For local businesses, Google Search and Maps results are the most important search engine results to show up in. So, needless to say, it can be incredibly worrying if your Google Business Profile isn't showing up in them!
If you're sitting there wondering why you don't see your Google Business Profile listing in search results, don't panic yet. This article will guide you through some of the most common reasons for Google Business Profile not showing up to help you identify what might be going on and how to fix it, so you can ensure your business remains visible in local search.
5 Potential Reasons Why Your Business Profile Is Not Showing up on Google
1. Your Google Business Profile Isn't Verified
One of the most common reasons why a business might not be showing up in Google Search and Maps results is that it hasn't been claimed and verified.
Claiming and verifying your Google Business Profile is the first step towards optimizing it to appear in local search results. Without doing this first, your business information isn't even eligible to show up anywhere on Google.
After you take ownership of your Google Business Profile, you can add and edit the business information, update the business categories, use the different features and tools Google provides to engage with potential customers, and start optimizing your listing to show up in more local search results.
2. You Recently Added or Edited Business Information
According to Google, adding and editing the business info on your Google Business Profile can be another potential reason why it's not showing up in search results.
It can take up to 3 days for Google's algorithm to take changes you make into account and modify search results. So, for example, if you add a new category to your Business Profile, it might not show up in searches for that business category right away.
Keep in mind that, as long as your Google Business Profile is verified and eligible to show up on Google, you should still be able to find it by searching for the business name (unless you recently changed the name).
3. Your Business Is Closed
Google changes what businesses it shows in local search results based on their hours of operation, giving prominence to businesses that are open at the time of a search.
Depending on how high the competition is in an area, a business might even drop completely out of local search results when it's closed. So, if you're searching for your business outside of your business hours, it's very likely that you won't see it in search results.
You can use Local Falcon to test for "openness" as a local ranking factor in your area and see how strongly your business hours affect how you appear in search results.
4. Your Google Business Profile Is Suspended
Another potential reason for your Google Business Profile not showing up in search results is that your listing has been suspended for violating one or more of Google's policies and guidelines.
You should receive a message from Google if your Business Profile gets a violation, so double-check the account you use to manage your listing and see if you might have missed the notification.
If it turns out that your Google Business Profile isn't showing up on Google because of a suspension, take the necessary steps to resolve the issue. And, while you're at it, familiarize yourself with the most common Business Profile violations to help you avoid them in the future.
5. You're Not Ranking in the Local Search Results
If none of the above issues are why your Google Business Profile is not showing up on Google, there's one last possibility — you're not ranking in the local search results you're looking at.
Start Tracking Your Local Rank Today
There are many different reasons why your business might not be ranking in certain results.
For starters, you might simply be searching from too far away. Proximity to the searcher is an important local search ranking factor, so if you're searching for your business from outside the neighborhood or service area it operates in, you might not see it (unless you use specific geo-modified search terms).
Alternatively, it might be the case that your business doesn't rank for the keywords, or search terms, that you're using to try and find it. This could be due to it having different business categories selected, missing business categories, or high competition for those keywords.
It's also possible that your Google Business Profile is just not optimized enough, and you're getting outranked by so many competitors that your business is nowhere to be found in local search results.
How Can You Fix Google Business Profile Not Showing up in Local Rankings?
There are many factors that contribute to local rankings for Google Business Profiles, including category and keyword optimization, business information completeness and consistency (especially Name, Address, and Phone number, or NAP), profile engagement, and — this is a big one — reviews.
Google heavily factors the total number of reviews, average review score, and other review data into its rankings, so it's possible that a review issue is why your Google Business Profile isn't showing up.
But, because there are so many different ranking factors, it can be hard to know exactly why your Business Profile isn't showing up on Google (unless there's something glaringly obvious, like a single 1-star review keeping you down in the rankings). There may even be several contributing factors.
In order to effectively identify potential ranking issues and optimization opportunities, you'll need to use a local rank tracker, such as Local Falcon, the first AI-integrated local rank tracker of its kind.
Local Falcon provides real-time insights into local search rankings for any business and its competitors — anywhere in the world, down to a hyper-local level. It provides granular, data-backed insights into your rankings and potential to outrank competitors at specific points on the map.
Falcon AI, Local Falcon's built-in AI, provides lightning-fast analysis and actionable optimization recommendations on your reports, ideal for taking first pass at optimizing your listing and fixing issues that could be causing your Google Business Profile to not show up, or for ensuring the effectiveness of ongoing optimization strategies.
If you think that your business's reviews might be what's causing it to not show up, you can also use Local Falcon's AI Reviews Analysis tool to analyze customer sentiment across all your reviews at once. Reviews Analysis Reports even suggest ways to improve your business and get more positive reviews to help you rank better in search results.
Whatever the reasons behind your Google Business Profile not showing up may be, Local Falcon can help you quickly identify them and optimize your listing, allowing it to show up in more local results and, ultimately, driving more business!
