Why your GMB listing might be filtered out of Google Maps

• I have a strange issue with a GMB listing for one of my client's offices.

  Their website is No. 1 for (biz-type city in the UK) and their GMB listing is also shown in the SERPS. However, among 14 similar businesses, my client isn't listed at all on Google Maps.

  It does, however, have a pin on the map, as can be seen by looking at the SERPS data and then clicking the map.

  So I'm wondering, how is it possible that my client's listing has such prominent placement in the SERPs yet doesn't appear as a listing on Google Maps?

Answer:

It appears that your client's listing is being filtered out of Maps by Google's proximity filter.

If I search for (your biz-type) service (at the address you mention) I see there is another (same biz type) service using that same building's address.

Unfortunately, even though the suite numbers are different, that has no impact because Google only looks at the street address and ignores the suite numbers.

The problem is, if there are two or more businesses at the same address using the same GMB category, Google will nearly always filter out the less authoritative / confident location listing.

So, although they apparently think your client is good enough to rank #1 organically, they must not have the same confidence in regards to their physical location because there's already a (your biz-type) service at (your building's address) location which they apparently trust more.

Bear in mind that, if the competitor has been at that location for a longer period of time, that could be the reason. And, if one location is virtual and the other is a staffed and rented office, then the virtual location could be reported to Google and then possibly removed as spam. If they are both virtual, then they could both be removed.

In any case, this underscores the importance of choosing a location carefully to avoid being too close to competitors assuming, of course, that being found on Google Maps is important to your overall marketing strategy...