To fix your Google Maps listing when the information is wrong, claim or sign in to your Google Business Profile and edit the details directly; owner edits carry the most weight and are reviewed before they go live. If you don’t control the listing, use “Suggest an edit” on Maps or request ownership. Then find out where the wrong information came from, because Google can keep pulling it back in from other sources until those are corrected too.
Wrong hours, an old phone number, a pin in the wrong spot or a listing marked “permanently closed” can quietly send customers to a competitor. Here is how to fix each common problem, and how to keep it from coming back.
First, Find Out Who Controls the Listing
Search for your business on Google Maps and open the listing. If you see an option like “Own this business?” or “Claim this business,” the listing isn’t managed by anyone yet, or not by you. Claim it and complete verification before trying anything else. Owner edits are far more reliable than public suggestions.
If the listing says someone else already manages it, such as a former employee, a previous marketing company or a past owner, you can request access through Google’s ownership request process. The current owner is notified and has a set period to respond. If they don’t, Google may give you options to proceed with verification yourself.
Once you control it, add a second owner or manager from your own team, so access doesn’t depend on one person’s login.
How to Fix Your Google Maps Listing, Problem by Problem
Wrong hours
Edit your regular hours in the Business Profile, then add special hours for holidays and one-off closures. Special hours override regular hours for those dates, which prevents the “Closed” or “Open” surprise customers complain about. Set them a few weeks ahead of major holidays.
Wrong or old phone number
Update the primary phone number in the profile. Then search for the old number online. If it still appears on directories, social profiles or your own website footer, change it there as well. Google cross-checks information across the web, and an old number repeated in many places can resurface.
Map pin in the wrong place
In the address section of your profile, you can adjust the pin to the exact spot of your entrance. This matters for businesses in large plazas, office parks or new developments where the street address geocodes to the wrong building. Customers following directions to the wrong side of a complex is a common cause of “couldn’t find them” reviews.
Wrong address or suite number
Edit the address in the profile. Expect a review period, and in some cases Google may ask you to verify again, since address changes are treated more cautiously. If you moved, update the address rather than creating a new listing, so you keep your reviews.
Listing shows “Permanently closed” or “Temporarily closed”
Anyone can suggest that a business has closed. If your listing has been marked closed in error, sign in to the profile and mark the business as open. If you don’t have access, use “Suggest an edit” and choose the option to report that the business is open, then claim the listing as soon as you can.
Wrong category or business name
Correct the primary category so it describes what you are, not everything you do. Your business name should match your real-world name exactly, as it appears on your signage and paperwork. Adding keywords or city names to the name breaks Google’s guidelines and can lead to suspension. Our guide to Business Profile categories and services covers how to choose them.
Wrong website link
Point the website field at the most relevant page. For single-location businesses that’s usually the homepage. For a business with several locations, each listing should link to its own location page.
Dealing With Duplicate Listings
Duplicates happen after a move, a name change, a phone system change or when someone creates a listing without checking for an existing one. They split your reviews and confuse customers.
- If you own both: keep the listing with the most reviews and history, and ask Google to remove the other as a duplicate.
- If you don’t own the duplicate: open it on Maps, choose “Suggest an edit,” then the option to close or remove it, and select that it’s a duplicate.
- If the duplicate is at an old address: report it as moved or no longer at that location, not just closed.
A practitioner who works out of a shared office, such as a professional at a larger firm, may legitimately have a listing alongside the firm’s. That isn’t necessarily a duplicate. Google’s guidelines describe when individual practitioner listings are allowed.
When Google Changes Your Listing Without Asking
Google can update your profile based on suggestions from the public, data from other sources and what it sees on your website. When that happens, you’ll usually see a notice in your profile that Google updated some information. Review these promptly and reject anything that’s wrong.
If the same incorrect change keeps coming back, Google is probably getting it from somewhere. Check:
- Your own website, including the footer, contact page and any structured data.
- Major directories and data aggregators, where old details often linger.
- Social profiles and old listings from a previous business name or location.
Correcting these sources is what makes a fix stick. Our article on NAP consistency for local SEO explains how to clean them up.
Why an Edit May Be Pending or Rejected
Edits aren’t always instant. Some go through a review before they appear publicly. Edits are more likely to be delayed or rejected when:
- The business name is changed to something different from your signage or legal name.
- The address changes significantly, especially to a location that doesn’t look like a real storefront or office.
- Several major fields are changed at once.
- The new information conflicts with what Google finds elsewhere online.
Make one important change at a time when you can, and make sure your website already shows the new information before you submit it. If a profile ends up suspended after edits, see our guide to getting a suspended Business Profile reinstated.
Common Mistakes
- Creating a brand-new listing instead of fixing the existing one, which leaves you with a duplicate and starts your reviews over.
- Fixing the listing but not your website, so Google keeps reading the old details.
- Letting a single employee or vendor be the only owner of the profile.
- Ignoring “Google updated your profile” notices.
- Stuffing keywords into the business name to “fix” low visibility.
A Quarterly Listing Check
Every few months, open your listing on both Google Maps and Google Search, on a phone, as a customer would. Check:
- Name, address and phone match your website exactly.
- Regular hours and upcoming holiday hours are right.
- The pin sits on your actual entrance.
- The website link and any booking link work.
- No duplicate listings appear when you search your name or phone number.
- The owners and managers list includes only current people.
For a broader setup review once the errors are fixed, our field-by-field Business Profile guide picks up where this one leaves off. If you’d like help cleaning up your listings and the website details behind them, see our local SEO services.