The Clinic Marketing Podcast - Local SEO & Healthcare Online Marketing Tips for Clinic Owners & Wellness Providers

Navigating Google’s Suggested Changes to Your Google Business Profile Listing | Google Maps | GBP | Ep. 132

• Darcy Sullivan • Episode 132

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Google’s suggested edits to your Business Profile can hurt visibility, confuse patients, and cost revenue.

Learn why these changes happen, how to set up notifications, and the exact steps to keep your clinic’s profile accurate and patient-ready.

Episode webpage, blog & show notes: https://propelyourcompany.com/navigating-googles-suggested-changes-to-your-business-profile/


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Speaker 1:

Picture this A new patient is searching for your clinic online, but something feels off. Maybe your hours aren't right, your phone number doesn't work or, worse, google shows you as permanently closed Not exactly the first impression you want to make. Right the thing is, these changes might not even come from you. Google often suggests edits to your Google business profile listing. That's the listing that controls how your business shows up in Google Maps and what used to be called Google my Business and while some are helpful, others can confuse patients and even hurt your visibility. That's why, today, we're digging into what's really going on when these suggested changes happen, why they happen, how to spot them and what you can do to stay in control.

Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Clinic Marketing Podcast. I'm your host, darci Sullivan. At Propel Marketing and Design, we help clinics grow their presence online through website design, seo services and Google Business Profile audits. We even have a full section in our DIY SEO Program, ready Set Rank, dedicated to making sure your Google business profile is fully optimized. So this topic we live and breathe every single day, and I'll be sharing some real life examples along the way to make it all crystal clear.

Speaker 1:

But let's get started with. What are Google suggested changes and why do they matter? Google business profile suggested changes are edits proposed by users, third-party apps or even Google itself. They can impact everything from your clinic's hours and phone number to your business category services website URL, or whether you are even marked as opened or closed. Listen, anyone can go in and suggest an edit on Google search or maps. Now, before you say oh no, that's not fair, how dare they? Google should change that. It's my listing. I should be the only one who has control over it. Google owns Google business profile listings. Google can do whatever it wants, so keep that in mind as we go through this. Google also pulls information from online data sources like your website, social media pages, directories or public records, and increasingly it uses artificial intelligence to scan images, competitor data and use behavior to improve your listing. And I say improve. You can't see, but I'm doing air quotes because it thinks it's improving your listing, even though it might not be.

Speaker 1:

The problem is is that Google often auto-approves what it considers quote, unquote trustworthy edits without asking you first, and for clinics, the stakes are high. A wrong business category can cause your clinic to drop in rankings overnight, incorrect hours can send patients elsewhere and if the phone number is changed, you can miss out on dozens of people calling to book appointments before you even realize something is wrong. There are real-world examples of clinics that saw their rankings drop from top spots to to nowhere to be found after a single category change. Let's break down the main sources of these edits and what they might look like for your clinic. First, we have user suggestions. Anyone can suggest edits and local guides. Google users, who contribute heavily, often have their edits approved more quickly.

Speaker 1:

So, example a competitor changes your website link to theirs, diverting traffic. A few months ago we saw an uptick, mainly in like kids joking around. They were moving the map point and there was a clinic that contacted us very concerned because all of a sudden their Google business profile was showing that they were located in a different state and somebody had called in saying hey, I was just about to leave to come to my appointment, but on Maps you're listed as being in a different state. You can see how that could be a bad problem too. Right? There's online data sources. Google cross-checks your information against your website, yelp, facebook and public directories. If your hours don't match across platforms, google may decide to overwrite your listing. Now here I have a story about a chiropractor. Now here I have a story about a chiropractor who did not provide the Google business profile listing with its correct social media links, and so the Google business profile was displaying somebody else's Facebook reviews, thinking it was that company's, because the other company, even though they were in a different state, had a similar name. It was a chiropractor. It was something like Spine and Sport or something that's very common, and it was mis-pulling the wrong information and showcasing it.

