Places Scout does rank tracking well but leaves you needing separate tools for reviews, citations, and GBP management.
Places Scout has been a local rank tracking tool for over a decade. It does what it promises, tracking local search positions across Google Maps and Google Search. But if you're evaluating rank tracking tools for your local business or agency in 2026, the landscape has shifted significantly.
This guide compares Places Scout and Flento directly across the features that matter most for local SEO practitioners.
It's also worth comparing against a OpenClaw SEO alternative.
Places Scout built its reputation on accurate, granular local rank tracking. Its core strengths:
Grid-based rank tracking: Places Scout popularized grid-based local rank tracking, showing your Maps Pack position across a geographic grid of points within a city or region. Instead of a single position number, you see a heat map of where you rank at different locations within your service area.
This is genuinely useful for understanding how your visibility changes as you move away from your business's physical location. A plumber in downtown Chicago might rank #1 in a 1-mile radius but drop to #8 at 5 miles out.
Historical rank data: Places Scout stores historical rank data, allowing you to see how your position has changed over weeks and months. This is valuable for diagnosing ranking drops and attributing improvements to specific optimization actions.
Competitor tracking: Places Scout can track competitors' rankings for the same keywords, showing side-by-side position data.
Where Places Scout shows its age:
For another option worth evaluating, read our Local Viking alternative comparison.
Flento was built as a complete local SEO platform, not just a rank tracking tool. The comparison isn't "Flento has a better rank tracker", it's "Flento includes everything a local business needs for Google Maps success in one platform."
Local Keyword Rank Tracker: Weekly tracking of your Google Maps position for target keywords, with trend visualization and competitor comparison. Comparable accuracy to Places Scout for the use cases that matter most to local businesses.
Google Business Profile Optimizer: GBP completeness scoring, specific optimization recommendations, and change monitoring. Places Scout has no GBP management capability, you'd need a separate tool.
Google Review Management Software: Review monitoring, response templates, automated review request workflows, and sentiment analysis. Review management is entirely outside Places Scout's scope.
Business Listing Management Software: Citation monitoring across major directories, NAP consistency checking, and listing syndication. No equivalent in Places Scout.
Local Competitor Analysis Tool: Real-time monitoring of Maps Pack competitors, their review trajectory, GBP changes, and ranking position. Places Scout shows competitor ranks but not GBP activity or review growth.
AI Local SEO Software: AI-powered recommendations for GBP improvements, review response generation, and local keyword opportunities. No AI assistant in Places Scout.
| Feature | Flento | Places Scout |
|---|---|---|
| Local Map Pack rank tracking | Yes, weekly | Yes, daily available |
| Grid-based rank visualization | Yes | Yes (core feature) |
| Competitor rank tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Historical rank data | Yes | Yes |
| GBP management and optimization | Yes | No |
| Review monitoring | Yes | No |
| Review request automation | Yes | No |
| Citation monitoring | Yes | No |
| AI-powered recommendations | Yes | No |
| Multi-location management | Yes | Yes |
| White-label agency reports | Yes | Yes |
| Built for non-technical users | Yes | Partial |
| Local business pricing tier | Yes | Agency-focused |
To be honest about the comparison: Places Scout's grid-based rank tracking is more granular and configurable than most platforms, including Flento. For agencies managing local SEO at scale who need maximum tracking granularity and are comfortable building separate workflows for GBP management, reviews, and citations, Places Scout is a legitimate choice.
Specifically, Places Scout makes more sense if:
Flento makes more sense for the majority of local businesses and local-focused agencies:
Local business owners managing their own SEO: The Places Scout interface was designed for experienced SEO practitioners. Flento was designed for business owners who want actionable insights without a steep learning curve.
Agencies managing full-service local SEO: If your agency's service includes GBP management, review management, and citation building alongside rank tracking, managing those in four separate tools versus one integrated platform is a significant efficiency difference.
Businesses prioritizing Google Maps over traditional SEO: Local businesses that need Maps Pack ranking improvement, not comprehensive SEO suite with organic search, backlinks, and keyword research, get more of their specific use case addressed by Flento.
Businesses needing review management: This is the largest gap in Places Scout's offering. If review strategy is a core part of your local SEO approach (it should be), Places Scout requires a parallel subscription with a review management tool.
Places Scout's pricing structure is primarily designed for agencies running multiple clients. For individual local businesses or small agencies, the per-location cost structure can be expensive relative to what you actually use.
Flento's pricing is designed to be accessible for local businesses managing their own presence as well as agencies managing client accounts. The consolidated platform approach means you're not paying for rank tracking + review management + citation management across three separate subscriptions.
For a complete local SEO toolkit, rank tracking, GBP optimization, reviews, citations, competitor monitoring, Flento's combined cost typically comes in lower than assembling equivalent functionality from Places Scout + a review management tool + a citation tool.
If you're currently using Places Scout and considering switching:
Data migration: Export your historical ranking data from Places Scout before canceling. Flento stores rank data from the date you connect your business, historical data from Places Scout doesn't transfer automatically.
Setup timeline: Flento's onboarding connects your Google Business Profile and begins rank tracking within 24–48 hours. GBP optimization recommendations are available immediately after connection.
Transitional period: Run both tools simultaneously for 30 days to verify rank tracking consistency before canceling Places Scout. This gives you confidence that Flento is capturing the same ranking movements before you lose access to the Places Scout data.
Is Flento as accurate as Places Scout for rank tracking? Flento uses the same Google search data sources as Places Scout for Maps Pack position tracking. For the weekly tracking cadence that most local businesses need, accuracy is comparable. Places Scout's advantage is in higher-frequency tracking (daily) and more configurable grid density, features that matter more to agencies doing technical rank analysis than to individual businesses.
Does Flento offer grid-based rank tracking? Yes. Flento's Local Keyword Rank Tracker includes local grid-based tracking, showing your Maps Pack position across geographic points in your service area.
Can Flento replace my review management tool as well as Places Scout? Yes. Flento's review management features, monitoring, response templates, and review request automation, are designed to replace standalone review management tools. Most users who switch to Flento consolidate from multiple tools into one platform.
Does Places Scout have a free trial? Places Scout offers a trial period. Flento also offers a free plan. If you're evaluating both, set up Flento's free plan alongside your Places Scout trial to compare the UI, data quality, and platform completeness side-by-side.
Places Scout does one thing well: granular, configurable local rank tracking. For agencies whose entire value proposition is deep rank data, it's a justifiable choice.
For the broader population of local businesses and local SEO agencies who need rank tracking to exist alongside GBP management, review management, citation monitoring, and competitor intelligence, a platform built for that complete use case produces better outcomes than assembling a stack of specialist tools.
Flento was built for that use case. The comparison isn't close at the platform level.
