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Google Business Profiles (GBP) has long been a cornerstone of local policy SEO attempts.
Google has developed several mechanisms and processes to combat abuse and improve the accuracy of information about GBP listings and their advertisements appearance on Maps. That’s why Google regularly updates business listings without notice.
Understanding how, when, and why Google is making these updates can help companies be better prepared and implement defensive strategies to prevent misinformation from surfacing and negatively impacting the business.
How often does Google update the GBP listings?
Whenever Google ‘updated’ Google business profiles over the past three years, three data fields were also updated each time, as observed by Mirador Local, a sterling listing management platform. (Disclosure: Mirador Local is a tool created by my employer, SALT.agency.)
Based on Google business profile data managed by the software, 44% of GBP listings in their database have seen at least one of these updates in the last 36 months.
Their data also suggests a pattern and seasonality as Google rolls out more updates to GBP profiles. In November, December and before Easter, the rates of changes and updates to data fields, such as opening hours, are higher than at other times of the year.
Another interesting finding from the Mirador Local data was that Google simultaneously updated the names of 192 profiles from one brand, removing the “™” from the brand name.
You will normally not be notified of changes that Google makes to your profile (or suggested by other users); some changes may be more problematic than others.
Removing a “™” from a brand can be frustrating for stakeholders. Still, incorrect updates to your hours, phone number, or website URL can impact your business and potential customers.
Where does Google get the information it uses to change your listings to GBP?
While you can edit your own Google business profile information, Google verifies changes against various data sources to prevent misuse of the GBP system.
These data sources include:
- Information about the company from the “own” website (i.e. contact page information and schema statements).
- Information about the company on “external” websites (i.e. BBB, Companies House, authoritative directories).
- Public user contributions (i.e. Local Guides program, reviews, photos, manual edits).
- User engagement data with location.
Consistency in name, address and telephone number (NAP) has long been crucial local search optimization. Unfortunately, while the Map Pack presentation can provide significant benefits, it is subject to excessive exploitation. This has led Google to take steps to validate and use alternative data sources to limit such misuse.
While Google’s systems have worked to prevent spam and improve accuracy, real companies have been caught up in the fray and required additional verification requests.
Dig deeper: How to follow Google Business Profile guidelines
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Optimization for Google’s GBP validation systems
While there is no direct way to optimize algorithms or AI, it is possible to ensure that everything within your control is as accurate, consistent, and optimized as possible.
NAP and brand consistency
Making sure your business name, address, and phone number are correct on the Internet has been a basic rule for at least a decade (as far as I can remember), but with the way Google works now, you have to go beyond this box. .
Google’s validation systems compare company information found online with information companies have submitted to their Google Business Profiles from sources such as:
- Online guides
- Chambers of commerce
- Government databases
- Local business associations
Consistency across these platforms can prevent Google from making incorrect data assumptions and changes. That’s why I often encourage clients to only build citations on prominent directories and platforms that they can change in the future if necessary.
Monitoring and utilizing user feedback
Google values input from searchers (and the Local Guides community), especially working to improve the accuracy and quality of listings.
They provide real-time insights that can be used to identify inaccuracies or outdated information that has not been picked up algorithmically or that the company’s overall digital footprint is not sufficient to validate.
When a user submits feedback, Google reviews the suggestion to assess its credibility. This may include comparing the proposed operation against other available data sources.
In some cases, this may lead to requests for additional information or verification, such as asking the business owner to provide evidence to refute or modify the proposed change within a certain time frame.
In addition to encouraging positive reviewscompanies can ask customers to validate business claims, such as hours, by simply stating that they stopped by the location “for lunch” or by adding wording similar to “have a nice evening at.”
It is important to highlight that Google has also put in place mechanisms to prevent “spikes” in content that violate its guidelines content policy.
“To detect policy-violating content, our machine learning algorithms scan contributions for signals of suspicious user activity. The content that violates the policy is removed by our automated models or flagged for further review by trained operators and analysts who perform content evaluations that may be difficult for algorithms to perform alone.”
By using user feedback in this way you can strengthen and contribute to your business intelligence EAT strategy.
Dig deeper: How to build an EEAT strategy for local SEO
Strengthening your entity
Ensuring your place in Google’s Knowledge Map is also important to prevent Google from updating your Google Business Profile with incorrect information.
An entity defines a ‘thing’ or a concept within Google’s Knowledge Graph that is unique, defined and distinguishable. They are characterized by attributes such as name and type and their relationship to other entities.
Because it uses different data points across the Internet, any confusion with companies with a similar name and in the same arena/service category could result in their information being misplaced on your profile.
Dig deeper: How to Set Up Your Brand Entity for SEO: A 5-Step Guide
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily those of Search Engine Land. Staff authors are credited here.
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