Check How Your Business Shows Up on Google, and Fix What Is Wrong

You can learn more about your online presence from 20 minutes of searching than from most reports. This guide has you look at your business the way a customer does, write down what is wrong, and fix the problems you can. It is the best place to start before you change anything.

You need: a computer, a phone, a notes page, and the master copy of your details (name, address, phone, hours, website). If you do not have a master copy yet, make one first with Make Your Name, Address and Phone Number Match Everywhere.

Step 1. Search your business name

Do this in a private or incognito browser window, so Google is not tailoring results to you. Then do it again on your phone.

Search your business name and city. Write down:

• Does a profile show up on the right side or at the top?
• Are the hours, phone number, address and website correct?
• Do the photos look like your business today?
• Does anything else show up with your name, such as a second profile, an old address, or a closed business with your name on it?
• What do the review stars say, and are the latest reviews answered?

Step 2. Search for what you do

Search for your main service plus your town, for example "plumber Buckeye." Look at who shows up and how their profiles read. You are not trying to rank first today. You are looking for what a customer sees, and whether your profile gives a stranger a reason to call.

Do not expect to see exactly what a customer sees. Results change with where someone is standing, so use this as a look, not a score.

Step 3. Search your phone number and your address

Put your phone number in quotes and search it. Do the same with your street address. This is a good way to find old listings, directories and a past business at your address that still point to you.

Step 4. List what is wrong

Make a list with three columns: where, what is wrong, and what it should say. Use your master copy for the last one. This list is your to-do list.

Step 5. Fix your own profile

If the wrong details are on a profile you own, sign in at business.google.com, select Edit profile, and correct them. Then give each fix a day or two to show.

For hours, see Check Your Hours Before the Holidays. For photos, see Which Photos to Put on Your Google Listing.

Step 6. Handle duplicates and ownership problems

Google allows one profile per business. A profile that Google flags as a duplicate stops showing in Search and Maps, so it matters which one is yours. Find your case below.

• A profile for your business exists and nobody has verified it. Claim and verify it. See How to Claim and Verify Your Google Business Profile.
• Someone else has verified it (an old agency, a former partner). Go to business.google.com/add, find your business and select Request Access. The owner has 3 days to answer. If they do not, you may be able to claim it.
• You made a second profile of your own by accident. Remove the duplicate, not the verified one. Removing a profile deletes all its content and the people who manage it, so be sure you are removing the right one.
• Two profiles on Google Maps are the same business. You can submit a merge request through the duplicate section of the Google Maps suggestion report. Reviews combine, but replies to reviews may be lost. Google does not give a timeline for merge requests.
• You moved. Edit the address on your existing profile. Do not create a new one.
• You offer several services. Put them on one profile, not several.
• Another business shares your address. If you are separate businesses with different names and clear signage, each can have its own profile.

If your situation does not fit these, Google's page for it lists a way to contact support: Resolve duplicate profiles and ownership issues.

Step 7. Wrong information on a place you do not control

For a directory or a listing that is not yours, such as Apple Maps, Bing Places, Yelp, or a county or chamber page, look for a "claim this business" or "suggest an edit" link on that site. Many of them let you fix details after you verify. If Google Maps shows something wrong that you cannot edit, use the suggest an edit option on the Maps listing.

Step 8. Write down the date and look again

Note today's date next to your list. Check back in two weeks and cross off what is fixed. Then put a repeat date on your calendar every three months.

Check your work

• Searching your business name shows one profile with correct hours, phone, address and website.
• Searching your phone number and address does not turn up old versions of you.
• Every item on your list is fixed or has a date you are following up.

Screens change now and then, so look for the closest match if a button is named differently.

If you would rather hand this off

Keeping details matching across your website, Google profile, social accounts and listings is something we do each month. See our listing consistency service, or get started.