This technology is not like the GPS in your phone used when calling an Uber, where permission is granted for precise tracking. In this case, the visitor’s location is approximated based on their IP address. This ensures the calculated location is nearby, but there is a bit of guesswork involved, which can lead to inaccuracies.
Continent and country locations are accurate roughly 99% of the time. Subdivision accuracy is about 80%, and city accuracy is around 66%.
When a city is incorrectly interpreted, it’s because a nearby city was selected as the most likely location instead. For instance, a visitor in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, could be recorded as being from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While incorrect, the location is still relatively close. You will not see, however, a location that is wildly inaccurate, like a New York visitor recorded as being in Paris.
In summary, you can have great confidence in the continents and countries reported in the world map and data table, while subdivision and city data should be viewed as more approximate.
