@jonathanleplang Hi Jonathan, sorry to hear about your client's predicament. Review loss of this kind typically happens for two reasons.

One, there's a bug in Google. Check the Google Business Profile help community and Sterling Sky's Local Search Forum when review loss happens to see if others are reporting a similar experience. There have been historic periods in which Google has accidentally made reviews disappear and then reinstated them.

The second cause is that Google has removed the reviews because they became suspicious about the profile, for some reason. For example, here's a recent article about a business losing the majority of its reviews because of review gating: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/google-removes-hundreds-of-reviews/ and another about why new reviews might not be publishing: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/google-reviews-not-publishing/. Read those with the client and try to root out whether they might unknowingly be violating Google's guidelines (see: https://support.google.com/local-guides/answer/7400114?hl=en#zippy=%2Cadvertising-solicitation%2Cfake-engagement)

If you are unable to discover the cause of what is happening, it's time to contact Google about the case. Good luck!

@millieandtilly Good morning! I don't know much about Nitter other than that it is a Twitter alternative. I recommend you read Tom Capper's recent tutorial on disavowing links to learn more about what to do with links you've received that you don't want: https://moz.com/blog/when-to-disavow-links

@pg181 Thanks for bringing your question here. Good news is, the space should not have any significant impact if you use whatever Google's preferred version is within Google's own product. The town issue may confuse customers who are new in the area though, but there's nothing you can do about this other than advocating for the USPS to get it right.

@scottlinklater So great you were able to share. So, my advice after reviewing this would be no, do not pay for this. It is totally fine to pay for advertising, so long as it is disclosed as paid advertising. If it's not disclosed, that is where you would have concern like those you mentioned in your original post.

While I am unfamiliar with this directory (I don't know very much about SEO in Australia) there are a few things about the site that are causing me a bit of concern. Among them is this language:

"Guaranteed Exposure Directly Off Google Page 1"

I'm assuming they mean "on" Google Page 1 and I am not sure how any company can guarantee search engine rankings of their pages, since none of us control Google.

There are other signals that are concerning that I won't go into, but at the end of the day, I would recommend building out your listings on free directories that area relevant to your customer base and saving your ad budget for disclosed advertising.

@scottlinklater Hi Scott, are you able to share the identity of the directory so our community can give opinions? Without that information, it's a bit of a guess.

@fslpso Good morning! Good for you for wanting to improve your online visibility. If your business is virtual (looks like online tutoring) then the Google local packs are not the right direction for you, as those are for physical businesses that serve clients locally in person. If I'm understanding your model right, then what you need to study is organic SEO. Here are some great options for you:

The Beginner's Guide to SEO is one of the most popular, free, longstanding resources here at Moz: https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

You might also like to enroll yourself in Moz Academy for exceptional training: https://academy.moz.com/

I hope these offer you a great start!

@jgoethert That is a huge change for your business, if you are not only rebranding but also losing your website. Sterling Sky has a good checklist for rebrands here: https://www.sterlingsky.ca/rebranding-your-business-checklist/

I am curious regarding the role of the website in this. If the GBP (formerly GMB) listing is going to be pointed to the new owner's website, it will be their domain authority which underpins the listing's rankings. If, however they are going to continue pointing the listing toward the downgraded old website, that's a big problem. If that's the case, you will want to be sure that permanent redirects are being put in place to pass as much ranking power as possible from the old pages to the remaining home page. The company should definitely be investigating all of their SEO options to protect the strength of the brand they've acquired, insomuch as it can support the visibility of the overall new brand.

@yuvrajsindhal Moz does not have the ability to shut down websites. That is likely through your hosting provider.

If there is an area of the Moz tool that you're having trouble with, I can definitely help you there!

Hi @arttiacreative , thanks for writing in!

If you are on the Medium Moz Pro subscription level or higher, you can create a branded Custom Report to present to your clients! If you would like to learn more about creating Custom Reports, check out our Help Hub here: https://moz.com/help/moz-pro/reporting/custom-reports
I hope this helps! If there’s anything else I can assist with, feel free to reach out!

@blitzna101 Important question you are asking here. May I ask, do you have physical locations in each of the cities for which you've built a landing page and are you directly serving customers (face to face/socially distanced) or is your business model virtual, with no physical locations and no in-person customer service?