Google Business Profile Not Showing Up? Here's Why (And How to Fix It Fast)

You've created your Google Business Profile. You've added photos, written a description, and filled in your hours. But when you search for your business on Google Maps or in search results, nothing appears. Or worse—something appears, but it's wrong, outdated, or belongs to a completely different business at your location.

This is one of the most frustrating problems New Zealand business owners face, and it happens more often than you'd think. Your Auckland cafe, Wellington law firm, or Christchurch plumbing business is invisible in the exact place potential customers are looking for you.

At Lucid Media, we help NZ businesses fix Google Business Profile issues every week. Sometimes the fix takes 5 minutes. Sometimes it requires weeks of systematic work. But it's always fixable once you understand what's actually going wrong.

Let's diagnose exactly why your Google Business Profile isn't showing up and get it fixed.

The 12 Reasons Your Google Business Profile Isn't Showing Up

1. You Haven't Actually Verified Your Business

The problem: You created a Google Business Profile, but you never completed the verification process. Google won't show unverified listings.

How to check: Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard. If you see a banner saying "Verify this business" or similar, you're not verified.

Why this happens:

• You requested verification but never received the postcard
• You received the postcard but never entered the verification code
• You started the process and forgot to finish
• You thought you were verified but weren't

How to fix:

• Log into google.com/business
• Find your business listing
• Click "Verify now"
• Choose verification method (usually postcard to your business address)
• Wait for postcard (7-14 days typically in NZ)
• Enter the code from the postcard
• Your listing should appear within 24-48 hours

The Auckland trade business story: An Auckland electrician told us he "set up Google" months ago but got no visibility. When we checked, his profile was sitting unverified. He'd requested the postcard, it arrived, he put it aside "to do later," and forgot about it. We had him verified in 10 minutes. Within a week, he started getting calls from Google searches.

2. Your Business Address Is Marked as Service Area (But Shouldn't Be)

The problem: You selected "I serve customers at their location" and hid your address. Google now only shows your business in very general searches, not specific location searches.

Who this affects: Plumbers, electricians, mobile mechanics, cleaners—any business that serves customers at their location rather than having them come to you.

The confusion: These businesses SHOULD select service area. But if you ALSO have a physical location customers can visit (like a showroom or office), you should show your address AND list service areas.

How to check:

• Log into your Google Business Profile
• Look at your address settings
• If your address is hidden and you only show service areas, this might be your issue

How to fix: If customers CAN visit your location:

• Edit your profile
• Uncheck "I serve customers at their location"
• Add your physical address
• Also add service areas if you serve customers at their locations

If customers CANNOT visit (pure service area business):

• Keep address hidden
• Make sure service areas are correctly configured
• See issue #3 below

3. Your Service Areas Aren't Properly Configured

The problem: You've listed service areas incorrectly or too broadly, and Google doesn't know where to show you.

Common mistakes:

Too broad:

• "Auckland" (Google wants specific suburbs)
• "Wellington Region" (be more specific)

Too vague:

• "Within 20km radius" (Google needs actual place names)

Incorrectly entered:

• Misspelled suburb names
• Using areas Google doesn't recognize

How to fix:

• Edit your Google Business Profile
• Go to service areas
• Remove vague or overly broad areas
• Add specific suburbs/towns you serve:
• Don't: "Auckland"
• Do: "Ponsonby, Parnell, Grey Lynn, Mount Eden, Remuera" (etc.)

The Wellington plumber example: A Wellington plumber listed their service area as "Wellington." They weren't appearing in searches for "plumber Petone" or "plumber Lower Hutt" even though they served those areas. We added 15 specific Wellington suburbs and areas. Within two weeks, they were appearing in local searches across all those locations.

4. Your Business Is Suspended or Disabled

The problem: Google has suspended your listing for violating their guidelines (knowingly or unknowingly).

How to check:

• Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard
• If suspended, you'll see a clear notification

Common reasons NZ businesses get suspended:

• Listed business at a virtual office or P.O. Box
• Listed residential address for non-home-based business
• Used keyword-stuffed business name ("Best Auckland Plumber - Emergency Service")
• Created multiple listings for same location
• Violated Google's quality guidelines

How to fix:

• Read the suspension notice carefully
• Fix the violation
• Request reinstatement through the dashboard
• Provide documentation if requested
• Wait for Google's review (can take 2-4 weeks)

What NOT to do: Don't create a new listing. This makes the problem worse and can result in permanent ban.

5. There's a Duplicate Listing Competing with Yours

The problem: Multiple Google Business Profiles exist for your business, and they're competing with each other.

How this happens:

• You created a listing, forgot about it, created another
• Previous owner/manager created a listing
• Google automatically created a listing from web data
• You moved locations and created new listing without deleting old

How to check: Search Google Maps for your business name + your address. Do you see multiple pins? Multiple listings? Old addresses?

How to fix:

• Claim all listings
• Keep the most complete, accurate one
• Mark others as duplicates
• Request Google remove them

The process:

• Log into Google Business Profile
• Find the duplicate listing
• Click "Mark as duplicate"
• Provide the correct listing details
• Wait for Google to merge/remove

6. Your NAP (Name, Address, Phone) Is Inconsistent

The problem: Your business information doesn't match across Google and other platforms, so Google isn't confident showing your listing.

Examples of inconsistency:

• Google: "ABC Plumbing Ltd" | Website: "ABC Plumbing" | Yellow Pages: "ABC Plumbing Limited"
• Google: "123 Queen St" | Website: "123 Queen Street" | Facebook: "123 Queen St, Auckland"