September closed with Optimum Pest Pros ranking in the top 3 for 151 search queries, on the first page for 345, and inside the top 20 for 525. The top 3 count rose by 9 from 142 in August, recovering part of the 26 places it gave back the month before, and, within the searches Google itemises query by query, those top positions carried 22 percent of impressions against 16 percent in August. First page and top 20 coverage moved the other way: both are narrower than August (407 and 615) and narrower than July (382 and 579). That is the one item we are watching this month, and it is set out in full under the headline metrics along with what we are doing about it.
Google's totals for the whole site recorded 159 clicks in September, against 172 in August and 122 in July, on 16,547 impressions against 21,164 in August and 18,409 in July. From this report forward, clicks and impressions are Google's totals for the whole site, which include searches Google does not itemise. They are not like for like with the figures quoted last month. On the whole-site basis August was 172 clicks and 21,164 impressions. September's clicks sit below August's peak but well above July, and the click-through rate rose from 0.81 percent to 0.96 percent. Within the searches Google itemises query by query, the first page did nearly all of the work: 92 percent of itemised clicks came from first page positions, and the top 3 alone accounted for 37 percent. The category terms that define the business held at the very top, with rodent control, termite treatment, bed bug extermination and mouse control all averaging position 1.0 to 1.1, and "bed bug treatment" moved onto page one, averaging position 9.8 after 16.0 in August.
AI search is where the month's clearest growth sits. Microsoft's own reporting shows the site cited 72 times in Copilot and Bing AI answers in September, against 39 in August, an increase of 33. From this report forward we total Microsoft's and Google's AI figures by calendar month, so they are not like for like with the rolling windows quoted last month; on the calendar basis August was 39 for Microsoft and 394 for Google. Microsoft also names the questions behind its citations, and one of them in September was "professional pest control services for common household pests", which pulled the site into an answer 5 times. In ChatGPT, the business is named and linked in 50 percent of the Rochester pest control questions we track, level with the prior period. Google's own count of appearances inside its AI answers was 359, against 394, with the homepage producing 47 percent of them.
Local map results are the strongest asset in the account. Our daily rank tracker was reset on September 15 to a single list of 22 core service terms checked from four cities, so this month is a starting position and not a trend. At the September 30 check, Optimum Pest Pros held map pack position 1 in Canandaigua for 18 of the 22 terms on desktop and 18 on mobile, including "pest control", "pest control near me", "exterminator" and "exterminator near me" on both, and held a map pack slot in Geneva for 11 terms on desktop and 10 on mobile.
On the content side, the Fall Pest Control in Rochester guide was published on your behalf on September 29, and the homepage and the Brockport service area page were refreshed in late September. All three landed too late in the month to show in these numbers, so October is their first full reading. Next month's plan goes straight at the watch item: the page two terms sitting closest to page one, the Rochester and Syracuse city searches still on page three, and the fall and winter guides queued behind the September post.
The site appeared on the first page for 345 queries in September, against 407 in August and 382 in July, and inside the top 20 for 525, against 615 in August and 579 in July. Because September is below both earlier months, we are treating this as a drift and not as a return to normal after a strong August. What we know: the top of the page is not where it is happening. Top 3 rankings rose from 142 in August to 151, and the core category terms held at or near position 1. The thinning is in positions 4 to 10, which went from 265 queries to 194, and positions 11 to 20, which went from 208 to 180. In the queries we can see, the yellow jacket terms moved from page two to page three ("yellow jacket removal" averaged position 31.9 after 18.3 the month before), a few suburb searches slipped several places ("pest control greece ny" from 17.5 to 22.4, "pest control batavia ny" from 14.3 to 18.3), and whole-site clicks eased from 172 to 159, still well above July's 122. What we are doing: the homepage and Brockport refresh went live in late September and gets its first full month in October. Next, we are strengthening the pages behind the terms sitting just off page one, listed in section 05, with added depth and internal links. We will pull these three counts again at the end of October and set them beside July, August and September so you can see whether the line has turned.
The headline counts above come from Google's own reporting, which covers every search Optimum Pest Pros appeared for. The city by city and map pack numbers further down come from our daily rank tracker, which checks a short list of core service terms from each market on desktop and mobile, so the two views answer different questions and are not expected to match. AI figures come from the platforms themselves. Each number stays with the same source month to month.
This is not estimated data. These are Google's totals for the whole site: how often optimumpestpros.com appeared in Google results in September and how many people clicked through, including searches Google does not itemise query by query.
