• majorAlexa

        See all notifications

        Skip to content
        Moz logo Menu open Menu close
        • Products
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Pro Home
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Home
          • STAT
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Home
          • Compare SEO Products
          • Moz Data
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis
          • Keyword Explorer
          • Link Explorer
          • Competitive Research
          • MozBar
          • More Free SEO Tools
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO
          • SEO Learning Center
          • Moz Academy
          • MozCon
          • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers
          • Agency Solutions
          • Enterprise Solutions
          • Small Business Solutions
          • The Moz Story
          • New Releases
        • Log in
        • Log out
        • Products
          • Moz Pro

            Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

          • Moz Local

            Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

          • STAT

            SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

          • Moz API

            Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

          • Compare SEO Products

            See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

          • Moz Data

            Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

          Let your business shine with Listings AI
          Moz Local

          Let your business shine with Listings AI

          Learn more
        • Free SEO Tools
          • Domain Analysis

            Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

          • Keyword Explorer

            Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

          • Link Explorer

            Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

          • Competitive Research

            Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

          • MozBar

            See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

          • More Free SEO Tools

            Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
          Moz Pro

          NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

          Learn more
        • Learn SEO
          • Beginner's Guide to SEO

            The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

          • SEO Learning Center

            Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

          • On-Demand Webinars

            Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

          • How-To Guides

            Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

          • Moz Academy

            Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

          • MozCon

            Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
          Moz API

          Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

          Find your plan
        • Blog
        • Why Moz
          • Digital Marketers

            Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

          • Small Business Solutions

            Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

          • Agency Solutions

            Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

          • Enterprise Solutions

            Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

          • The Moz Story

            Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

          • New Releases

            Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

          Surface actionable competitive intel
          New Feature

          Surface actionable competitive intel

          Learn More
        • Log in
          • Moz Pro
          • Moz Local
          • Moz Local Dashboard
          • Moz API
          • Moz API Dashboard
          • Moz Academy
        • Avatar
          • Moz Home
          • Notifications
          • Account & Billing
          • Manage Users
          • Community Profile
          • My Q&A
          • My Videos
          • Log Out

        The Moz Q&A Forum

        • Forum
        • Questions
        • My Q&A
        • Users
        • Ask the Community

        Welcome to the Q&A Forum

        Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

        1. Home
        2. SEO Tactics
        3. Local SEO
        4. Local Listings
        5. Former tenant Google Map listing still displays

        Moz Q&A is closed.

        After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

        Former tenant Google Map listing still displays

        Local Listings
        4
        12
        2630
        Loading More Posts
        • Watching

          Notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread.

        • Not Watching

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Show question in unread if category is not ignored.

        • Ignoring

          Do not notify me of new replies.
          Do not show question in unread.

        • Oldest to Newest
        • Newest to Oldest
        • Most Votes
        Reply
        • Reply as question
        Locked
        This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
        • KevnJr
          KevnJr last edited by

          Our tenant closed their business and we now occupy the address, their Google map still displays, albeit "Permanently Closed" along with ours at the same address. I can't seem to get it removed, it's been 2 years. Help šŸ™‚

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
          • MiriamEllis
            MiriamEllis Subject Expert @KevnJr last edited by

            Hi Kevin,

            Very sound questions. Google's way of dealing with this is the permanently closed label. There are businesses all around me that shuttered years ago and are still searchable, but bear this label. So, at least for the present, this is what they feel is an adequate solution to the fact that businesses close. Google does make some efforts to hide permanently closed listings, but they are still discoverable if a user searches for the name + the old location.

            What can be a problem is when businesses don't actually close, but simply move from an old location to a new one. When they do this, there are steps they should take to avoid having their old location labeled as "closed" because some studies have indicated that this can harm their future rankings at the new location if they continue to use the same phone number as was used at the old location, as well as signalling to customers that the company may have gone out of business.

            If you own retail properties with tenants who move rather than closing, a nice thing to do for them would be to teach them how handle GMB so that they don't end up with that "permanently closed" listing. I outline how to do this in the "permanently closed" section of this blog post:Ā https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/blog/delete-gmb-listing

            Might be something to bookmark for future reference!

