In 60 Seconds
- •A sudden drop is rarely an accident. It is usually a Filter or a Suspension.
- •Step 1: Check your 'Performance' tab. Did Impressions drop, or just calls? Impressions drop = Ranking issue. Calls drop = Conversion issue.
- •The 'Proximity Filter': Google may have shrunk your radius because a new competitor opened closer to the searcher.
- •The 'Category Dilution': Did you add a new category recently? Sometimes adding 'Handyman' kills your ranking for 'Plumber'.
- •Check for 'Suggest an Edit' attacks. Competitors may have marked you as 'Permanently Closed' or changed your hours.
One day your phone is ringing. The next day, silence.
For a local service business, this is a heart attack event. You assume the market has dried up. You assume your ads are broken.
90% of the time, the problem is your Google Business Profile (GBP).
Google is volatile. Updates happen daily. Competitors play dirty. This guide is your emergency room protocol to stabilize the patient and get the phone ringing again.
Phase 1: The Triage (Is it me or the market?)
Before you change anything, look at the data.
1. Check GBP Insights (Performance)
Go to potential profile -> Performance.
- Scenario A: Impressions are stable, Calls dropped.
- Diagnosis: Your visibility is fine, but people hate what they see. Did you get a 1-star review? Did someone change your phone number? Did your photos disappear?
- Scenario B: Impressions tanked.
- Diagnosis: You have been de-ranked. Google no longer thinks you are relevant or prominent.
2. The "Incognito" Check
Search for your main keyword ("Roofing [City]") in an Incognito window.
- Are you still in the Map Pack (Top 3)?
- If you dropped to #4 or #5, your call volume can drop by 70% instantly. The cliff is steep.
Phase 2: Common Suspects
If you lost rankings, check these three killers.
1. The Proximity Filter (The "Shrink ray")
Google hates "service area" spam. If a new competitor verified an address closer to the city center than you, Google might interpret them as "more relevant" for geo-modified searches.
- Fix: You cannot move your office. You MUST increase your Review Velocity and local content signals to overpower the proximity bias.
2. Category Confusion
Did you recently add "General Contractor" to your profile because you wanted more work?
- The Trap: Google now sees you as a generalist. It lowers your rank for specific terms like "Plumber."
- Fix: Remove secondary categories that are not your core revenue drivers. Be a specialist.
3. The "Suggest an Edit" Attack
Competitors can suggest edits to your profile.
- They might mark you "Temporarily Closed."
- They might change your hours to "Closed on Sundays."
- Fix: Log in. accepting or rejecting pending edits immediately.
Phase 3: The "Ghost" Suspension
Sometimes you are not fully suspended (removed), but "soft suspended" (filtered).
- Name Spam: Did you add keywords to your business name? (e.g., "Bob's Plumbing & Heating & AC"). Google catches this eventually and suppresses you. Change it back to your legal DBA.
- Address Issues: Are you using a UPS Store or Virtual Office? Google is aggressively purging these. You need a real address or to hide your address as a Service Area Business.
Verification Checklist
- NAP Audit: Is your Name, Address, Phone exactly the same on GBP, Website, and Bing?
- Hours Check: Google your business name. Does it say "Open"?
- Review Scan: Sort reviews by "Newest". Address any recent negatives.
Common Mistakes
[!WARNING] Panic Editing Do not change your Name, Address, Phone, and Website all at once. This triggers a fraud alert and a hard suspension. Make one change at a time and wait 3 days.
- Ignoring the Website: Your GBP ranking depends on your website. If your site crashed or has a slow server response, your GBP sinks.
- Stopping Posts: Activity signals life. Post a photo or update to show the algorithm you are active.
FAQ
Q: How long does it take to recover? A: If it was a filter, 2-3 weeks of clean listings and reviews. If it was a suspension, reinstatement takes 3-5 days.
Q: Should I run LSA ads while I wait? A: YES. Local Services Ads appear above the map. Pay the premium to keep your crews busy while you fix the SEO.
Sources and References
- Google Business Profile Help: Understand your performance data - Google Support
- Sterling Sky: The Proximity Filter Study - How distance impacts ranking.
Changelog
- 2024-04-01: Initial publication.
Read Next in This Hub:
- Google Business Profile Suspended - The nuclear option.
- Reviews and Local Rankings - The fuel for recovery.
Related System:
- Local Visibility Systems - We watch this daily so you don't have to.