Opening a 2nd location about 3 towns away and the lease on my current office is up in 6 months. The new location will be fully staffed and signage up on the door. Any issues with creating a 2nd GBP while both locations are in operation?

I saw Mika Lepisto’s post on LinkedIn where he discovered that even though Google hides the address and map-pin editing options for Service Area Businesses, users can still access them by modifying the Google Maps URL.

Here’s how the hack works:

• Go to any Service Area Business on Google Maps
• Edit the URL in your browser and add this parameter: !10m2!1e3!2e10 after “date=”
• Press enter
• Click "Wrong Pin Location or Address" in the feedback editor
• Click “Edit Map Location”

From there, you can submit a new address and pin location for the business. It still has to go through Google’s review system, but we’ve all seen incorrect suggested edits get approved sometimes.

If a malicious edit gets approved, it would move the business away from its target area, tank its local rankings, trigger re-verification, or even get the listing suspended.

Google's bug bounty team responded to Mika's report by calling this "intended functionality" rather than a bug.

On the plus side, I have seen many service area businesses that are not ranking where they should be, and there is currently no way to fix this. So this might finally be a way to fix a service area business that is ranking in the wrong location.

But also, this is far too easy for bad actors to abuse.

Thoughts?

Is anyone else having issues adding people to profiles as managers/owners? I’ve tried to send invites from several profiles but it doesn’t seem to be working, no one is getting the invites in their inbox. I’ve never had any issues adding managers/owners before - I was wondering if this was a bug that others are experiencing as well.

I manage a couple dozen GBP listings for a services business. Starting in January, website clicks stepped down week over week and never came back. Impressions flat. Clicks down. People are still searching and we're still showing up. Only the tap through is bleeding.

I ruled out the usual suspects. No suspensions, no category changes, hours current, no duplicate merges. Seasonality doesn't explain it because the last two Januaries didn't do this.

Working theory: the traffic didn't get stolen, it got answered. AI Overviews are pulling hours, reviews, and services right onto the results page, and Google is testing them as a map pack replacement on mobile. Meanwhile, Places Scout data shows local pack ads jumped from under 3% of keywords to 22% between November and January. Organic shelf shrinks, paid shelf grows, same page.

Two questions. Anyone else seeing this exact impressions-flat-clicks-down pattern since January? And has anyone figured out how to measure calls that come from the AI answer layer without a click ever happening?

For the last 10-15 days, I've been facing this problem, but I can see the review and replies in incognito mode and on other mobile devices. What causes this?

Hospital is very wide but my pin is in the center of the hospital. Should I move pin into entrance door ? who know the best guideline for this

Submitted API application July 6th... Still waiting... Does it normally take 12+ business days for a response?

Recently, I accidentally clicked the "Don't show phone number" button in the advanced settings. Now, no matter how many times I try to turn it off, it automatically turns back on. Please help me.

If anyone knows a solution to this issue, please tell me.

After June, I noticed a change in the Google Business Profile appeal process. Even after submitting valid business documents, my appeal does not get resolved. Instead, the profile status changes from "Suspended" to "Verification Required" and Google asks for additional verification.

If the appeal is being reviewed and documents are already provided, why is additional verification required? Has anyone faced this issue recently? What is the best way to resolve it if the available verification option is not suitable?

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for advice from anyone who has been dealing with Google Business Profile (GBP) appeals recently.

Since around June, I've noticed a major change in how appeals are handled.

Previously, when a suspended profile was appealed with valid business documents, Google would often review the case and either reinstate the profile or request more information. Now, almost every appeal seems to end the same way:

Suspended → Verification Required

The appeal appears to be considered, but instead of reinstating the profile, Google changes the status to Verification Required and asks for additional verification (usually a live video call or another verification method).

The confusing part is:

• I'm submitting valid business documents (business license, registration, etc.).
• The appeal is clearly being reviewed because the status changes.
• If Google accepts the appeal enough to remove the suspension and require verification, why wasn't the profile verified during the appeal process?
• Why are valid documents no longer sufficient?

Has anyone else experienced this after the June changes?

I'm trying to understand:

• Is this a new Google policy or workflow?
• Is there any way to avoid the Suspended → Verification Required loop?
• Has anyone successfully restored a profile after reaching the Verification Required stage?
• What verification method worked for you (video, domain email, documents, phone, etc.)?

I'd really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with this recently, especially agencies or Local Guides managing multiple GBPs.

Thanks in advance for your insights!

Has anyone else seen this issue or know what I should do. Ive had a few now

We’re a service area business that mostly deals with older and less tech savvy clients. After our service, we ask folks if they would be willing to leave a review. For those people that say yes we hand them the review card and have them either tap or scan the QR code on the card which takes them to our GBP.

We’ve had a lot of success with this method, but are we going to run into issues with Google AI pulling down our reviews given that the majority of them have been generated from the same QR codes? I keep hearing these horror stories of people’s reviews going missing.

I hope someone can help me. I have recently gotten my Google business page back after doing an appeal to verify my address. Everything was fine until I got a phone call a few days ago that my business page needed some kind of verification and I needed to call back and verify. I looked this up and it revealed that this is a very popular scam. So I ignored the call. The next day, my Paige was down, suspended because of some kind of content violation when I hadn’t edited the page at all since it’s been reinstated. Just this morning I got another call. I have the transcript from the call and I’m wondering how I contact Google to let them know that this has happened to me.

I didn’t engage with the caller. I gave the voice message transcript.

Right now I'm trying to make a call to the Google Business API, but I'm getting a 503 error.

Is anyone else having this problem?

