Recent content by JS Girard

We have a client (mobile mechanic) getting calls from way outside their service zone. This is not a move issue, they still get normal call, google is just ranking them over an unusually large area. I've checked and double checked and the base optimisation is actually targeted fairly tightly at...

I assume there is no hard evidence this goes beyond the verification process? 'cause I believe it's been looked at for ranking before, hasn't it?

1. Technically yes, but a separate number is preferable for both tracking purposes and to minimize the risk of mergers. 2. Google has explicitly said that is what their hours are supposed to mean (which is why SABs can have hours beyond when they actually go out: as long as someone will answer...

It's been around longer than that. It's in the bug compendium I posted back in 2023 (listed as "Nonfunctional "confirm google suggestions" button bug"). I seem to recall the solution listed in that compendium doesn't work anymore though.

Heck, it could have been selecting the wrong option when you initiated the process.

Expertise.com literally doesn't have separate listing pages for individual businesses, as far as I can tell. The linking structure is also really annoying. If I'm on the "legal experts for [State]" and there is a list of city links, then I expect these to be "legal experts in [City]", right? But...

I know that. What I mean is: > No message ➡`instant deletion > Message ➡ Not instantly deleted ➡ (Are those harder to delete via suggestions compared to other unowned profiles?)

Well, My assumption was that there would be little to no such internal links left since you were deleting the pages, though I should probably have said that for clarity 😅 Yeah, that too. Google keeps saying that unless you have literally thousands upon thousands of page, you probably don't need...

Is the thumb rule that it's MUCH easier to delete an unclaimed profile via suggestions still applicable to the cases where the message was shown?

Though website data is also a very possible culprit, I'd like to offer another possible factor. I think it also depends on whether the algorithm already associates the keyword with the main category or not. Not a tested example, just to explain: if you take a keyword like "AC unit repair"...

Admittedly crawl issues are hardly my wheelhouse, but I'm given to understanding that crawl budget is by definition not "expended" on pages that Google can't reach via internal links?

I'm running into this situation more and more: GBPs were no edit can be submitted on desktop. Not that the edit is insta rejected, but rather the submit button literally doesn't work when clicked. I am trying to do spam fighting, and so far out of 15 profiles, not a single one has had a...

Descriptions have no effect. You can put them up for other reasons (e.g. explaining the way you do it, or if there's a version you don't do...), but keywords in there are meaningless Service themselves do have an effect, but it's not particularly strong, even for custom services. It's stronger...

This seems to agree with previous GMBapi findings.

Reminds me of that September 2025 SEMrush articles that was titled "Why your brand is your most important SEO asset in 2026"...