The December "Near Me" Surge: Are Your Products Ready to Be Found?

Every December, something predictable happens in worldwide search behavior. The question is: are you prepared for it?

The Data Doesn't Lie

We analyzed five years of global Google Trends data for "near me" searches. The pattern is unmistakable: every single December shows a significant spike in search intent, specifically for retail and shopping categories.

The Numbers

• December 2021: Search interest hit 100 (the highest point in five years)

• December 2020: 83

• December 2022: 76

• December 2023: 65

• December 2024: 67

Compare that to typical months throughout the year, which hover between 50-60. December consistently outperforms baseline by 20-40%.

What This Means for Retailers

When shoppers search "gifts near me," "toys near me," or "running shoes near me Brooklyn" during the holiday season, they're not browsing, they're buying. These are high-intent, high-value searches from customers ready to make a purchase.

But here's the problem: most retailers aren't visible at the product level.

The Traditional Approach Falls Short

Most multi-location brands optimize at the store level:

• A store locator page

• Maybe some basic location landing pages

• NAP (Name, Address, Phone) listings across directories

That's not enough anymore.

When someone searches for a specific product near them, they don't want your store page, they want to know if you have that product at a nearby location.

The Visibility Gap

Let's say you're a sporting goods retailer with 200 locations and 5,000 SKUs.

Traditional approach:

• 200 store pages

• Maybe 10-20 category pages per location

• Total: ~2,000-4,000 indexed pages

Product-location approach:

• 200 locations × 5,000 products = 1,000,000 potential search entry points

That's the difference between being found occasionally and dominating local search.

Why This December Matters More Than Ever

Three forces are converging to make this holiday season critical:

1. AI-Powered Search Is Here

ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google's AI Overviews, consumers are asking AI "where can I buy [product] near me?" Your inventory needs to be structured so AI can find it and cite it.

2. Zero-Click Discovery

Modern search increasingly delivers answers without requiring clicks to websites. If your product information isn't indexed at the local level, you won't even appear in the answer.

3. Mobile-First Local Intent

76% of people who search for something nearby visit a store within 24 hours. But only if they can find you.

What High-Performing Retailers Are Doing

Leading brands aren't waiting until December to optimize. They're building product-location connections at scale, right now.

Instead of one product page and separate store pages, they're creating thousands of search-ready pages that connect each product to each store location.

When customers search "Nike shoes Brooklyn" → they appear.When AI answers "Where can I buy this nearby?" → they get recommended.

The Cost of Inaction

Every day your products aren't visible at the local level, you're losing traffic to:

• Competitors who have optimized product-location pages

• Amazon (which dominates product-level search)

• Local competitors who show up because they're indexed correctly

And when December hits? That gap becomes expensive.

What You Can Do Right Now

1. Audit Your Current Visibility

Search for "[your product] near [your location]" across multiple cities where you have stores. Do your products show up? Or just your homepage? (and check for your competitors as well!)

2. Evaluate Your Infrastructure

Can your current setup handle product-level localization at scale? Or are you limited by manual processes and technical constraints?

3. Build for Discovery, Not Just SEO

Modern visibility isn't just about Google rankings. It's about being structured so both search engines and AI can understand what you sell and where you sell it.

The December Window Is Closing

By the time you read this, December is just weeks away. Most retailers will scramble to run holiday ads, boost their PPC budgets, and hope their existing pages rank higher.

But the retailers who will win this season aren't the ones spending more, they're the ones who are more visible.

What's Next?

This isn't traditional SEO. It's not about keywords, backlinks, or technical audits.

It's about building a discovery layer that speaks the language of modern search behavior.

Your catalog × Your locations = Your competitive advantage.

The December surge is coming. The only question is whether you'll be found when it arrives.

Want to see where your brand stands?

We'll show you exactly what local product searches you're missing and how much traffic is walking past your stores to competitors who show up.

TNG Shopper transforms multi-location brands into local discovery machines. No setup. Just visibility at scale.