Where in the (Virtual) World Am I?

I started playing the online game GeoGuessr in high school but didn’t get serious about it until my junior year at Northwestern.

In GeoGuessr you’re dropped into a random virtual location and have to figure out where you are based on Google Street View imagery. During the pandemic, I watched YouTube videos of people who were good at the game and thought, “I should try that.” I studied economics, statistics and MMSS [mathematical methods in the social sciences] at Northwestern, but geography has always been a side interest. I was on the quiz bowl team and did a lot of competitive trivia, so GeoGuessr felt right up my alley. I started playing competitively and never looked back. 

In the game, players can duel one-on-one. The goal is to guess the exact location and get closer than your opponent. You’re awarded points depending on how close you get. 

There’s so much to study. It’s not only learning the names of cities and neighborhoods, which I find fun, but there’s also metadata you can learn. You can find out, for example, what color the Google Street View car was at a particular place, or what season it was the last time the car passed through a location. 

I started playing in tournaments in 2021 and built a following on Twitch and YouTube. In early 2023 I reached No. 1 in the world on the competitive leaderboard. It was only for a few days, but it was fun while it lasted. Later that year I was invited to compete at GeoGuessr’s first world championship in Stockholm. I represented the U.S. in both 2023 and 2024. 

The live competitions can be crazy. I get nervous when there are thousands of people watching me. The best part is meeting everyone. It’s a very tight-knit online community, but you don’t meet anyone in person until you’re at these big tournaments. 

Now I do a lot of broadcasting and color commentary for GeoGuessr’s major events. It’s a lot less pressure. All I have to do is talk about the game. 

I hope the game continues to grow. I plan to do more broadcasting work and make more YouTube videos, and I’ve got other ideas. I’m fortunate because I’ve found something I’m passionate about and I’m one of the best in the world at it, and that’s rare. 

Jake Lyons ’22 is a professional GeoGuessr player, tournament broadcaster and content creator.