There has been this ongoing bug with Google Maps / Google My Business where for some service area businesses they end up being placed in the middle of the United State of America, in Independence, Kansas. I am not sure why and I don't fully understand it, it must be one of those mysterious phenomenons.
Jason Brown recently dug into this issue after first bringing it up last September:
The top result is a pet sitter in Atlanta. Oops. pic.twitter.com/9LK0h9COyo
— Jason Brown Dumpster Fire (@keyserholiday) September 10, 2020
Jason explained that this is "impacting Service Area Businesses (SABs)" businesses that do not list their actual address but an area they perform their services in (more on SABs here). Jason said "the problem is Google is nulling the address in the backend. When setting up a SAB, you clear your address in the info tab. The address, while not shown, can be seen by Google." Jason said Google is aware of the issue but has not yet resolved it yet. He said "since the listing has no address, Google is placing the listing in Independence, Kansas," the middle of the United States of America.
Here is how you fix it said Jason, "The process to fix this issue is to contact GMB Support for your address to be set in the backend. It appears that not all of GMB support has gotten this memo. I spoke with a business owner today that received a month of runaround from support. One operator claimed that the issue might be a result of the website URL. Another agent tried to advise the business to adjust the service area. They also presented the owner with links on how to get reviews and about adding images. The business owner explicitly told the team that his listing was showing up in Kansas."
Nope, still broken. Here is a pet sitter in Alexandria, VA that is listed in Independence, KS. pic.twitter.com/SJN3wXf8yK
— Jason Brown Dumpster Fire (@keyserholiday) April 2, 2021
I understand the issue, just weird this would be happening.
Forum discussion at Twitter.
Update:
PSA: GMB is well aware of the Kansas Bug. Support should be able to assist you with this now effectively. The GMB team is prioritizing this.
— Ben Fisher (@TheSocialDude) April 5, 2021
If you have issues feel free to head to the GMB community or PM me with a case ID and your dashboard URL.#localseo pic.twitter.com/8xINsKohYb
