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Advanced Profile Optimization Techniques – October 2024

Google Business Profile Categories

New:

  • Data Center
  • IV Therapy Service

Removed:

  • Interior door shop
  • commercial refrigeration
  • electrical equipment manufacturer
  • building design company
  • commercial cleaning service
  • evening dress rental service
  • and more

Bugs

  • Delays in GBP reinstatements
  • review reporting tool not functioning properly
  • lost reviews after a suspension
  • Q&A turned off for some south Asian countries

Reviews

  • Google Local Service Ads had their own reviews which will now be merging with GBP reviews in November.
  • The “Top Quality Score” is a page that shows reviews if there isn’t a GBP or if the store sells physical products. The page now pulls in videos and other assets from social media.
  • Try to have consistent ratings across review platforms. If you have 100 reviews on GBP and they are all 5 star, but your Yelp profile has a few reviews that are 3 stars or less, then work on gaining more 5 star reviews on Yelp to keep your average the same across most platforms.
  • Some reviews don’t go through as they are flagged for content (e.g. “blown away”) or the user leaving the review has a suspicious profile.
  • If a listing gets flooded or attacked with large numbers of fake reviews, Google will usually automatically filter them out. However, Google may then turn off the ability to leave reviews for a set time as to wait for the negative attack to dissipate. The downside is that the listing owner isn’t notified and doesn’t understand why people can no longer leave reviews on their profile.

 

Misc

  • New “shop nearby” link on SERPs
  • on-page SEO is becoming less important. Expanding your brand’s reach across social media platforms is becoming more important.
  • Add keywords to your profile name on social media websites. For example, “Aladdin Plumbing Corp – Plumber & HVAC NYC”
  • Businesses that have an address in a coworking space are very hard to verify and keep live. If suspended, it is much harder to reinstate the profile. Avoid using PO Boxes and coworking spaces as addresses.

 

Q: Is it better to repeat the same posts across social media, or use unique content? Probably not an issue for AI. It likely won’t penalize you. If you can, make your descriptions or bios different.

Q: How does Google differentiate between fake and real reviews? Not sure, but countries probably have a role to play. If someone in another country leaves a review for a business is another country, it is likely to be fake.

Q: Does Google know if I use AI to respond to reviews? It probably isn’t checking that. It checks for the filter, such as offensive language.

 

 

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