I Think Your Google Business Profile Is Set Up Wrong

I've had a few conversations recently that have genuinely shocked me.

I've been speaking to people who would absolutely be considered experts in Google Business Profiles and Local SEO. People who have been doing this for years. People who manage profiles, teach business owners and agencies, speak about this stuff publicly and are trusted to know what they're doing.

Then I've looked at what they're actually doing.

And some of it is glaringly wrong.

I'm not talking about tiny technicalities buried deep inside Google's guidelines. I'm talking about things that could leave a perfectly legitimate business operating with a Google Business Profile that doesn't comply with Google's rules.

What concerns me even more is that some of this advice is being taught to other people.

Students are learning it.

Business owners are implementing it.

Agencies are implementing it for their clients.

And because the profiles are live and performing, everyone assumes everything must be fine.

That's a dangerous assumption.

A Google Business Profile can be completely genuine, have hundreds of legitimate reviews, generate calls every day and perform brilliantly in Google Maps while still breaking Google's guidelines.

The fact that Google hasn't done anything about it doesn't mean it's okay.

It just means Google hasn't done anything about it yet.

And I think that word matters more now than it ever has before.

Google has spent the last few years cleaning up Google Maps at an extraordinary scale. In 2024, Google says it blocked or removed more than 12 million fake Business Profiles. In 2025, that increased to more than 13 million, alongside 79 million inaccurate or unverified edits that Google prevented from appearing on Maps.

But there's another change happening that I think makes this considerably more serious.

AI.

Google is already using Gemini to help identify suspicious Business Profile changes and patterns. Its ability to understand businesses, locations, entities and the relationships between them is becoming considerably more sophisticated.

Think about where that leads.

Google has spent years getting better at finding businesses that aren't real.

What happens when it gets better at finding real businesses that aren't following the rules?

That's the bit I'd be worried about.

A business doesn't have to be fake to have a problem.

The business can be real.

The customers can be real.

The reviews can be real.

And the Google Business Profile can still be wrong.

Google has already shown that it can focus additional scrutiny on particular industries when it identifies widespread problems. As its systems become better at spotting inconsistencies automatically, the scale at which it can identify these problems changes dramatically.

And if Google ever turns its attention towards genuine businesses that aren't complying with its Business Profile guidelines, I think a lot of people could be in for a nasty surprise.

I'm not talking about losing a couple of positions on Google Maps.

Google's guidelines allow it to suspend or disable Business Profiles that don't comply with its rules. Businesses can also be required to verify themselves and provide evidence about their operation.

Imagine managing a client's Google Business Profile for years and suddenly having to explain why it's disappeared.

Then imagine discovering that the problem was something you should have spotted the day you took over the account.

That's the bit agencies should be thinking about.

Because we've always done it this way won't help.

Everyone else does it won't help.

And Google has never had a problem with it before won't help either.

A profile being live doesn't prove it's compliant.

A profile performing well doesn't prove it's compliant.

And Google not having caught something yet certainly doesn't prove it's compliant.

That's why these conversations have bothered me so much.

If people who have spent years specialising in Google Business Profiles can get some of this stuff glaringly wrong, how confident are you that you haven't?

And if they're teaching it to other agencies and business owners, how far has some of this bad information already spread?

That's exactly why I wrote Google Business Profile Management for Agencies.

I wanted to go back to the source, strip away the myths, the things people have repeated for years and the advice that's simply wrong, and map out what agencies actually need to understand when managing Google Business Profiles.

Because the more intelligent Google's systems become, the less comfortable I'd be relying on something simply because it's always worked before.

The book is released on 30 September 2026.

If you want to see what's inside or find out more about the book, go here:

https://mikemartin.uk/books/google-business-profile-management-for-agencies

Or go to Amazon and search:

Google Business Profile Management for Agencies

You can pre-order your copy now.