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Google Ads location targeting usually looks like it is not working because the campaign is on Google’s default location option, “Presence or interest”. That setting shows your ads to people in your area and also to people elsewhere who have shown interest in it, such as someone three states away searching “plumber Columbus”. Switch the campaign to “Presence” under Settings, then Locations, then Location options, and the ads stop reaching people who are only interested in your area. A few will still get through, because Google says its location targeting is a best effort and “100% accuracy is not guaranteed”.
Owners ask this on Reddit in almost the same words: “Google Ads show outside of the target location” on r/PPC, from someone targeting parts of London and getting clicks from abroad, and “Clicks coming from non-targeted (even excluded) locations” on r/googleads. The answers below are what we check first when a local business shows us calls and form fills from towns they don’t serve.
Why does Google show my ads to people outside my area?
Because the default setting targets interest in your area as well as presence in it. Google’s advanced location options page says the default “lets you reach people who are likely to be in or regularly present in your targeted location, as well as people who have shown interest in your targeted locations.”
Google works out a “location of interest” from signals such as place names in the search, past searches, a person’s past physical locations, Google Maps searches and the content of the website where an ad appears (how Google determines location). So a person in Phoenix who types “emergency electrician Dayton” can see an ad from a Dayton electrician targeting only Dayton. Sometimes that person is a real customer, such as a landlord or someone arranging help for a parent. For a trade that has to drive to the job, most of these clicks are wasted money.
Two more things widen the net:
- Physical location is “typically based on the Internet Protocol (IP) address”, and Google says Wi-Fi networks and mobile carrier proxy servers feed into that estimate, so a phone on mobile data can be placed in the wrong town.
- If you target a whole country, your ad “may show to people searching on that country’s Google domain, even if their IP addresses are outside the selected area” (prevent clicks outside your targeted locations).
Should I switch my campaign to Presence?
If you only make money from people who are in your service area, yes. Google recommends “Presence or interest” for Search, but its own help page says to consider “Presence” when you only want to reach users in specific locations. Expect fewer impressions after the change: Google says “most campaigns will notice a decrease in impressions” when they move off the default.
Use this checklist to decide for each campaign:
| Your situation | Location option to use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| You drive to the job (plumbing, electrical, HVAC, roofing, cleaning, pest control) | Presence | The person who needs the work is almost always in the area when they search |
| Customers come to you (dentist, clinic, physio, accountant’s office) | Presence, usually | Patients and clients mostly search from where they live or work |
| People often buy for someone in your area from elsewhere (aged care, moving into the area, holiday lets, wedding venues) | Presence or interest, or a second campaign for interest | The buyer is not in your area yet, and Presence would hide your ad from them |
| A law firm or accountant that serves clients statewide or remotely | Presence across the whole region you serve | A wider target with Presence beats a narrow target with interest |
| You can’t tell whether out-of-area leads ever turn into paying jobs | Presence for now | Check the Locations report and your lead records for a month before deciding |
If you want both, run two campaigns: your main one on Presence, and a small one on Presence or interest with ad text written for people arranging the job from elsewhere. That keeps their cost and results separate.
How do I change Google Ads location targeting to Presence?
Open each campaign’s settings, expand Locations and change Location options. The steps from Google’s help page on clicks outside targeted locations are:
- Go to Campaigns within the Campaigns menu.
- Select the Settings tab at the top of the page.
- Expand the Locations drop-down menu and select Location options.
- Select “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations”.
- Select Save.
Do this for every campaign. The setting belongs to each campaign, so a new campaign can still be on the default. Google says its location option changes apply to Search, Display, Performance Max, Shopping and Hotel campaigns, so check any Performance Max campaign too.
How do I see where my clicks are really coming from?
Use the Locations report: click the Campaigns icon, then Insights & reports, then “When and where your ads showed”, and open the Matched locations tab (view locations and distance reports).
Read it carefully. The report has two views. Targeted locations shows results by the places you chose. Matched locations shows where your ads appeared, and Google says those “could be users’ physical locations or locations of interest” (about measuring geographic performance). So a click from someone in another state who searched for your town can show up under your town. That is why the r/googleads poster saw clicks from outside their area counted against one of their targeted locations. Some traffic also shows as “Unspecified”, for example when an IP address can’t be located.
Because of that, check the report against your own records:
- The area codes of calls from ads. A run of out-of-state numbers is a clear sign.
- The suburb or postcode on form leads.
- Your search terms report, for searches naming places you don’t serve.
