Google Business Profile updates improve local search visibility

Google Maps rankings rely on three signals – relevance, distance and prominence – and favour businesses with a complete, verified Google Business Profile, accurate category selection, quality website, genuine reviews and strong local citations. Optimising these factors helps small firms appear higher in the Local Pack for relevant queries.

When a business relocates across state, provincial or national borders, Google offers a “Moved” feature. The owner creates a new profile at the new address, keeps the name and website identical, records profile IDs and review counts, then contacts Google support to mark the original profile as moved. This process helps retain search visibility in the new location, avoiding the drop that can occur when simply updating the address on the existing profile.