Queries where Optimum Pest Pros held a first-page average position in Google across September. These are the search terms actively putting the business in front of pest control buyers. Position shown is the average across the whole month. Four moves stand out against August: "bed bug treatment" went from 16.0 to 9.8 and onto page one, "optimum pest control" from 5.6 to 4.6, "tick control" from 5.5 to 4.5, and "bed bug heat treatment" from 2.7 to 2.4.
| Keyword | Avg Position | Monthly Impressions |
|---|---|---|
| optimum pest control | 4.6 | 441 |
| rodent control | 1.1 | 422 |
| termite treatment | 1.1 | 361 |
| bed bug extermination | 1.1 | 324 |
| optimum pest pros | 1.6 | 293 |
| optimum | 3.3 | 264 |
| bed bug treatment | 9.8 | 182 |
| pest control canandaigua | 3.5 | 128 |
| pest control service | 9.9 | 103 |
| ant control | 2.6 | 100 |
| flea control | 3.4 | 96 |
| tick control | 4.5 | 91 |
| bed bug heat treatment | 2.4 | 91 |
| mosquito control | 1.8 | 90 |
| cockroach control | 2.3 | 86 |
| termite control | 2.3 | 73 |
| mouse control | 1.0 | 71 |
| rat control | 1.7 | 65 |
| spider control | 2.5 | 64 |
| pest pro | 7.5 | 62 |
| bug exterminator | 7.8 | 43 |
| pest control geneva ny | 8.6 | 40 |
| organic pest control | 1.5 | 39 |
| termite inspection | 2.7 | 38 |
| bee removal | 2.5 | 38 |
Queries already ranking on page 2 where a targeted content or internal linking push moves them onto page 1. These are the next wave of winsStriking distance keywords are search terms ranking close to page 1 (positions 11 to 20). They typically take less work to push onto page 1 than starting a brand new keyword from scratch., and they are where the watch item gets answered. Page two is the largest single block of visibility on the site: of the searches Google itemises query by query, positions 11 to 20 carried 37 percent of September's impressions. "Pest control" averaged position 11.2 on 1,007 impressions, after 10.9 in August, which keeps it right on the edge of page one and the highest-value single move available.
| Keyword | Avg Position | Monthly Impressions |
|---|---|---|
| exterminator | 13.2 | 1,158 |
| pest control | 11.2 | 1,007 |
| pest control near me | 14.0 | 426 |
| exterminator near me | 13.2 | 385 |
| commercial pest control | 12.5 | 198 |
| residential pest control | 11.6 | 129 |
| pest control company | 14.4 | 78 |
| pest removal | 18.6 | 77 |
| exterminator services near me | 13.9 | 67 |
| pest management | 19.1 | 66 |
| pest management near me | 15.2 | 64 |
| pest exterminator | 13.4 | 51 |
| wasp removal | 15.3 | 42 |
| mosquito control fairport ny | 10.1 | 41 |
| pest control irondequoit ny | 13.5 | 35 |
| pest control fairport ny | 12.3 | 34 |
| pest control services | 16.5 | 34 |
| bed bug exterminator | 14.9 | 34 |
These specific pages are the foundation for everything ranking. Each one drives traffic across many related search terms. The number of ranking queriesA "ranking query" is a unique search term that this specific page shows up for on Google during the reporting month. One page often ranks for many related searches at once. shown next to each page is how many different Google searches each page showed up for in September.
This section comes from our daily rank tracker, not from Google's reporting, so it is a different view from the headline counts. On September 15 we reset the tracker to a single list of 22 core service terms, checked from Rochester, Canandaigua, Syracuse and Geneva on both desktop and mobile. That makes this month a starting position on the new list, and it is not comparable with the tracked counts in last month's report. At the September 30 check, Optimum Pest Pros held 57 local 3-packWhen someone searches for a local service like "exterminator near me," Google shows a special box at the top with a map and three business listings. This is called the local 3-pack or "map pack" and ranking inside it is a major driver of calls. placements across the Canandaigua and Geneva checks.
| Market | Device | Terms in the Map Pack | Positions Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canandaigua | Desktop | 18 of 22 | All 18 at position 1 |
| Canandaigua | Mobile | 18 of 22 | All 18 at position 1 |
| Geneva | Desktop | 11 of 22 | Positions 2 and 3 |
| Geneva | Mobile | 10 of 22 | Positions 2 and 3 |
In Canandaigua, 16 of the 22 terms hold map pack position 1 on both desktop and mobile. That group includes the four broadest searches on the list, "pest control", "pest control near me", "exterminator" and "exterminator near me", along with rodent control, termite control, termite inspection, ant control, mosquito control, bed bug heat treatment, commercial pest control and residential pest control. In Geneva the placements include "exterminator", "termite control" and "ant control" on both devices.