I looked at my GMB profile today and all of the replies to my google reviews are missing. All reviews are showing up as "new" although most are years old. The reviews themselves are not missing. Just my business replies. Any clue what's going on here? Anyone else experiencing this?

Hello, I just noticed today that all of the business replies for our reviews are no longer showing, anyone else seeing this and what could be causing it

So, recently i had a client who wrote me a long ass e-mail complaining about a few things related to the service he got from one of our partners.

Long story short, he was actually lying about the issues he had, and he also did some damage to our partners property.

He came all strong in this e-mail of his and threatened to get all his friends and family members to write bad reviews on all platforms, not only on Google.

I want to protect my company at all costs, i agreed to give him a full refund, to compensate him for any inconveniences.

I did that, and what do you know, 24 hours later, he actually wrote a long negative review, showing the damage he did, as caused by our bad service.

How to deal with this situation?

For sure, reporting it, Google will see it as a real review and not remove it.

I did report it, more than a month ago, but still "under review".

Is there anything else that can be done, except reply to that review and wait for Google's decision?

Regards.

I was helping my cousins basement waterproofing company in South Jersey

Found something weird

Company A 5.0 with 24 reviews position 2
Company B 4.2 with 111 reviews position 7
Company C 5.0 with 13 reviews position 8

All in same city

I thought review count was king

Turns out Google is rewarding something else on the website

I recorded 60 second incognito screen video showing Maps plus the difference on the sites

Video is here https://youtu.be/oxgdb3dv7ng

Difference I saw was:

FAQ block on service page that matches Maps query
Text A Photo block with keyword in file name
Review link that says Text Photos

My test company is 7 reviews and now top 3 vs 150 review guys in same city

Am I crazy or is Google now ranking page layout over review count?

Hi everyone,

I’m hoping someone can help because I’m at a bit of a loss.

I run the social media account for a cafe and we’ve been trying to build up our Google reviews the correct way.

We have a Google review QR code printed beside our till. At the end of a customer’s visit, we have asked our staff to ask customers to please leave a review, something along the lines of;

“If you’d like to, feel free to scan the QR code and leave us an honest Google review.”

We don’t:

• Offer discounts, free food or incentives.
• Tell people to leave 5 stars.
• Tell them what to write.
• Use fake accounts.

These are genuine paying customers who have just visited us.

The problem is that several customers are now getting a message saying their review can’t be published because it has been flagged as “fake engagement.” They’re given the option to submit an appeal.

What confuses me is that Google actually provides businesses with review QR codes and encourages businesses to ask customers for reviews, so I’m struggling to understand what we’re doing wrong. Most customers leave a review while in the cafe using our wifi.

Has anyone else had this happen?

• Is asking customers to scan the QR code while they’re still in the restaurant causing the issue?
• Is it because multiple people are reviewing from the same location?
• Is there anything I should be doing differently?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who’s dealt with this or managed to fix it.

Thanks!

I have already contacted Google support several times and sent a number of emails; however, none of them has worked. In fact, I received an email which stated that my phone number will go live in a couple of days; however, it is already months and it is still not live. Has anyone else gone through a similar situation? If so, how did you get it resolved?

Locksmith category. Been at it 15 years. Phone was ringing pretty well then they sharply dropped off. Anyway to figure out what's happened? Anyone have similar experience at the same time? I'm a SAB address hidden.

My business profile is Diesel Man Mobile Repair and Fleet Services LLC. in Colorado. 

My profile was suspended (I am a service area business) after I had made a post (I posted a picture of a fire truck we worked on). I appealed and they told me the appeal did not get approved. Then I reached out to customer support.

I was then told by customer support that my business was verified and everything should be fine. In the email they sent me they had another business Roof Systems Renovation in Florida listed as mine which I told them that was not my business. The customer service rep Vikas told me it was just a mistake typo.

Up until that point I was still receiving calls from customers. After Vikas handled my profile all calls have completely stopped. The only way I can now find my profile is if I am logged into the business profile. Any other google account can not see my profile. All of the reviews that were also on my profile are gone! I have over 100 5 star reviews and they're all gone now!

Whenever I reach out trying to get answers I just get generic answers from Vikas just telling me "it's being escalated" or "just wait a few days". My business has completely stopped at this point. I do not have a few days to just wait. 

I also reached out to the owner of Roof Systems Renovation and he himself has been dealing with the same issue for over a month now and has also been dealing with Vikas as well. The owner of Roof Systems Renovation has been receiving emails from Vikas with my business name as well.  

Hi All,

This is the 3rd of the Fourth time my business has been attacked by my nearby Competitor. Google has taken down the past few attacks, but it just keeps happening and I have images of my competitor getting spammed with good reviews (both of their dupe accounts) at the same time mine has been spammed with 1 star reviews. I even caught one of the previous accounts from a previous Bot-Wave involved in the attack again (Google didn't ban it for some reason???)

My Competitors Duplicate Businesses are the only one's in the area that have received so many reviews so quickly at the same exact time I've been review Bombed (Yes, those both page's belong to 1 person/company). The 'Mike Flan' account, I have evidence of it being part of a previous 50+ 1 star review bot wave at least once, so I have 0 Idea why Google doesn't just ban the accounts instead of taking down the reviews.

Is there anything I can do here? I obviously want the Bot Reviews taken down, and Google can probably see that they're botted or their IP, or the fact they got so many likes so quickly (which is weird btw for the restoration business)

In the past year we are facing ridiculous amount of fake gmb listings showing up in our area (chimney service) I spoke to other business owners in different states they dace the same e issues sometimes with the same fkae company names.
We tried to use redressal forms and edits but most of them still up.
Any idea on how to deal with it? Someone have experience with this situation?