Managing a Google Business Profile (GBP) that is suddenly not driving the leads or traffic it once did can be stressful. A loss of ranking in Google Maps can feel mysterious, but visibility drops usually have identifiable triggers. With the right sequence of analysis and fixes, you can recover.
Step 1: Confirm and Quantify the Ranking Drop
Review your Google Maps performance metrics in Google Business Profile Insights
You can obviously identify a ranking drop by comparing ranking grids over time, but the first true sign of a ranking drop that’s causing a real-world issue is a decrease in calls coming from the business profile. You’ll need to review your call data to see if calls coming from the business profile are down month-over-month AND year-over-year (important for seasonality). If you do not have dedicated call tracking for your business listing (which you ABSOLUTELY should), you can use the call data in the Google Business Profile Insights tab as a directional dataset. Insights only show calls made from mobile devices and are based on just tapping on the button, versus a placed call, so you are not seeing “true” call data if you rely on Insights only.
However, if you must rely on Insights, also check if search impressions and clicks are down, and direction requests (if those matter to your business). To see year-over-year data, you need to exclude the current month from the date range.
Check Google Analytics and Google Search Console
Google Analytics will have better click data than GBP insights, so make sure to review your GA4 data. However, to segment only GBP traffic out in GA4, you’ll need to already be using UTM codes on your GBP links. If you notice clicks to the website are down from GBP, this is another sign that rankings may have dropped.
Pro tip: Filter for GBP users only with a filter that contains your specific UTMs (for example: “first user campaign” contains “gbpwebsite”, or however you have the UTM parameter for campaign set up).
Then, using Google Search Console, identify what specific keywords show the biggest drop in clicks from your GBP URL. Ignore impressions because these are heavily skewed by rank trackers. You’ll want to do so by navigating over to the “Search results report, under the Performance Section. Next, add a ‘page’ filter, where the logic is ‘URLs containing’ = ‘utm’.
Jot down or export the keywords you have seen the biggest drop in clicks for, specific to the GBP.
Check ranking and visibility shifts with local tracking tools
Use a geo grid rank tracking tool, such as GeoRank in Moz Local, to check your map pack visibility and shifts to your key revenue-driving keywords. This is where ongoing local rank tracking becomes super important!
Pro tip: Set up your local rank tracking reports to scan regularly. This can be either monthly or weekly, depending on the need. Ensure the reports are set to run on the same days, and at the same time of day. (eg, weekly, on Tuesdays, at noon).
Check which keywords have lost visibility, and whether the loss affects all keywords or only some. For example, let’s say you are an HVAC company in Tampa, that provides multiple services. You should check to see if:
- Did all keywords lose visibility?
- Or, was it just a subset of keywords that lost visibility, like your “plumbing” keywords?
- (e.g., plumber, best plumber, plumber near me)
- Or, was it just all your geo-modified keywords that lost visibility across all lines of business
- (e.g., Tampa plumber, Tampa HVAC, Tampa AC repair)
Take note of the timing of the drop. Was it sudden? Were you ranking last week, but not this week? Or was it a gradual decline over months?
Note the timeline
Mark the date the drop was first started. Overlay internal changes, such as listing edits or website updates, and external events, such as algorithm updates or changes to the Google results layout. This will help isolate the cause later. You can add annotations to Google Search Console or GA4.
Step 2: Classify the Type of Ranking Drop
Ranking loss
You are still visible in Google Maps, but just in noticeably lower ranking positions. You may have dropped out of the top three map pack, which can account for serious traffic loss. Dropping out of the map pack can indicate a number of causes, such as competitor shifts, category problems, or weakened ranking signals, such as fewer reviews.
Check if competitors have also lost rankings or if the issue is isolated to your profile. If several businesses drop at the same time, it may be a local algorithm update. If only your listing is affected, then it points to a problem specific to your own profile.
For example, the first ranking grid here shows a Moz Local GeoRank by Competitor report, where a business and two other listings are competing for the top three spots. Fast-forward a month, and the second ranking grid shows the business has dropped from position 3 to 9, while the other 2 listings stayed in the map pack (top 3). So the business we are tracking lost rankings, while all the competitors stayed more or less the same. This indicates a likely isolated ranking signal issue on the listing that saw the decline, rather than an algo update.
Filtered or suppressed listing
Your listing disappears entirely from Maps for your top keywords, or appears only some of the time, creating a pattern of inconsistent visibility. This often indicates that Google’s local filter is impacting your listing, possibly due to duplicate listings or a competitor that is too close to your listing.
Check for conflicting listings at the same or a nearby address, within 200 ft of your business listing pin. If you see a “Swiss cheese” pattern on a ranking report, where you are ranking for some pins but completely missing from the rankings for other pins, check whether a nearby competitor has the opposite pattern on their report (i.e. they are ranking for the pins you are not).
Suspension or disabled profile
If your profile shows it’s suspended, not visible to the public, or changes cannot be published, you may experience ranking drops.
If your profile is suspended, it falls into one of two categories:
- Soft suspension: still visible to the public, but reverification is needed to make changes
- Hard suspension: profile is removed completely from Maps, and you have zero visibility.
Both types of suspensions require a reinstatement process, which is most likely video re-verification. Only a hard suspension would cause your rankings to drop, as with soft suspension, your profile is still on maps and should not lose any rankings.
Traffic or call drop despite stable rankings
If your ranking position has not changed, but calls, clicks, and direction requests have dropped, the cause may be tracking issues, website problems, changes in the Google results layout, or changes in user intent. First, investigate your measurement setup to make sure it’s not a simple tracking issue.
Then, compare before-and-after screenshots of the search results for your top keywords. Recently, in mobile search results, I’ve seen a trend where the local pack is being replaced by an AI Overview, and that AI Overview is showing local businesses. Seer Interactive did a study that shows the presence of an AIO in the search result significantly reduces CTR for everything showing in the SERP (including Ads!).