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Everett
              Everett @KevnJr last edited by

              Google is a corporation whose sole purpose in the universe is to make money. I would never think of anyone as a "hater" for legitimate criticisms of an entity that has all the rights of a human being, but none of the responsibilities or risks of one.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
              • KevnJr
                KevnJr @Everett last edited by

                Hi Everett,

                Yes, I keep them updated every month with new data & imagery. Agreed, it's a massive job to "clean up the internet" one that I'm sure is thankless and never ending.

                I hope this post/question doesn't portray me as a hater, I love Google, search changed my life for the better. Good people like yourself, Miriam and others are my inspiration to keep working hard to do my part in keeping our internet as clean as possible.

                TY for the reply šŸ™‚

                KJr

                Everett 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                • Everett
                  Everett last edited by

                  Kevin,

                  Have you tried updating the local listing aggregators? Tools that help with that are Moz Local, Bright Local and Whitespark. Yes, this is a problem with Google local and it should be their responsibility to keep their information updated, but I'm sure you can imagine what a massive effort that is for every location of every business in nearly the entire world. The easier you can make it for them the better.

                  KevnJr 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • KevnJr
                    KevnJr @MiriamEllis last edited by

                    True, but isn't it Googles intent to provide accurate data? These types of listings are inaccurate information. Imagine a location had much tenant turnover: Video Rental, Gaming shop, Vape store, and Florist over a 3 year tenure, that's confusing to see all those listings on Google.

                    We have a building in our town used as a restaurant, it has had over a dozen different tenants in the past decade.

                    I agree, it has little to no impact on our business and i greatly appreciate your reply.

                    KJr

                    MiriamEllis 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • Christy-Correll
                      Christy-Correll Staff last edited by

                      Hi Kevin,

                      I'm just popping in to make sure you saw Miriam's recent response to your question in this thread. Let us know, thanks!

                      Christy šŸ˜„

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • MiriamEllis
                        MiriamEllis Subject Expert @KevnJr last edited by

                        Hi Kevin,

                        Thanks for coming back to this thread. The permanently closed listing for an unrelated business at your address should not affect you in any way. If it were your business that was marked permanently closed, that would be a problem for you. But as it's the former tenant's business marked that way, it's only a problem for them. I would not worry about this.

                        KevnJr 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • KevnJr
                          KevnJr @MiriamEllis last edited by

                          Yes, several times actually, leaving a trail of "Permanently Closed" listings

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                          • KevnJr
                            KevnJr @Everett last edited by

                            Hi Everett,

                            Yes on all accounts, I am the in-house marketing manager for Heritage Custom Signs. All suggestions are appreciated

                            MiriamEllis 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • Everett
                              Everett last edited by

                              Hello Kevin,

                              I assume you've already tried the "suggest an edit" feature on the maps?
                              If not, that would be a good place to start.

                              Do you have a Google MyBusiness listing?
                              If not, you should set one up. This may help.

                              Do you have your address clearly marked on your website?
                              The more you associate your business with that exact address, as typed, the more you help Google figure this mess out.

                              Do you have your address marked-up using Schema or JSON-LD on your website?
                              See above.

                              Are you the custom signs and displays company or another company?

                              KevnJr 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • MiriamEllis
                                MiriamEllis Subject Expert last edited by

                                Hi Kevin,

                                Did this former tenant relocate elsewhere?

                                KevnJr 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • 1 / 1
                                • First post
                                  Last post

                                Browse Questions

                                Explore more categories

                                • Moz Tools

                                  Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

                                • SEO Tactics

                                  Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

                                • Community

                                  Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

                                • Digital Marketing

                                  Chat about tactics outside of SEO

                                • Research & Trends

                                  Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

                                • Support

                                  Connect on product support and feature requests.

