How to stop a Google Business Profile from showing up for specific search terms?

[NicoleWattam]

I have a medical spa business who's GBP started showing up for search terms related to dermatologists. In fact, "dermatologist [location]" is now the top search term in the search breakdown on GBP.
They are not a dermatologist, and they do not want to show up for/get inquires because of this search term.
There is no mention of dermatology on the website, however the content mostly includes skin care treatments and products that they offer (like Botox, facials, etc).
The website is not ranking organically for "dermatologist [location]", only the local pack (they are ranking second).

Their categories on GBP are "Medical spa", "health and beauty shop" and "laser hair removal service". We removed "skin care clinic" from the categories a few months ago, thinking this might be the trigger.
No other medical spas in the area are appearing for the term dermatologists, only a dermatologist (medical clinic category), skin care clinic, and other Doctors.
There are very few GBP profiles that appear, including one 458km away.

They are not running any Google Ads.
Any suggestions to get Google to stop showing them for "dermatology" would be greatly appreciated!

 

[ElizabethRule]

In my experience, it is extremely hard to get Google to stop showing a GBP for a specific keyword, especially in this case where there is no mention of the keyword on the website or GBP yet it still shows. If the website doesn't show for "dermatologist" terms that's good, but clearly Google associates the GBP with that term.

Try removing some categories/services and see if that helps. Maybe just use 1 category, "Medical spa" and see if that works.

 

[JS Girard]

I'm going to assume that there are keywords like "dermatology" on the client website.

 

[NicoleWattam]

I'm going to assume that there are keywords like "dermatology" on the client website.

They have terms like "dermaplaning", "edermastamp" and "Juvaderm". Those are microneedling and filler services. They are "physician-supervised"/ "doctor supervised clinic" but aren't dermatologists. And sell "medical skin care" products. Do you think all these words would simply be telling Google they are a dermatologist? They don't treat skin diseases/conditions like a dermatologist would.

 

[JS Girard]

I meant more specifically the world "dermatology" or "dermatological" (e.g. "dermatological science" puff language about such products).

I've noticed google mucking around medical spa categories and replacing the main cat with "dermatological clinic" sometimes recently, but I'm not clear whether there's any connection or it's a regional thing. In Quebec, we've not had Google touch categories on its own before, so it's been a big surprise regardless of what changed exactly in the algorithm applied here.

 

[NicoleWattam]

I meant more specifically the world "dermatology" or "dermatological" (e.g. "dermatological science" puff language about such products).

I've noticed google mucking around medical spa categories and replacing the main cat with "dermatological clinic" sometimes recently, but I'm not clear whether there's any connection or it's a regional thing. In Quebec, we've not had Google touch categories on its own before, so it's been a big surprise regardless of what changed exactly in the algorithm applied here.

Okay, I will keep searching for those keywords on the site, specifically if any of the products they sell have "dermatologist recommended" or anything similar in the descriptions. We did incorporate WooCommerce products earlier this year, so that is something different they have going on.

 

[JS Girard]

I do hope you find something that can be linked. Also, could it be something with with overlooked stuff? e.g. services/service descriptions, products, or even reviews? I know manual products and service descriptions are not supposed to effect ranking, but at this point it seems useful to have a look...

 

[NicoleWattam]

In my experience, it is extremely hard to get Google to stop showing a GBP for a specific keyword, especially in this case where there is no mention of the keyword on the website or GBP yet it still shows. If the website doesn't show for "dermatologist" terms that's good, but clearly Google associates the GBP with that term.

Try removing some categories/services and see if that helps. Maybe just use 1 category, "Medical spa" and see if that works.

Thanks Elizabeth. Sounds like it's worth a try for now. I'm sure it's a long process to try to get Google to unassociated, if possible at all!

 

[NicoleWattam]

I do hope you find something that can be linked. Also, could it be something with with overlooked stuff? e.g. services/service descriptions, products, or even reviews? I know manual products and service descriptions are not supposed to effect ranking, but at this point it seems useful to have a look...

Appreciate it, thank you. Time to search through everything!

 

[Invalley]

I've seen similar issues before. If there are no other Dermatology GMB listings in the specific area, this may just be a case of Google working too hard to be helpful. You know, giving users something "close enough" to avoid showing no results. It's a shame Google doesn't give webmasters the option to blacklist some keywords.

It's a good idea to track how much traffic your client is getting from the Dermatology keyword. If they truly are a bad match for the query and their metadata shows as much in the search results, the CTR should be low at least. It's cold comfort, but it should help reduce the fear of a flood of dermatology clients clogging up their sales pipeline.

You can also run an search with "site:sitename.com dermatology" to show all indexed pages on the site where the word appears. If you haven't already.

 

[NicoleWattam]

I've seen similar issues before. If there are no other Dermatology GMB listings in the specific area, this may just be a case of Google working too hard to be helpful. You know, giving users something "close enough" to avoid showing no results. It's a shame Google doesn't give webmasters the option to blacklist some keywords.

It's a good idea to track how much traffic your client is getting from the Dermatology keyword. If they truly are a bad match for the query and their metadata shows as much in the search results, the CTR should be low at least. It's cold comfort, but it should help reduce the fear of a flood of dermatology clients clogging up their sales pipeline.

You can also run an search with "site:sitename.com dermatology" to show all indexed pages on the site where the word appears. If you haven't already.

Thank you. Yes, there are very limited in the area. Google Maps is showing some from hundreds of kms away as well, and just regular Doctors.

Their homepage seems to have been indexed for "dermatology" somehow.

 

[unknowndoing]

How are they receiving the unwanted dermatology leads? If they are not able to get Google to stop ranking them locally for those keywords, it could be worth suggesting they find a dermatologist referral partner. Train intake to answer they do not provide that care at the med spa, but they work with a great doctor who does.

 

[NicoleWattam]

How are they receiving the unwanted dermatology leads? If they are not able to get Google to stop ranking them locally for those keywords, it could be worth suggesting they find a dermatologist referral partner. Train intake to answer they do not provide that care at the med spa, but they work with a great doctor who does.

I believe they've had a few email/phone inquiries. They also get concerned on the GBP insights, that dermatology has risen one of the top search terms in the search breakdown.
That referral idea is a good one too, thanks!

 

[unknowndoing]

I believe they've had a few email/phone inquiries. They also get concerned on the GBP insights, that dermatology has risen one of the top search terms in the search breakdown.
That referral idea is a good one too, thanks!

You're very welcome!

I have worked with a client that does long-term disability but avoids SSDI. It was a battle for a bit convincing/showing them that we had, in fact, removed all instances and mentions of SSDI on their site because they kept appearing for those terms. On a similar note, I was doing market research for that same client for a potential new office location. I found more than a couple of law firms in the areas I was searching in who were ranking for disability keywords that had ZERO mentions of that on their sites. I was stumped on how they were dominating the maps for terms that weren't on their knowledge graph, landing page, or site in general. Suggesting a referral partner was a solution they could live with.