pick?

Use this simple rule of thumb:

- **City:** Start with **3.25 × 3.25 miles**
- **Rural:** Start with **9.75 × 9.75 miles**

After your first baseline heatmap:

- ✅ **All green?** You can safely expand the area a little.
- ❌ **All red?** The area is likely too large — shrink it.

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## Why This Matters (Read This Carefully)

- Changing the audit area later will **reset your baseline heatmap**
- That means you lose your historical comparison data
- Taking a few extra minutes now saves headaches later

Paige will still **geotag images across locations inside your audit area**, regardless of size — but tracking works best when the area is tight and focused.

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## Final Tip

When in doubt, **go smaller**. You can always expand later — but only after you’ve confirmed your baseline data looks healthy and usable.