Advice Needed - GMB Listing Visibility Issues

[Javed Jat]

Hello Members,

I have a search visibility issue with one of our business listing. We are a brick and mortar store.

The issue here is as below:

• When I search for "brand name + city name" query standing within the store itself, the GMB listing doesn't appear within the local pack.
• It's been more than 3 months of store launch. If I did consider the proximity factor coming in play then I should be able to see it within the local pack. But it doesn't appear within the local pack
• When I modify the search a bit to "brand name + street name" it appears within the local pack.
• Things to mark is we have a total of 4 stores within the same city, are they overriding it based on authority?

I did want to check if there is any advice that our fellow members have to offer.

Appreciate the time, Thanks in Advance

Javed Jat

 

[Eoghan_Aircam]

Welcome to the world of Local SEO. There are over 200 signals that can impact your ranking. Proximity is a factor

Focus on making sure you fill out your GMB profile as much as possible and actively manage it with reviews, posts and photos being engaged with regularly and that there's no flags against your listing (e.g. Google has suspended it, claims it's a duplicate or thinks the data you have shared is wrong and has suggested otherwise).

General guidance from Google re: ranking is HERE.

 

[Phil Rozek]

1. What is the "brand name"? If it's too broad or vague, or sounds too much like another business's name, Google may not recognize your query as a brand-name search.

2. Do the other 3 stores show up in the local map when you search from store #4?

 

[Javed Jat]

1. What is the "brand name"? If it's too broad or vague, or sounds too much like another business's name, Google may not recognize your query as a brand-name search.

2. Do the other 3 stores show up in the local map when you search from store #4?

Hey @Phil Rozek

Thanks for chiming in.

1. The brand name isn't too broad or vague. It's a registered unique business name.

2. Yes the other 3 stores show up in local pack when I search "brand + city" query physically within from the 4th store. I was expecting to see the 4th store considering the proximity signal plays in.

Any insights will be helpful.

Appreciate your time.

Thanks

 

[Phil Rozek]

Hey @Javed Jat,

1: That doesn't tell me much. A name can be unique and registered and still very hard for Google to recognize as a brand name.

2: That's a good sign. If the location has been around for a while (sounds like 3 months), and you have done at least some basic citation work for it, then it's probably an issue of Google's personalizing the search results you see. I'd search for the location in Anonymous Ad Preview Tool

 

[Javed Jat]

Hey @Phil Rozek

Thanks for additional insights. I will have a look at the Ad preview tool.

Appreciate
Javed

 

[jimmydoubleu]

This has been an issue with our restaurants not being found locally, but ours was "broken" when listings merged and were separated. Cross pollination of listing ranked a closer restaurant higher and we can only be found via name and address, but no one searches that way. Signed into MOZ local to see if that will help (though we're always updating our listing). And it seems like one step forward, two steps back when working with Google directly. I'd almost welcome the paid listing if it allowed more control. Best of luck to you!

 

[Javed Jat]

Hey @jimmydoubleu

Thanks for chiming in with your thoughts.

Yes, I believe the same. The location authority of our nearby stores overriding the GMB listing we did like to rank, which is just newly opened.

Javed