Check your Google Maps listing today.
Not tomorrow. Today.
A surprising number of businesses are marked as closed on Google without knowing it. Customers see the word “permanently closed,” ring someone else, and you never even knew there was a call to miss.
Why This Happens
During COVID, lots of businesses genuinely did shut. Google tried to help customers by marking closed shops as closed.
The system wasn’t perfect. Google would send a notice to the business to confirm. If it got no reply — because the email went to an old address or the owner never checked Google Maps — Google marked it closed anyway.
Five years later, that reflex still trips. Anyone can “suggest an edit” that says you’re closed. Google takes the tip seriously. If you don’t reply in time, the label sticks.
Your competitors can do this. Angry ex-customers can do this. Random members of the public can do this.
Anyone can suggest your business is closed. Google often believes them. If you’re not watching the listing, you’re losing calls.
The Quick Check
Takes thirty seconds.
- Open Google on your phone.
- Search your business name.
- Look at the Maps card on the right side or the top.
Does it say your hours clearly? Does it show a phone number? Does it say anything in red or grey under the name? Like “permanently closed” or “temporarily closed”?
If it’s all clean, good. Now keep going.
Other Quiet Ways Your Listing Gets Broken
“Closed” is the dramatic version. There are quieter failures that cost just as many calls.
- Wrong phone number. Someone suggested an edit. Google took it. Now your calls go somewhere else.
- Wrong address. Same problem. A customer drives twenty minutes the wrong way and leaves a one-star review.
- Wrong hours. Listed as closed Sundays when you’re open. Weekend calls lost.
- Business name changed. “Jack’s Plumbing” becomes “Jacks Plumbing and More.” Looks like spam. Google trusts it less.
- New owner, old photos. Photos from the previous tenant. Customer shows up expecting one thing, gets another.
Every one of these is fixable. But only if you check.
Claim The Listing First
If you’ve never claimed your Google Business Profile, nothing else matters. Claim it now.
- Go to business.google.com.
- Sign in with a Google account (personal or business — your choice).
- Search for your business.
- Click “claim this listing” or “own this business.”
- Follow Google’s verification steps. Usually a postcard to your address with a code. Sometimes a phone call.
Once you’re verified, you’ll get email notifications when anyone suggests an edit. You can approve or reject each one. No more silent hijacks.
What To Fix Once You’re In
Log in. Click through every section. Fix every wrong thing.
Turn On The Alerts
Inside Google Business Profile, turn on email notifications. Every alert.
When someone suggests an edit, you get an email. When Google wants to confirm your hours, you get an email. When a review comes in, you get an email.
Most of the bad edits get caught by owners who actually read those emails. Let them go to spam and you’re flying blind.
The Google Business app on your phone is handy too. Push notifications. You can reply to messages and reviews from your ute.
Turn the alerts on. Five minutes of setup saves a year of mystery-dead-phone calls.
Check Every Six Months
A listing is not a set-and-forget. Google’s rules change. Competitors get creative. Customers suggest edits.
Calendar reminder. Twice a year. Open the listing. Scroll every section. Fix anything that drifted.
Takes ten minutes. Might save you dozens of missed calls.
While You’re In There, Fix The Rest
If you’re going to be logged in anyway, don’t just check for “closed.” Do the full job.
- Fill in any empty service fields. See why your Google Maps content stays invisible.
- List every suburb you serve. See list your service areas.
- Upload a few fresh photos. Real ones, from real jobs.
- Write a quick Google Business post while you’re there. See how to do Google Business posts.
What To Do If You Can’t Claim It
Sometimes the listing is claimed by someone else. A former employee. An old web developer. A relative who set it up years ago.
Google has a process for this. Click “request access” from the listing. Google emails the current owner. They have seven days to respond. If they don’t, you get the listing.
If you know who has it, ask them direct. If they’re long gone, go through the request-access route.
Whatever you do, don’t create a duplicate listing. That makes a mess Google has to untangle and your rankings suffer while it does.
The Quiet Truth
Most Google Maps listings are quietly broken. Owners don’t notice because they don’t search for themselves.
Spend ten minutes this week. Check yours. Fix what’s drifted. Turn on the alerts. Claim the thing if you haven’t.
That’s probably the highest-return ten minutes you’ll spend on marketing all year.
If you’d like us to audit your listing properly and tell you what’s wrong, have a look at our Local SEO service. Or read the Fridges R Us case study for what a fixed listing can actually do.
Go check yours now. Seriously. Before you forget.