Map pack readings are shown for Canandaigua and Geneva, the two markets with a complete reading at the September 30 check.
On organic results for the same 22 terms, the September 30 check recorded 4 top 3 placements: "bed bug treatment" at position 1 in Rochester on desktop and mobile and in Canandaigua on mobile, and the business name at position 1 in Geneva on mobile. These are bare category terms checked from each city on a single day, a much narrower and harder list than the 151 queries in the headline Top 3 count, which covers every search Google showed the site for across the month. Tracking on this list began September 15, so it is a starting line to measure from.
City-name searches are how people outside the immediate Canandaigua area look for a pest control company. This table is from Google's own reporting for September and shows where those searches currently land. Canandaigua is strong and Geneva is on page one. Fairport, Webster and Irondequoit sit on page two. The Rochester and Syracuse city terms are still on page three, close to where they were in August: the ten of them in this table produced 1,574 impressions at average positions between 25 and 37, which makes them the largest pool of recoverable traffic in the account.
| Keyword | Avg Position | Monthly Impressions |
|---|---|---|
| exterminator rochester | 25.3 | 447 |
| pest control rochester | 34.5 | 251 |
| pest control syracuse | 35.2 | 166 |
| pest control rochester ny | 26.1 | 161 |
| rochester mosquito control | 30.0 | 128 |
| pest control canandaigua | 3.5 | 128 |
| exterminator syracuse | 35.3 | 127 |
| rochester pest control | 26.9 | 116 |
| mosquito control syracuse | 36.7 | 89 |
| syracuse pest control | 29.3 | 50 |
| mosquito control fairport ny | 10.1 | 41 |
| pest control geneva ny | 8.6 | 40 |
| rochester ny pest control | 29.0 | 39 |
| pest control irondequoit ny | 13.5 | 35 |
| pest control fairport ny | 12.3 | 34 |
| pest control webster | 11.7 | 32 |
| flea pest control webster ny | 10.2 | 30 |
| pest control batavia ny | 18.3 | 29 |
We read AI search through the lenses that have real readings for this site: Microsoft's own count of citations in Copilot and Bing AI answers, Google's own count of appearances inside its AI answers, and our own tracking of whether ChatGPT names and links the business when it is asked Rochester pest control questions. From this report forward we total Microsoft's figures by calendar month, so they are not like for like with the rolling window quoted last month. On the calendar basis August was 39.
A separate third party sample of seven AI platforms, which recorded one Copilot citation for the site in August, did not record one in September. That sample checks a limited set of prompts, and Microsoft's own count above covers Copilot directly, so it is the fuller record for this site.
One of September's was "professional pest control services for common household pests", which cited the site 5 times. That is a broad, service-level question from someone choosing a provider, and it is the kind of question the homepage and the core service pages are written to answer. On Google's side the homepage carries the largest share of AI exposure, 167 of 359 impressions. Its copy was refreshed in late September, so October gives us the first full month of AI readings on the new version.
The Fall Pest Control in Rochester guide went live on September 29 and covers the overwintering pests that move indoors as the weather turns. Three more guides are written and queued to follow it: winter rodent exclusion for Rochester and Syracuse, winter pest control for restaurants and commercial kitchens, and wildlife damage to attic insulation. Each one gives the answer engines a specific page to cite for a specific question, which is how we build on September's Microsoft count from here.
September added top 3 rankings and close to doubled Microsoft's AI citations, while first page and top 20 coverage narrowed. The plan for the coming month is built around turning that second line back up, using the pages and terms the September data points to.
Start with the terms closest to page one: "pest control" at 11.2, "residential pest control" at 11.6 and "commercial pest control" at 12.5. We will add depth and internal links on the pages Google ranks for them, including a commercial pest control section on the Syracuse service area page, and report the three headline counts against July, August and September.
Ten city-name searches produced 1,574 impressions in September from page three. September's page work went to the homepage and Brockport, so the Rochester and Syracuse service area pages are next: more local and seasonal depth, plus internal links from the refreshed homepage and the services hub.
Publish the queued guides behind the September fall post and measure the refreshed homepage's first full month in AI answers.