Someone changed my Google Business Profile: how to find out and fix it

Who can change what shows on your profile?

More people than you might expect:

• You and the people you give access to. Owners and managers edit the profile directly.
• Other users. Google says it may receive suggestions from users to update your profile, and that it will notify you about certain suggested edits before they are published.
• Google itself. Google says that if it receives reports that your information is inaccurate, it might update your profile, and that you will get a notification if it does.

A change that looks hostile can come from any of these, and so can one that is simply wrong. The profile does not tell you which.

Does Google give you time to respond?

For some changes, yes. Google says that for a suggested edit that needs your review you have four days to accept or reject it. If you do not respond in that time, Google may publish the update automatically when it is supported by other public information, such as your website. It also says it may apply some user edits without asking you first, where the edits must meet policy guidelines. So a notification email you do not open can become a changed profile.

Which changes cost you the most?

• Phone number and website. Customers act on these first, so a wrong number costs calls the same day.
• Open or closed status. A listing marked closed sends customers elsewhere.
• Address and business name. A new street address, or keywords added to a name, changes where and how you are found.
• Main category. A move to a neighbouring trade quietly drops you out of the searches that matter.
• Opening hours. Less urgent, but wrong hours cost a visit.

How do you check your profile?

1. Write down the right details once. Phone, website, address, hours, status and category, with the date. Without it, you will only ever notice a change that looks odd.
2. Turn on notifications. In your Business Profile settings you can choose which notifications you receive, including account updates about changes to your profile. Read them within the four days.
3. Look at what a customer sees. Open your listing in Google Maps, signed out, and compare it with your note.
4. Use the editor's colours. Google says text shown in blue in the profile editor is information Google changed.

How do you put it right?

If you manage the profile, correct the detail in your Business Profile. If you do not manage it, suggest an edit in Google Maps. Google says you might be able to appeal an edit of yours that it rejects, so keep the evidence that your version is correct: a photo of your signage, your website, a recent bill. Before you correct anything, take a screenshot of the wrong value with the date, so that you have a record of what the change was.

Is it sabotage?

You cannot tell from the profile. A change can come from Google's own systems, a customer's suggested edit, a member of your staff or someone acting in bad faith, and Google does not say which. Most changes have an ordinary explanation. Treat a hostile change the way you would any other: put it right, keep the record, and report anything that looks like abuse through Google's own channels.

A different problem is a profile that stops appearing at all. That can be a suspension, and it has its own warning signs, covered on suspension early warning.

Where AxioIntel fits, and where it does not

AxioIntel reads your public listing every few hours, every 6 on the trial and Starter, every 3 on Business and every hour on Growth. Each check compares the phone, website, hours and open or closed status with the last reading, and each full pull reads the name, address and main category too. Each change gets a severity, and a change that costs money the same day sends an email with the before and after.

• It never edits your listing. You put the value back, from the old value it shows you.
• It says what changed, never who changed it.
• It reads what a customer sees. It cannot see an edit Google is still reviewing, and a change made and reversed between two readings is not seen.

The detail is on Google Business Profile change alerts.