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{"id":441,"date":"2024-04-16T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/google-changes-gbp-information-439655\/"},"modified":"2024-04-16T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:00:00","slug":"google-changes-gbp-information-439655","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cherylroll.com\/google-changes-gbp-information-439655\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do when Google changes your GBP information"},"content":{"rendered":"

Google Business Profiles<\/a> (GBP) has long been a cornerstone of local SEO<\/a> efforts. <\/p>\n

Google has devised various mechanisms and processes to deter abuse and enhance the accuracy of information on GBP listings and their appearance on Maps<\/a>. Consequently, Google frequently updates business listings without prior notice.<\/p>\n

Understanding how, when and why Google makes these updates can help businesses be better prepared and implement defensive strategies to prevent incorrect information from surfacing and negatively impacting the business.<\/p>\n

How often does Google update GBP listings?<\/h2>\n
Whenever Google “updated” Google Business Profiles over the past three years, it also updated three data fields each time, as observed by Mirador Local, a GBP listings management platform. (Disclosure: Mirador Local is a tool created by my employer, SALT.agency.) <\/em><\/p>\n
Based on data from Google Business Profiles managed by the software, 44% of GBP listings in their database have seen at least one of these updates in the past 36 months.<\/p>\n
Their data also suggests a pattern and seasonality when Google rolls out more updates to GBP profiles. November, December and before Easter, see higher change frequencies and updates of data fields, such as opening hours, than any other times of the year.<\/p>\n
Another interesting finding from the Mirador Local data was that Google simultaneously updated the names of 192 profiles of a single brand, removing the “™” from the brand name.<\/p>\n
You’re not usually notified of changes made to your profile by Google (or suggested by other users); some changes can be more problematic than others.<\/p>\n
Removing a “™” from a brand might be frustrating for stakeholders. Still, incorrect updates to your opening hours, phone number, or website URL can impact your business and potential customers.<\/p>\n
Where does Google get the information it uses to change your GBP listings?<\/h2>\nWhile you can edit your own Google Business Profile<\/a> information, Google verifies changes against several data sources to prevent abuse of the GBP system. <\/p>\n
These data sources include:<\/p>\n
\n
Information about the business from the “owned” website (i.e., contact page information and schema declarations).<\/li>\n
Information about the business on “external” websites (i.e., BBB, Companies House, authoritative directories).<\/li>\n
Public user contributions (i.e., Local Guides program, reviews, photos, manual edits).<\/li>\n
User engagement data with location.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Consistency in name, address and phone number (NAP) has long been crucial for local search optimization<\/a>. While being showcased in the Map Pack can offer significant benefits, it has unfortunately been subject to excessive exploitation. This has led Google to take measures to validate and utilize alternative data sources to mitigate such abuse.<\/p>\n
As Google’s systems have worked to prevent spam and improve accuracy, genuine businesses have been caught up in the fight and required additional verification requests.<\/p>\n
Dig deeper: How to follow Google Business Profile guidelines<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBusiness email address<\/label><\/p>\n
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Optimizing for Google’s GBP validation systems<\/h2>\nWhile there is no direct way to optimize for algorithms or AI, it is possible to ensure that everything within your sphere of influence is as accurate, consistent and optimized as possible.<\/p>\n

Optimizing for Google’s GBP validation systems<\/h2>\n
While there is no direct way to optimize for algorithms or AI, it is possible to ensure that everything within your sphere of influence is as accurate, consistent and optimized as possible.<\/p>\n