Speaker 1:

Where do other sources of changes come from? Well, it could be connected apps or tools. Sources of changes come from? Well, it could be connected apps or tools. Old listing managers or apps that still have access can push changes you don't want. For example, an outdated app could re-add an old address, confusing patients and risking suspension for violating service area business rules. Google AI artificial intelligence looks at images, user behavior or competitor data to make updates. For example, ai may misinterpret the temporary holiday closure and mark your clinic as permanently closed.

Speaker 1:

Many businesses have shared stories about personal phone numbers suddenly appearing on their listings, different categories being selected for them having nothing to do with their company offering were permanently closed labels they could never have added. Many only noticed when patients stopped calling, or they get a call from a polite patient saying, hey, I think something's wrong with your listing. Great, now we know all the problems. Great, great, great. What are we going to do about them? Well, we're going to walk through how to handle suggested changes step by step. Here's how to stay in control of your profile. By the way, I'm going to go through this, but you can also visit the blog post that is associated with this, that you can find in the show notes and on this episode webpage. It will also walk you through, step by step, what I'm going to walk you through in case you want to read through it or save it for later. So here's how to stay in control of your profile.

Speaker 1:

Spot changes early. Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard. At businessgooglecom, regularly Pending edits show in orange, while Google applied changes show in blue. Next, enable notifications. Make sure you are getting email alerts when changes happen. How do you do this? Sign into again businessgooglecom with the account that manages your profile. Go to settings. From Google search. You can also select more business and then select business profile settings. Choose notifications. Turn on alerts for edits to your business information, new reviews, photo updates and customer messages. If you have messaging enabled, then check your promotions and spam folders. Sometimes these alerts land there. Move them over to your primary inbox. If multiple staff or team members manage your profile, make sure everyone has notifications turned on.

Speaker 1:

Now, really, it's important to note that not all changes trigger an email, so weekly manual check-ins are still essential. I'm going to repeat that because, again, it is just so important. Not all changes trigger an email, so weekly manually check-ins are still essential. Review and act quickly. If an edit is accurate, approve it. If not, reject it or correct it right away through edit profile in Google search or maps. If a change has already gone live, revert it as soon as possible. Provide evidence if needed. If your corrections are not accepted, resubmit with supporting proof, such as photos of your signage, screenshots from your website or copies of official documents. Escalate persistent issues. If you cannot revert a change, contact Google Business Profile Support and provide documentation to back up your request.

Speaker 1:

I want to make sure that you have strategies to stay on top and prevent unwanted edits. You cannot block suggested edits entirely, but you can minimize their impact. Claim and verify your profile. Unclaimed or unverified profiles are more vulnerable to edits. Stay consistent. Make sure your clinic's name, address and phone number and hours are consistent across your website, social media and all online directories. Mismatched details invite Google to want to try to quote-unquote. Fix your profile.

Speaker 1:

Audit your listing regularly. You can do this by checking your dashboard. Also, review connected apps and revoke access for outdated tools or ex-employees. That one's really important. Keep your profile active, post updates, add photos and respond to reviews. Active profiles with regular engagement are less likely to be overwritten. Audit access Again. Make sure only current staff, partners or agencies have managing rights. Remove outdated accounts.

Speaker 1:

Google's suggested changes are a double-edged sword. They're designed to keep profiles accurate, but when left unchecked they can hurt your rankings, confuse patients and cost your clinic revenue. The solution is to stay vigilant. Claim and verify your profile, enable those notifications, log into your dashboard weekly and keep your information consistent wherever patients may find you. Your action step for today is to log into your Google Business Profile, turn on notifications and review any pending edits. That quick check could save you from losing new patients to bad information. Also, if you're interested in getting a Google Business Profile audit, please visit propellyourcompanycom or check out the show notes. We would love to help you with that. You can also book a discovery call or check out our DIY program Ready Set Rank, all by visiting propellyourcompanycom. Thanks for joining me on the Clinic Marketing Podcast. Be sure to subscribe for more marketing and SEO strategies designed just for clinics.

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Darcy Sullivan

Host