nongeographic

Nongeographic is an adjective used to describe data, services, or concepts that are not tied to a specific geographic location. In information management, nongeographic data comprises attributes that do not encode place, such as identifiers, preferences, or timestamps.

In marketing and analytics, nongeographic segmentation groups audiences by demographics, psychographics, behavior, or technographics rather than by where people live or operate. This approach complements geographic segmentation, which targets audiences based on location. Nongeographic methods can improve privacy and scalability for national or global campaigns, but may reduce the precision of location-based targeting.

In telecommunications, the term nongeographic numbers refers to telephone numbers that are not associated with a particular geographic area, including toll-free and virtual numbers. In GIS and data systems, nongeographic representations include codes or labels that do not map to a physical point—such as region codes defined by business rules or service areas that do not align with cartographic boundaries.

Because location is a key differentiator in many analyses, practitioners must recognize the limitations of nongeographic data, ensure appropriate context, and consider integrating geographic data when place information is relevant. The concept is primarily used as a contrast to geospatial or place-based data.