                                • See all categories

                                Related Questions

                                • Ben-R

                                  Local Landing Page Optimization and Multiple GMB Listings

                                  Hello, We’re building out a site for our business that has close to 100 office locations in different cities. Many of these are ā€˜partner brands’ that we have acquired under our brand. Similar to a franchise model. We want to be able to help users find offices near their location. Each office will have it’s own landing page with a physical address and contact information. We know we’ll have to build out unique copy and markup customized to the office/location. We’ve already read through https://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/blog/overcoming-your-fear-of-local-landing-pages as well. We’re also considering ā€˜silos’ to build out pages for each location. To preserve authority and avoid cannibalization; our thought was having each location as sub-folders off of our domain (i.e. domain.com/locations/Partner#1/). The other option would be using a sub-domain (i.e. Partner.Domain.com/) which we noticed competitors doing and treating each sub-domain as their own independent site. Is all of the above the correct strategy? Any further suggestions? Should we fill out a separate GMB for each office and should they all use the same brand name? (in other words ā€œBrandAā€ vs. ā€œBrandAā€ - Brooklyn Office). In addition to GMB; would each location need local listings created (also all under the same name)? Any help or insight would be very much appreciated. Looking forward to hearing from all of you! Thank you in advance. Best,

                                  Local Listings | | Ben-R
                                  0
                                • agrier

                                  Google My Business: Company listing is showing in search instead of division address - similar names/same city

                                  Hi! I have a client whose company name is very similar to one if their company divisions. This division has multiple locations but its main location is in the same city as the parent company. The problem is that when you search for the division, the parent company shows up. The parent company has a physical address, but most users searching need to be going to the division address which takes customers. They are having problems with customers coming to the parent company address instead. I have made the Google My Business parent company page to show service areas instead of their business address. Yet, their listing still comes up first when searching for the division location. This is because of part of the parent company name is in the division name. My client wants users to be able to find the division more so than the parent company. Anyone had this issue before? Any tips would be great!

                                  Local Listings | | agrier
                                  0
                                • David-Kley

                                  Google Places - Remove Completely vs. Permanently Closed?

                                  This is a bit confusing to explain so bear with me please. We have a client that used to have an old law practice with a partner. The site and backlinks were very large and it had a lot of domain authority. It also had a very large citationĀ profile and history. The two lawyers have since split, but there remains multiple Google Places listings out there for the old partnership. We have fixed the one showing the old business practice name, but not the one that he setup for his personal name. One of the biggest hassles is that the old location he setupĀ has his attorneyĀ name in the actual listing. The issue is that we cannot close the old listing (we tried this), as it comes up permanently closed when you Google his name. If you search for his new Law Firm, the correct business listing that we have set up will show. The new listing also includes his name and has over 50 five star reviews. We hoped that the largeĀ amount of legitimate reviews would get rid of or at least suppress the old listing, but it is not happening. So I am a bit confused as to what to do. If we close the old listing Google shows the red "permanently closed" listing when you Google his name. We cannot update the old listing information to show his new address as then it will compete with the new listing that we setup that shows all the positive reviews. The old listing was not created by us, and the new one was. The new one shows when you search for his Law Firm name in Google, but not for his personalĀ name i.e "NAME HERE ATTORNEY" or "HIS NAME and LOCATION" Interested to hear your thoughts. The only way I can think to fix this is to contact Google directly and see if there is a way to permanentlyĀ delete the listing from Google maps, but I am not aware that this is possible.

                                  Local Listings | | David-Kley
                                  0
                                • David-Kley

                                  Google Local Storefront or Google Service Area?

                                  We have been seeing some strange things happen in Google local after the most recent update. We used to show up in the maps all the timeĀ and have made no major edits or changes to the profile. Now when we search for our services, we show up high in the organic results, and not at all in maps (local listings). We have our profile setup as a service areaĀ since we do meet with people and provide services at their location, but also have checked the option that we also serve people at our address. I am wondering if the recent update favors actual storefronts when people are searching for services. Any ideas? Technically all the actual work is provided at our location, and the service we provide at the service area locations is based upon consultations. If we switched it to an actual storefront listing could that possibly help? Our profile is fairly strong, and has reviews, long history of posts, etc. What gives Google?

