Does Changing GBP Name Disrupt What Google "Sees" as Profile Age?

[coppaz]

Hey everyone,

I've heard that Google doesn’t officially count “profile age” as a ranking factor, so then technically, changing your business name on a GBP wouldn't reset the creation date.

But here’s what I’m seeing (and suspect is true):

Every time I change a business name, even on an established profile, I notice a dip or stagnation in rankings. It feels like Google’s algorithm treats the change as a red flag or trust reset, even if everything else stays the same (address, categories, reviews, etc.).

And just to clarify:
I’m not talking about changes where keywords are added or removed from the business name. I understand that the business name itself is a strong ranking factor. But what I’m seeing is ranking loss for keyword phrases that remain unchanged in the name. So this doesn’t feel like a keyword relevance issue, it feels more like Google is reevaluating the trust or stability of the listing as a whole.

So while it may not reset the literal “age” of the profile, I’m wondering if changing the name disrupts what Google perceives as stability or credibility over time.

In other words:
Could business name changes, even when the core keywords are preserved, effectively weaken the authority Google assigns to the listing?

Would love to hear if others have seen this or if this theory has legs. Is this just correlation on my end, or have others noticed a real impact?

 

[willy_evans]

Have other listings been updated at the same time? If not (or maybe even if they have but Google hasn't had time to reference them yet), my guess would be that the drop/stagnation is caused by NAP inconsistencies

 

[coppaz]

NAP isn't and hasn't been a ranking factor in years.

 

[JS Girard]

NAP isn't and hasn't been a ranking factor in years.

Fully rebrand a very successful business with a significant digital footprint without paying attention to minimal NAP consistency and see how well that works for you. That said, I agree with you that minor name edits are usually not a huge concern on that front. I still don't like them because I've occasionally seen Google use the difference to create dupes, but that's not a NAP-as-ranking-factors issue.

I think Google treating name changes as just suspicious enough to affect ranking slightly is a better working hypothesis than name changes outright altering he profile age factor of a GBP. I'm open to have my mind changed should anyone have clear evidence, though.