The primary goal of local SEO is to get customers near your physical location to find you in the search results. That’s why the location of your office or store is a primary factor in the local ranking algorithm.  Think about it… If you’re in Jacksonville looking for an ice cream shop, it won’t do you much good to see search results for businesses that are in Cleveland. Google knows this, too, and that’s why the proximal location of a business and a searcher plays such a big role in local SEO. You’re less likely to rank the farther away from where the prospect is searching. This is all to say that it’s not flat-out impossible to rank in cities outside your physical location. You can rank organically in different areas if you have pages on your website for different target locations. But you’re better off keeping your focus on attracting searchers that are close to your physical location. That’s where you’ll see the best results from local SEO.