Design Nearby Search Around a Radius

Search & Discovery · search, maps, mobile

Updated 2026-08-04

Make the search area explicit. Geohashing and similar schemes narrow to a region before measuring anything, so results are bounded by an area whether or not the interface admits it.
Show the radius and let the user change it. Within 5 km with a control beside it turns an empty result into an adjustable one.
Never present the area as a hard edge without saying so. A relevant result just outside the boundary is invisible, and the user has no way to know it exists.
Say what the distance is measured from. Current location, a searched address, and the center of the map produce different results, and users assume whichever one suits their expectation.
Sort by the thing people are choosing on. Distance is the obvious default and is often not the right one, since the nearest option is frequently not the best one.
Handle the states that location introduces:

Widen the search rather than returning nothing. No results within 5 km. Showing results within 25 km. keeps the task alive and states what changed.
Show accuracy where it affects the answer. A position accurate to half a kilometer makes a two hundred meter radius meaningless, and the interface should not pretend otherwise.
Keep distance and travel time distinct. Straight line distance is what the search used, and travel time is what the user actually cares about.

Nearby is a decision about an area, and a location search only makes sense to a user once the interface tells them which area it used.