Search Tracker monitors how your locations rank in search results for the keywords and query templates you define. It runs searches on your behalf at a frequency you set and displays the results in Listings Insights. This article covers the full setup process for Search Tracker and Competitive Intelligence, including assigning licenses, configuring keywords and preferences, and adding competitors.

Search Tracker and Reviews Competitive Intelligence are included in the Competitive Intelligence and Ultimate subscriptions. If you are unsure whether either subscription is available in your account, contact your Yext account team.

Step 1: Assign Competitive Intelligence licenses

In order to use the Search Tracker tool, you need either the Competitive Intelligence or Ultimate subscriptions assigned to your entities. If this subscription is already assigned, you can proceed to the next steps. 

Otherwise, you can assign Competitive Intelligence licenses manually for a fixed set of locations, or automatically using a saved filter if you expect your tracked locations to change over time. Visit the following help articles for more information on assigning licenses:

• Assign licenses manually

  Assign licenses automatically using a saved filter

Step 2: Enable Search Tracker on your locations

After assigning Competitive Intelligence licenses, the Search Tracker field section becomes available on those entities in the Knowledge Graph.

1. Click Knowledge Graph in the navigation bar and click Entities.
2. Click on the desired entity.
   • To set up Search Tracker for multiple entities: Select the checkboxes next to the desired entities, click on the More Actions button, and select Edit.
3. Click Search Tracker in the left sidebar.
4. Set the Search Tracker Enabled field to Yes and click Save.

Step 3: Configure your Search Tracker preferences

Configure the remaining fields in the Search Tracker section for your locations. Click Save after each update.

Search Tracker Frequency

• Select how often Search Tracker runs searches for your locations. Options are Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly.
• After you save your frequency, Search Tracker picks a random day of the week to begin running searches.

Location Keywords

• Location keywords are built-in options tied to each entity's existing data. Select any combination of the following:

  • Name — Uses the business name as it appears in the Name field on the entity.
  • Primary Category — Uses the entity's primary Google category.
  • Secondary Category — Uses the entity's secondary Google category, if set.

Custom Keywords

• Add up to five additional keywords to include in searches. Enter one keyword per text box.

• Tips for choosing keywords:

  • Start with your primary business category as a location keyword before adding custom keywords.
  • Use unbranded keywords to evaluate how you compare with competitors for high-intent searches.
  • Avoid adding custom keywords that are already covered by your Name or Primary Category location keywords.
  • Search Tracker automatically detects local competitors that frequently appear in search results for your keywords, so you do not need to manually account for every local competitor when defining keywords.

Query Templates

• Select up to four query templates that you would like applied in searches. You must select at least three templates.

• Query templates pair your keywords with common localized search patterns to generate realistic search queries. For example, if you select the Keyword + City template and one of your keywords is "burger restaurant" and the entity's city is San Francisco, Search Tracker will run searches for "burger restaurant San Francisco."

• Available templates include patterns such as:

  • Keyword + Postal Code
  • Keyword + City
  • Keyword + Near Me
  • Keyword + City + State

Alternate Names (Optional)

• Use this field to enter up to three alternate names that are used to refer to your business or any common misspellings. Any search result that matches an alternate name is counted as a match for that location.

• There is no need to add variations of the name already in the Name field on the entity. For example, if your location's name is "Galaxy Grill," you do not need to add "Galaxy" as an alternate name, but you may want to add a branded pickup or delivery name such as "Galaxy To-Go."

Alternate Websites (Optional) 

• Use this field to enter up to three alternate web domains that your business uses, separate from the main website URL on the entity. This field is for domains that are distinct from your main website, including subdomains.

• For example, if your main website is www.galaxygrill.com, you may want to add order.galaxygrill.com as an alternate website. There is no need to list individual pages under your main domain, such as www.galaxygrill.com/nyc.

Tracking Sites

• Select the search engines where you want Search Tracker to monitor your performance. Search Tracker will run searches on each selected site using the keywords and query templates you configured.

Step 4: Add Competitors

Navigate to the Competitors section in Entity Edit for the same set of locations. Specify up to five competitors per location by providing a name and website for each. The competitors you add here are used for both Search Tracker and Reviews Competitive Intelligence, both of which are included in your Competitive Intelligence or Ultimate subscription.

1. Click Competitors in the left sidebar and open the Competitors field.
2. Enter the competitor's business name and main website domain. 
3. Click + Add a new competitor to add up to four more. 
4. Click Save.

View Search Tracker data

After setup is complete, Search Tracker data appears in Listings Insights under Listings > Insights. The Visibility tab shows reports on your locations' search performance filtered by keyword and date range. The Map tab displays the same data geographically.

To confirm Search Tracker is configured correctly, click Analytics in the navigation bar, click Search Tracker, and then click Search Tracking Status. Any fields that still need to be configured appear in red.