Drawing on the 2024 National Survey on Returning hometown for Entrepreneurship and employing the signaling theory, this study investigates how the geographic migration patterns of returnee entrepreneurs influence their business performance. We find that entrepreneurs returning from the eastern coastal regions to their inland hometowns exhibit significantly superior performance compared to those who migrate within the same region or return from inland areas to coastal hometowns. The primary mechanism underpinning this difference lies in the fact that coastal-to-inland returnees tend to receive more government subsidies and attention. Further analysis reveals that this performance advantage associated with geographic mobility are concentrated among entrepreneurs who are highly educated, first-time founders, and those operating businesses in the survival stage or emerging industries. However, these advantages are negatively moderated by the intensity of local entrepreneurial competition. These findings suggest that geographic mobility functions as a signaling mechanism. These results indicate that only land-coastal entrepreneurs can transmit signals that align with local government expectations, thereby increasing their likelihood of receiving government support.