Why do successful gas stations always seem to be surrounded by other gas stations?

Hi,

Look up gas stations on Google Maps in a few major US cities. They don't spread out to avoid each other. They stack at the same intersections. Three or four competitors, same corner.

Every instinct says that's the wrong move. Immediate side-by-side comparison the second someone pulls in.

But the lone stations on quiet, uncrowded stretches don't seem to have an obvious edge either.

What might be happening: gas stops are mostly reactive. When the gauge drops, you look for the fastest obvious option. An intersection with several stations becomes a reference point drivers remember. A single station two miles down an empty road doesn't build that same recognition.

So the nearby competitors might be part of what makes that corner feel like the right place to stop, not just rivals splitting the same pool. Whether that's deliberate or emergent behavior compounding over time is hard to say.

Probably doesn't translate to every category. For anything where customers decide carefully, proximity to competition is mostly pressure. For reactive purchases, the calculus looks different.

"Find the gap" is usually reasonable. It just doesn't seem to be the whole story here.