There have been some changes recently to the way that Google is returning local listings in both the 10-pack and Google Maps. Businesses that have consistently maintained high profile listings for competitive keywords have noticed their listings dropping from sight. New listings have been showing up containing incorrect contact information and in some cases reflecting odd categories.
If you are experiencing a drop-off in local rankings or problems with duplicate listings showing incorrect information, I recommend the following:
Search for your business by name in Google Maps. If necessary, add a local qualifier, i.e. “My Business, City”. Once you find them all, you will need to claim them and modify them to reflect accurate information. It seems to be commonly agreed upon that duplicate listings that contain the same information will merge into a single listing in Google’s system. Do not delete duplicate listings. The information in them was pulled from somewhere, and there is a possibility that they may regenerate if you delete them.
Be vigilant. This is not a case where you can “set it and forget it” – check back in on your listing every once in a while, make sure it’s alone. The Google Local Business Center allows you to add additional information to your listing, and has a new User Guide.
It seems to me that the only people that know everything about Google Local are the people at Google Local, but in searching for answers to my questions I came across some really good resources:
Understanding Google Maps & Local Yahoo Search
Local Search
