How Do Geo Rankings Work?

[MichaelWeisbaum]

I know that's vague, so let me specify.  I recently got a client on the second page for a relatively difficult 2 word keyword.  That is when the location is set to Chicago, Il in Google and private browsing in Chrome (so I'm not logged in).  This is great because Chicago is the more important location (the client is located there and that's what his location is when he searches in Google).  But when he goes home to the suburbs and searches, the ranking completely disappears.  Why would he rank in a much more desired location such as Chicago vs a suburb way out of the city?  Is that something you can control or target in terms of optimization?  It's difficult trying to explain why this is happening to clients.

[anjonr]

Your clients address is probably on his website so Google finds him more relevant for the location which his business actually exists.

Can you optimize for the business's actual location? Absolutely! But, it will be much more difficult to be found relevant for a suburb if his business's actual location is in Chicago.