                                  Local Listings | | David-Kley
                                  1
                                • KempRugeLawGroup

                                  Removing Unverified Listing From Google

                                  We have an old unverified listing that has our information on it, but we can't get it off google. I told them months ago it was closed, and it is marked as closed in Google...but it still shows up. Moz Local is telling me this is an inconsistency that hurts our local rankings. I went to delete the page from our Google Business/Place, but if I did that, the warning said that I would just not have access to the page, and that the listing would still show up on google. How do I permanently get rid of those thing, so it's not longer an inconsistent listing? Ruben

                                  Local Listings | | KempRugeLawGroup
                                  0
                                • JohnWeb12

                                  Does Google Penalize for Hiding Address?

                                  I have a situation where a client is working out of their home. I know that Google does not like when you list a business with a home address so we have hidden the address on Google, but are wondering if Google penalizes businesses for hiding it? When listing them to other directories we do our best to find ones that we can hide the first line of the address. But does that matter? Should we just be listing to our normal directories with the address visible? Does a mix of hidden addresses and visible ones hurt your rankings? Thanks in advance for your help!

                                  Local Listings | | JohnWeb12
                                  0
                                • RedNovaLabs91

                                  Google Maps redirect notice on track-able URL's (how do I track maps visits in analytics?)

                                  We've been using trackable URL's to track Google My Business visits in analytics for years.
                                  Example: ?utm_source=GoogleLocal&utm_medium=example&utm_campaign=example In the past month I've noticed Google showing a redirect notice on any listing with a trackable URL. Ā It happened for a day or so a few weeks ago - and then it's been a more permanent situation since this past week. Redirect Notice
                                  The previous page is sending you to: Ā www.example.com
                                  If you do not want to visit that page, you canĀ return to the previous page.
                                  I'm fine with removing the trackable URL's - however - I'm not sure how to track maps visits via analytics without using them. Ā I can't find any updated information on options. Ā The last post on moz was in 2011 (http://a-moz.groupbuyseo.org/blog/tracking-traffic-from-google-places-in-google-analytics). Ā The alternate tactics in that post no longer work. So my question is:
                                  - How do I track Google Maps (My Business) visits through analytics without using tracking URLs?

                                  Local Listings | | RedNovaLabs91
                                  1
                                • studio35design

                                  Competitor outranking me on google with their yelp, facebook and youtube pages

                                  I'm working to rank for a local search term (my city wedding photographers). I'm frustrated that my competitor is outranking me not with their website (they are no. #9 and I'm #6) but with their Yelp account (#1) Facebook Account (#5) and Youtube account (#7 - not outranking me, but right below me). I'm going to continue working on my SEO to hopefully get higher up, but even then, they are basically dominating page 1 with their links. It gets worse on page 2. They are showing up 5 times for youtube/vimeo videos, and 1 time with a spammy landing page with no images, full of keyword anchored links to their main site. What gives? Since when are social media profiles outranking local sites on google organic searches? Could it be that our keyword is just so low competition that google has allowed all this stuff to rank so highly?

                                  Local Listings | | studio35design
                                  0

                                Get started with Moz Pro!

                                Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

                                Start my free trial
                                Products
                                • Moz Pro
                                • Moz Local
                                • Moz API
                                • Moz Data
                                • STAT
                                • Product Updates
                                Moz Solutions
                                • SMB Solutions
                                • Agency Solutions
                                • Enterprise Solutions
                                • Digital Marketers
                                Free SEO Tools
                                • Domain Authority Checker
                                • Link Explorer
                                • Keyword Explorer
                                • Competitive Research
                                • Brand Authority Checker
                                • Local Citation Checker
                                • MozBar Extension
                                • MozCast
                                Resources
                                • Blog
                                • SEO Learning Center
                                • Help Hub
                                • Beginner's Guide to SEO
                                • How-to Guides
                                • Moz Academy
                                • API Docs
                                About Moz
                                • About
                                • Team
                                • Careers
                                • Contact
                                Why Moz
                                • Case Studies
                                • Testimonials
                                Get Involved
                                • Become an Affiliate
                                • MozCon
                                • Webinars
                                • Practical Marketer Series
                                • MozPod
                                Connect with us

                                Contact the Help team

                                Join our newsletter
                                Moz logo
                                Ā© 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
                                • Accessibility
                                • Terms of Use
                                • Privacy

                                Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.