> Quick answer: Go to your campaign's Locations settings. Type the city name plus country or state. Save your selection. Then choose between "Presence" only or the default "Presence or Interest."
How City Targeting Works in Google Ads
City-level targeting puts your ads in front of people Google believes are in or near a specific place. Get this right and your budget goes much further.
Presence vs. Location of Interest
Per Google's Ads Help Center, Google Ads offers two location targeting modes.
Presence shows ads only to users physically in or regularly visiting your target city. Presence or Interest is the default. It also reaches users who have searched for or shown interest in that city.
For most local service businesses, "Presence" is the safer pick. A plumbing company in Austin doesn't need clicks from a New York user researching Austin real estate.
Note: Sensitive verticals including Travel, Real Estate, and Education may face stricter rules. Google may require "Presence" mode in those cases.
How Google Determines User Location
Google uses IP addresses, device GPS, Wi-Fi signals, Bluetooth, and cell tower data to estimate location. It also reads location of interest signals. These include search terms, past searches, past physical locations, and page context.
Google Ads documentation states this directly: location signals are not 100% accurate. Expect some edge traffic from just outside your target city.
Why City-Level Targeting Matters for Local Businesses
National targeting burns budget on people who can't buy from you. City-level targeting keeps spend focused on people who can.
Step-by-Step: Add City Location Targeting
Three steps. Takes less than two minutes.
Navigate to Locations Settings
- Sign in to Google Ads.
- Click Campaigns in the left menu.
- Select the campaign you want to edit.
- Click Settings, then open Locations.
Enter City Name with Country or State
Type the city in the search field. Always include the country or state. Per Google's Ads Help Center: use "Paris, France" not just "Paris." That prevents accidentally targeting Paris, Texas.
The same rule applies to postal codes. Enter "94103, California" rather than the zip alone.
Click the correct city in the results. Click Add to include it.
Save and Verify Your Selection
Click Save. Your city appears in the targeted locations list. Review the list before closing. Remove any mismatched results right away.
Advanced Location Options
Targeting Multiple Cities at Once
Repeat the search-and-add process for each city. For bulk edits across campaigns, use the batch edit feature. Select multiple campaigns, open location settings, and apply the same city list at once.
Using Radius Targeting for Hyper-Local Coverage
Radius targeting centers a circle on any address or city center. The minimum radius is 1 km. Smaller areas don't meet Google's privacy thresholds and cannot be targeted.
This option works well for brick-and-mortar businesses. A restaurant or clinic targeting a 5 km radius captures nearby intent without paying for city-wide coverage.
Excluding Specific Cities from Your Campaign
Go to Locations settings. Switch the view to Excluded. Add any city you want to block. This is useful when running a regional campaign but skipping cities you can't serve.
City Targeting Best Practices
Matching Location Targets to Your Service Area
Target only cities your business can serve. Adding ten cities when you cover three wastes budget fast. Start tight and expand when performance data supports it.
Avoiding Small-Target Underperformance
Small cities may not meet Google's minimum area and user count thresholds. Ads can show intermittently or not at all. When that happens, Google may extend targeting to nearby related areas to fill the gap. If your city-only campaign shows very low impressions, add radius targeting or include a nearby larger city alongside it.
Coordinating Location with Language and Messaging
Location targeting alone isn't enough. Match your ad copy to the city. Mentioning the city name in headlines improves relevance scores. Pair your location setting with the right language targeting, especially in bilingual markets.
Or let Coinis do it.
From a product URL to a live Meta campaign. AI-generated creatives. On-brand copy. Direct publish to Facebook and Instagram. Real performance reporting. All in one platform.
Start free. Upgrade when you're ready.
15 AI tokens a month. No credit card.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between Presence and Presence or Interest in Google Ads location targeting?
Presence targets only users who are physically in or regularly visit your chosen city. Presence or Interest (the default) also includes users who have searched for or shown interest in that city, even if they are physically elsewhere.
Why do I need to add the country or state when entering a city name in Google Ads?
City names often repeat across different countries and states. Per Google's Ads Help Center, adding context like 'Paris, France' or '94103, California' prevents Google Ads from matching your target to the wrong location.