New York and London are the classic transatlantic split: same language, different index. Search "coffee shop" in each and Google returns different chains, different local packs, and often a different balance of ads to organic results, because gl flips from us to gb and the local businesses change entirely.
For any brand running in both markets, the New York result tells you almost nothing about the London one. This is the fastest way to see that gap without a VPN.
New York
gl=us · hl=en
London
gl=gb · hl=en
What actually changes when gl flips from us to gb
The country parameter (gl) selects which national index Google draws organic results from. With gl=us, US-hosted review sites, US publications, and .com domains with American audiences dominate; with gl=gb, UK directories, UK press, and .co.uk domains gain ground for the identical query. The ten blue links can overlap barely at all.
The local pack changes even harder than the organic results. It is built from Google Business Profiles near the searcher's location, so the New York three-pack and the London three-pack share zero businesses by construction — what you are really comparing is which kinds of businesses Google surfaces, how many reviews the leaders hold, and how deep the ads run above them.
How to get a clean read on this pair
Keep hl=en on both sides so language stays constant and the country index is the only variable moving. Then try a more specific variant — "specialty coffee" or a neighbourhood name — and watch how quickly the two markets stop resembling each other.
If some results still look local to you rather than to New York or London, that is personalization from your own account history. Open the comparison links in a private window and the uule location signal does the rest.
New York vs London: common questions
Do I need a VPN to see London Google results from New York?
No. Google exposes its location targeting through URL parameters — gl for country, hl for interface language, and uule for the precise location. This page builds those URLs for you, which is faster than a VPN and uses Google's own geo-targeting rather than IP guessing.
Why do the local pack businesses differ completely between the two cities?
The local pack is assembled from Google Business Profiles physically near the search location. A New York café can never appear in a London pack, so the pack is rebuilt from scratch for every location — that is exactly why side-by-side comparison is informative.
Which URL parameters does this comparison actually set?
The New York link sets gl=us with a uule encoding New York's canonical location name; the London link sets gl=gb with London's uule. Both keep hl=en, so you are comparing country indexes, not languages.
Related comparisons
- Los Angeles vs New YorkCompare high-competition Google results in Los Angeles and New York — two of the most contested local markets in the US.
- London vs DublinCompare Google results in London and Dublin — neighbouring English-language markets that Google treats as separate countries.
- New York vs ChicagoCompare Google local pack results in New York and Chicago for a high-intent local query like dentist.
Want a different query or different cities? Open this in the tool and change anything — or browse more comparisons.