> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.peakmetrics.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Normalized Location Data

> Consistent, structured location: one taxonomy across news and social, available through the platform, API, and MCP server.

Mentions resolve against a single, hierarchical location taxonomy, the same schema whether it came from a news publisher, a TikTok post, or a Reddit thread.

***

## The taxonomy

Location resolves across six levels, each built on an established standard so it interoperates with other systems you use.

<table>
  <colgroup>
    <col width="190" />

    <col width="278" />
  </colgroup>

  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>Level</th>
      <th>Coverage</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>

  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>**Region**</td>
      <td>Global</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>**Subregion**</td>
      <td>Global</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>**Country**</td>
      <td>Global</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>**State / Province**</td>
      <td>United States only</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>**County**</td>
      <td>United States only</td>
    </tr>

    <tr>
      <td>**City / Municipality**</td>
      <td>Global</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Each level has exactly one parent, and each mention resolves to exactly one location. Selecting a location automatically includes everything beneath it: filtering on a state returns the cities inside it, and filtering on a country returns every state, county, and city within it.

State and county are US-only. Mentions outside the US resolve to a country and, where the source is specific enough, a city.

***

## Coverage by channel

Location resolution is best effort, and how often it succeeds depends heavily on the channel.

| Coverage | Channels |
| - | - |
| **Excellent** (75%+ of mentions) | News, TikTok, Weibo |
| **Strong** (50-75%) | Instagram, Facebook, YouTube |
| **Moderate** (up to 50%) | Twitter, Reddit |

<Warning>
  Because coverage varies by channel, a geographic breakdown of a mixed-channel workspace reflects **where location was resolvable**, not where the conversation actually happened. Read location distributions as directional, and be careful comparing across channels with different resolution rates.
</Warning>

***

## How location is resolved

**News.** Location reflects the **publisher's headquarters**, typically resolved to country level. This is a signal about the outlet, not about where the story took place. A Washington-headquartered outlet covering a flood in Texas resolves to the US, not to Texas.

**Social.** Location comes from the account's self-reported or detected profile location, coerced into the taxonomy. Free-text entries like "Chi-town" or "NYC" are matched against an alternate-names list and resolved to their canonical entry.

**Reddit.** Reddit has no location field, so location is inferred from **geographically named subreddits**: a post in a city or country subreddit resolves to that place. Posts outside geographic subreddits carry no location.

**Unresolvable locations aren't labeled.** The platform does not guess. A mention with no resolvable location is absent from geographic breakdowns.

***

## Time coverage

Normalized location is available on mentions **published on or after July 1, 2026**. Mentions published before that date carry no normalized location.

## Use cases

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Finding where a story is loudest">
    Group analytics by country or state to see which markets are driving a spike, then drill to city level to find the specific concentration.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Regional crisis scoping">
    Filter a workspace to a region before pulling narratives and top accounts, so a briefing reflects the market that's actually affected rather than global volume.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Market comparison">
    Break the same narrative down across countries to see whether framing differs by market, useful for global brands running region-specific messaging.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Domestic versus international coverage">
    Separate home-market coverage from international pickup to understand whether a story has crossed borders.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Geographic concentration as an authenticity signal">
    Coverage that resolves to an unexpectedly narrow set of locations can be worth a closer look, though given the coverage caveats above, treat this as a prompt to investigate rather than a finding.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## FAQs

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Why do some social mentions have no location?">
    Most social platforms only expose location when a user has filled in their profile, and many don't. Twitter and Reddit resolve for under half of mentions for this reason.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I get state-level data outside the US?">
    Not currently. State and county are US-only at launch; other countries resolve to country and, where possible, city.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Does filtering on a country include its cities?">
    Yes. Selecting any level automatically includes everything beneath it.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

***

## Related reading

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="API Changelog" icon="code" href="/api/changelog">
    Full technical detail on the location fields.
  </Card>

  <Card title="API Introduction" icon="plug" href="/api/introduction">
    Getting started with the PeakMetrics API.
  </Card>

  <Card title="MCP Server" icon="robot" href="/mcp/introduction">
    Querying your workspace conversationally, including by place.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Exporting Data" icon="file-export" href="/help/workflows/exporting-data-from-peakmetrics-unlocking-powerful-insights">
    Taking workspace data into your own analysis.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

**Questions?** Reach out to [support@peakmetrics.com](mailto:support@peakmetrics.com).