1. You Have Been Lied to About Rankings
2. What Amazon GeoRank Actually Is
3. The Myths Debunked
4. How to Use GeoRank Data
5. The Inventory Connection
6. What to Do About It
You think your product ranks #3 for your main keyword on Amazon. Your ranking tool says so. But what if I told you that is only true in one city? And in New York, you are on page 5? And in Dallas, you are nowhere to be found?
Welcome to Amazon GeoRank. The ranking factor that has existed since 2018 but almost nobody is tracking properly.
You Have Been Lied to About Rankings
On the Startup Hustle podcast, I sat down with Eddie Wheeler from Guava Listings to break this wide open:
"You have been lied to about keyword ranking. Most of the major tools are only showing you one keyword rank. You type in white water bottle, you might be ranked number two in Miami. But you could be ranked 27 in LA, ranked 100 in New York. And you can still be ranked number two in Miami."
There are 1,100 different micro markets across the US where your product can rank differently. Most Amazon tools only show you one of them. That means the ranking data you have been making decisions on might be wildly misleading.
Listen to the full episode: What Is Amazon GeoRank on Startup Hustle
What Amazon GeoRank Actually Is
Amazon wants to deliver products to customers as fast and cheap as possible. If your inventory is stored in a warehouse near Miami and customers there have been buying your product, Amazon will rank you higher in Miami. Because they can ship it faster and cheaper.
As Eddie explained: "If Amazon is sending a lot of inventory to the nearest warehouse to Miami because there is more demand there, your products are going to be ranked higher there. It is going to get to the customer quicker and cheaper for Amazon."
This creates a chicken-and-egg situation. You sell well in Miami, so Amazon sends more inventory there, so you rank higher there, so you sell even more. Meanwhile, in markets where you have less inventory, you rank lower and sell less.
The Myths Debunked
Myth: GeoRank normalizes over time
False. Eddie shared a case study with Clean and Clear, a product that has been on Amazon for 10 years, sells 7,000 units a month, and has thousands of reviews. For one of its main keywords, "acne treatment," the ranking ranged from #6 to #107 across different locations. If any product was going to normalize, it would be that one. It did not.
Myth: Sellers cannot affect their GeoRank
Also false. If you drive demand in a specific geographic area, Amazon will start sending more inventory there, and your rankings in that market will improve over time.
How to Use GeoRank Data
Once you can see where you rank across different markets, you can make smart decisions:
- Double down on strong markets. If you are ranked #5 in Houston, push it to #1 with targeted off-Amazon advertising in that market.
- Target weak markets with off-Amazon traffic. Run geo-targeted Facebook, Google, or TikTok ads in cities where you rank poorly. Drive demand. Amazon responds.
- Focus on population centers. You do not need to win all 1,100 micro markets. Win the major metros and you capture the majority of volume.
- Use the data for retail expansion. If your Amazon sales cluster in specific zip codes, that is intel for approaching retail stores in those areas.
The Inventory Connection
GeoRank is directly tied to FBA inventory distribution. This has a hidden cost most sellers miss:
"In certain areas of warehouses, you can get items that are not following the protocol of first in, first out. You get inventory in some warehouses that is moving slower. And you start getting long term storage fees because the inventory is not moving."
If Amazon ships your inventory to a market where you rank poorly, it sits there. You get hit with storage fees for Amazon's distribution decision. Knowing your GeoRank data lets you open cases with Amazon and fight back against unfair storage charges.
What to Do About It
- Start tracking GeoRank. Tools like Guava Listings are making this data accessible for the first time.
- Map your strong and weak markets. Focus resources where they will move the needle.
- Build off-Amazon marketing into your strategy. Amazon PPC does not support geo-targeting yet, but every other ad platform does.
- Monitor inventory distribution. Fight unfair storage fees with data.
Learn more about advanced Amazon strategies at Marknology and browse insights on our Media Hub.
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