Proximity is the distance between a searcher or searched location and a business.
It matters because local buyers often make decisions quickly from maps, reviews, proximity, and location-specific pages. Local SEO connects online visibility to real-world calls, visits, appointments, and service inquiries.
Example
A person searching downtown may see a different set of nearby providers than someone making the same search across town. A service-area description does not physically move a business closer to every searcher.