Having your business appear in Google’s search results, including map listings, is critical for companies of all sizes. Over 30% of search results contains Google My Business (GMB) listings, so it can be maddening when yours doesn’t appear—that’s probably why you’re here now! Logical Position’s Google My Business Team has identified five of the top reasons why your listing isn’t showing—most of them only take a few minutes to check.
Your Google My Business Isn’t Verified
Sign in to your Google My Business listing at business.google.com. If your listing is unverified, you’ll see a status message of “Verification needed” and a warning message that looks like the box below.
All you need to do is select “Verify now” and proceed with the verification steps that Google provides you.
Can’t access your GMB listing? Try doing a Google search for your company by name, and your business’s GMB should appear. If not, add the business location when you search, along with the name—for example, “Google, Mountain View, CA.”
You may notice it says “Own This Business?” near the bottom of your listing. If this is the case, Google likely auto-generated your listing. That listing is also likely unclaimed. Click on the “Own This Business?” link, and you’ll begin Google’s verification process. With this simple step, you’re well on your way to showing in Google’s Local Pack and on Google Maps!
Your Google My Business Is Suspended
If you’ve previously appeared on Google Maps and in the Local Pack but you no longer do, then your GMB may be suspended. To check this, sign in to your Google My Business account and navigate to the “home” section. If Google has suspended your listing, you’ll notice a large box in the middle of your screen that reads “Suspended,” and it will give you a reason why. Often, Google will suspend a listing when it runs into an issue with the listed address or if information about your business has changed.
You can click on the “Learn more” link located in the “Suspended” box to resolve the issue that caused your suspension. You can also jump directly to the Google My Business reinstatement request form, which you can find here.
It can take a little time, but once Google lifts the suspension, your profile should be eligible to show on Google Search, on Google Maps, and in the Local Pack.
You Lack Location Authority
Google must prioritize what listings to show at any given time. If your listing lacks location authority, it might not be eligible for Google to list. You’ll want to follow the other steps in this guide to build location authority over time and rank over your competitors.
Additionally, you can work to generate reviews for your listing, which Google finds extremely valuable. Make sure you reply to all the reviews you have already (yes, even the bad ones). Reviews are critical parts of your GMB profile, and Google loves to see when businesses engage with their customers through reviews.
Another way you can improve your location authority is to develop your search engine optimization (SEO). Google constantly crawls your website, and the information it finds there helps it decide when—or sometimes when not—to show your GMB listing. Making sure your site’s SEO is up to date and relevant will improve the rank of your GMB listing in the local search results along with your overall organic search rankings. If you’re unsure about what SEO is or how well your website is ranking, feel free to reach out to your Logical Position Account Manager for more information.
Gaining location authority takes time, so staying diligent and keeping your listing up to date will be vital to your long-term success.
You Lack Google My Business Content
The GMB Team runs into this issue quite often. Within the Google My Business interface, you’ll see several tabs on the left side of the screen leading to a plethora of attributes you can and should complete (see left). Filling in as many of these sections as possible is critical. A general rule of thumb is to not leave any space blank. For example, our team finds that many business-owners forgo the “Add Opening Date” section or only use 100 characters for their business description when Google allows 750. You want to take full advantage of the free space Google is giving you. Look at it this way: if you purchased billboard space for your company, you wouldn’t leave the corners blank. Filling in that area with your address or a phone number is more beneficial. The same principle applies to GMB. Make sure you take some time to add as much information as possible.
Additionally, Google My Business has a “Posts” feature that we encourage businesses to use regularly. This tool enables you to keep your listing fresh, inform potential customers about upcoming sales, show off new products, and more.
There Are Factors Out of Your Control
If you’ve done all the above steps, keep in mind that there are still times when your listing might not appear. For example, a user’s proximity to your business versus to other businesses of a similar type might mean your listing gets pushed down the feed. For example, suppose you own a coffee shop, but there are also several other coffee shops in your area. Google may favor the other businesses above yours if they’re physically closer to where a user searches.
Like proximity, there are several other reasons why your GMB might not serve. We can boil these down to nuances relating to Google’s search algorithm and the limited capacity of Google My Business features. Although Google works hard to improve its systems, we must keep in mind that they aren’t perfect.
The best thing you can do to ensure your listing appears as often as possible is verifying your GMB, double-checking that it’s not suspended, packing it full of rich content, and freshening up the information a couple of times each month. From there, the rest should take care of itself!
If you’re concerned about your Google Maps listing or want help with building your online visibility locally, contact Logical Position today for a free consultation on our local SEO packages.
