Grid size is a dial, not a fixed spec
A SeoMap scan can run anywhere from a compact 5×5 grid (25 points) up to a full 21×21 grid (441 points), square or circular, with the spacing between points set independently of the grid size itself. There’s no single “correct” size — a 5×5 and a 21×21 are both accurate measurements of exactly what they scan; the difference is how much of the map they cover and at what resolution, a decision to make deliberately rather than a quality trade-off to worry about.
What each size is actually good for
A 5×5 grid (25 points) is the cheapest, fastest read — a directional check for a single location with a tight, well-defined service area, or a quick re-check between larger scans. A 7×7 grid (49 points) is the common middle ground: enough points to show real shape in the heatmap — where green turns to amber, where it turns to red — without the cost of a large grid, and a reasonable default for most single-location businesses. A 13×13 grid (169 points) is the higher-resolution option: it completes in under three minutes with the map filling in live, and it earns its extra cost when the service area spans multiple neighborhoods, competition is dense enough that a coarser grid would miss real variation, or the heatmap itself is the deliverable — an agency pitch or a client report, where more visible detail makes a stronger visual case. The full 21×21 grid (441 points) is the upper limit — built for whole metro areas, large franchise territories, or reports that need to show more resolution than even a 13×13 can carry.
Not every size needs the same urgency
A 21×21 grid covers a lot more ground than a 13×13 — it’s never the right size for an instant one-click check at a single address, where the one-point “Quick check” is the faster fit. The large grid is the right tool for “what does the whole city look like right now,” not a default for every routine scan.
Spacing changes what “grid size” even covers
Grid size alone doesn’t say how much real-world area a scan covers — point spacing does that job independently. A tight 7×7 with close point spacing covers a small, dense urban core at high resolution; the same 7×7 with wide spacing covers an entire suburb or small town at a coarser resolution. Two 7×7 scans of two different businesses aren’t necessarily measuring a comparable area unless the spacing matches too — worth checking before comparing heatmaps side by side, including against a competitor’s or an earlier scan of the same business.
What size actually costs
Credits are counted per grid point, at the same flat rate regardless of grid size: 1 credit per point queued, 3 credits per point live. A 5×5 scan is 25 credits, a 7×7 is 49, a 13×13 is 169, a full 21×21 is 441 — a straight line from grid size to cost, with the exact number shown before a scan starts. On the Starter plan’s 3,000 monthly credits, that’s roughly 17 large 13×13 scans, about 6-7 full 21×21 scans, or about 60 compact 7×7 scans a month — enough headroom to size a scan to the question being asked rather than defaulting to the biggest option every time.
A practical way to choose
Start smaller and cheaper for routine monitoring or a quick sanity check, and size up to 13×13 or 21×21 for anything that needs to hold up in a client report, a sales pitch, or a competitive market where a coarser grid would blur real differences between blocks. Nothing about a smaller grid makes it less accurate at what it does measure — it’s simply measuring a smaller or lower-resolution slice of the map on purpose.