---
title: Proximity steering · Cloudflare Load Balancing docs
description: Proximity steering routes visitors or internal services to the
  closest physical data center.
lastUpdated: 2024-08-13T19:56:56.000Z
chatbotDeprioritize: false
source_url:
  html: https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/understand-basics/traffic-steering/steering-policies/proximity-steering/
  md: https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/understand-basics/traffic-steering/steering-policies/proximity-steering/index.md
---

**Proximity steering** routes visitors or internal services to the closest physical data center.

To use proximity steering on a load balancer, you first need to add GPS coordinates to each pool.

## When to add proximity steering

* For new pools, add GPS coordinates when you create a pool.
* For existing pools, add GPS coordinates when [managing pools](https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/pools/create-pool/#edit-a-pool) or in the **Add Traffic steering** step of [creating a load balancer](https://developers.cloudflare.com/load-balancing/load-balancers/create-load-balancer/).

## How to add proximity steering

To add coordinates when creating or editing a pool:

1. Click the *Configure coordinates for Proximity Steering* dropdown.
2. Enter the latitude and longitude or drag a marker on the map.
3. Select **Save**.

Warning:

For accurate proximity steering, add GPS coordinates to all pools within the same load balancer.