If you use location assets on a Search campaign, the Distance report in Report editor (Predefined reports, then Locations, then Distance) groups results by how far people were from your address.
Should I target a radius, postcodes or a list of towns?
Pick whichever matches how you actually price and schedule jobs. For most trades a radius is the easiest start, with exclusions to cut out the pockets you don’t want.
| Method | Good for | Trade-offs |
|---|---|---|
| Radius around your address | Trades with a travel limit, such as “within 25 miles” | Minimum 1 km. Circles ignore rivers, bridges and traffic, so they often take in areas you won’t drive to |
| Postcodes or ZIP codes | Businesses that quote by area or have a clear patch | More setup, and which target types you can use varies by country |
| Cities, counties or regions | Firms that serve whole towns or a whole state | A big city target can include suburbs you don’t serve |
| Any of these plus exclusions | Removing one suburb or town inside your target | Exclusions win: if an area is both targeted and excluded, it is excluded |
Two limits from Google’s help pages are worth knowing. Very small targets, small radii included, “may show ads intermittently or not at all” (target ads to geographic locations). And you can add up to 1,000 locations at once with “Add locations in bulk”, which is the quick way to load a list of ZIP codes.
Worked example (example figures only). A plumbing company based in Columbus, Ohio takes jobs within about 20 miles and won’t cross into one county to the north. A sensible setup:
- Locations: a 20-mile radius around the business address.
- Location options: “Presence: People in or regularly in your targeted locations”.
- Exclusions: the county to the north, so it stays out even though part of it sits inside the circle.
- Ad text: “Columbus plumber” in a headline. Google suggests putting your area in the ad text so people elsewhere skip it, for example “Boston coffee shop” in place of “coffee shop”.
- Landing page: lists the suburbs served.
- First month: check Matched locations, call area codes and search terms every week.
Why is Google Ads location targeting still not working after I switched to Presence?
Because Presence narrows who sees your ads but can’t make location detection perfect. Google says location targeting is “based on a variety of signals” and “100% accuracy is not guaranteed in every situation”. When out-of-area clicks continue, the cause is usually one of these:
| What you see | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Clicks from the next town over | “Regularly in” counts people who often spend time in your area, such as commuters | Usually fine. If they never convert, tighten the radius or exclude that town |
| Calls with out-of-state area codes | Many people keep a mobile number from where they used to live | Ask where the job is before you judge the lead |
| Clicks still coming from a place you excluded | Exclusions use Presence: they stop people likely to be located in that area, and “people who are located outside these areas may still receive your ads” | Check the person’s real location from the lead itself before adding more exclusions |
| One campaign is clean, another isn’t | Location options are set per campaign | Repeat the change in every campaign, including copies and Performance Max |
| Clicks from other countries on a country-wide target | Ads can show to people on that country’s Google domain even when their IP is elsewhere | Target the country’s regions instead; Google says ads then won’t show to people whose IP resolves only at country level |
| Repeated clicks with no calls, often from one source | Possibly invalid clicks, which is a separate problem | See are my competitors clicking my Google Ads |
If clicks are in-area but still don’t turn into calls, location is only one cause. Our post on Google Ads getting clicks but no calls goes through the others.
FAQ
Will switching to Presence lower my impressions?
Probably, and that is the point. Google says most campaigns see fewer impressions after moving off the default, and for a local trade the impressions you lose are mostly people outside your area.
Do I need to exclude every state or country I don’t serve?
No. Google says ads don’t show in places you haven’t targeted, so you don’t need to exclude them (exclude ads from geographic locations). Use exclusions for areas inside your target that you don’t want.
Can I set different locations for different ad groups?
Location targeting is set per campaign, so the usual answer is a separate campaign for each area. AI Max for Search adds an optional “Locations of interest” setting per ad group, but people still have to meet the campaign’s location targeting.
Can someone check my location settings for me?
Yes. It’s one of the first settings we check in any account we manage, along with search terms and call tracking. Our Google Ads management starts with the first two months free; you still pay Google for your own ad spend.
Sources: 1. About advanced location options (Google Ads Help). 2. Prevent clicks outside of your geo-targeted locations (Google Ads Help). 3. How Google determines geographic location and locations of interest (Google Ads Help). 4. Target ads to geographic locations (Google Ads Help). 5. Exclude ads from geographic locations (Google Ads Help). 6. About measuring geographic performance (Google Ads Help). 7. View locations and distance reports (Google Ads Help). 8. Location targeting (Google Ads Help).
