undefined
Skip to content
Moz logo Menu open Menu close
  • Products
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Pro Home
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Home
    • STAT
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Home
    • Compare SEO Products
    • Moz Data
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis
    • Keyword Explorer
    • Link Explorer
    • Competitive Research
    • MozBar
    • More Free SEO Tools
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO
    • SEO Learning Center
    • Moz Academy
    • MozCon
    • Webinars, Whitepapers, & Guides
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers
    • Agency Solutions
    • Enterprise Solutions
    • Small Business Solutions
    • The Moz Story
    • New Releases
  • Log in
  • Log out
  • Products
    • Moz Pro

      Your all-in-one suite of SEO essentials.

    • Moz Local

      Raise your local SEO visibility with complete local SEO management.

    • STAT

      SERP tracking and analytics for enterprise SEO experts.

    • Moz API

      Power your SEO with our index of over 44 trillion links.

    • Compare SEO Products

      See which Moz SEO solution best meets your business needs.

    • Moz Data

      Power your SEO strategy & AI models with custom data solutions.

    Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research
    Moz Pro

    Track AI Overviews in Keyword Research

    Try it free!
  • Free SEO Tools
    • Domain Analysis

      Get top competitive SEO metrics like DA, top pages and more.

    • Keyword Explorer

      Find traffic-driving keywords with our 1.25 billion+ keyword index.

    • Link Explorer

      Explore over 40 trillion links for powerful backlink data.

    • Competitive Research

      Uncover valuable insights on your organic search competitors.

    • MozBar

      See top SEO metrics for free as you browse the web.

    • More Free SEO Tools

      Explore all the free SEO tools Moz has to offer.

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic
    Moz Pro

    NEW Keyword Suggestions by Topic

    Learn more
  • Learn SEO
    • Beginner's Guide to SEO

      The #1 most popular introduction to SEO, trusted by millions.

    • SEO Learning Center

      Broaden your knowledge with SEO resources for all skill levels.

    • On-Demand Webinars

      Learn modern SEO best practices from industry experts.

    • How-To Guides

      Step-by-step guides to search success from the authority on SEO.

    • Moz Academy

      Upskill and get certified with on-demand courses & certifications.

    • MozCon

      Save on Early Bird tickets and join us in London or New York City

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints
    Moz API

    Unlock flexible pricing & new endpoints

    Find your plan
  • Blog
  • Why Moz
    • Digital Marketers

      Simplify SEO tasks to save time and grow your traffic.

    • Small Business Solutions

      Uncover insights to make smarter marketing decisions in less time.

    • Agency Solutions

      Earn & keep valuable clients with unparalleled data & insights.

    • Enterprise Solutions

      Gain a competitive edge in the ever-changing world of search.

    • The Moz Story

      Moz was the first & remains the most trusted SEO company.

    • New Releases

      Get the scoop on the latest and greatest from Moz.

    Surface actionable competitive intel
    New Feature

    Surface actionable competitive intel

    Learn More
  • Log in
    • Moz Pro
    • Moz Local
    • Moz Local Dashboard
    • Moz API
    • Moz API Dashboard
    • Moz Academy
  • Avatar
    • Moz Home
    • Notifications
    • Account & Billing
    • Manage Users
    • Community Profile
    • My Q&A
    • My Videos
    • Log Out

The Moz Q&A Forum

  • Forum
  • Questions
  • Users
  • Ask the Community

Welcome to the Q&A Forum

Browse the forum for helpful insights and fresh discussions about all things SEO.

  1. Home
  2. SEO Tactics
  3. Local SEO
  4. Local Listings
  5. How to deal with wrong location in Google SERP

Moz Q&A is closed.

After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.

How to deal with wrong location in Google SERP

Local Listings
4
6
2.0k
Loading More Posts
  • Oldest to Newest
  • Newest to Oldest
  • Most Votes
Reply
  • Reply as question
Log in to reply
This topic has been deleted. Only users with question management privileges can see it.
  • Houdoe
    Houdoe last edited by May 20, 2015, 6:31 AM

    Hi,

    If I understand correctly, Google provides search results based on the location of the user. That's fine, because most of my clients are local.

    But if I look at my own search results, Google thinks I'm in a totally different town. Most likely based on my IP address.

    Of course I can solve that for myself, but the same goes for my potential clients.

    Is there a way to deal with this, from an seo perspective? For instance find out where most of the the IP providers are located and target that location?

    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
    • DSM_UK
      DSM_UK last edited by May 20, 2015, 1:04 PM May 20, 2015, 1:04 PM

      Hi Hans,

      Unfortunately IP addresses are not great on a desktop pc, not always but sometimes our Internet Service Provider seems to play havoc with our actual location.

      However on mobile it is usually a lot more reliable, so make sure your site is mobile friendly!

      As long as you have all your data set up and Google+ and the likes linked then your local listings will work correctly, 
      I wouldn't recommend targeting a popular IP location as it is not your true location. Keeping your town/city in your tagging will help for local searches for those who include there location in their searches.

      But if your client's ISPs have their IP address located wrongly, I am afraid this is something you cannot compensate for.

      Kind Regards,

      Jimmy

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • Andy.Drinkwater
        Andy.Drinkwater @UmarKhan last edited by May 20, 2015, 9:23 AM May 20, 2015, 9:23 AM

        I don't think IP factor matters that much

        Going to disagree with this here I'm afraid because I have seen some quite overwhelming results based on a user location. I am based in Chester, UK - If I search, based on my IP, I will be shown local results earlier - that kind of thing. I'm not saying this is always going to be the case, but based on locations, it can play a pretty major part.

        @Hans - There are lots of things you can do to try and remedy this, but remember that Google has the final say. You could try building your brand strength more and perhaps talk create a few blog posts based around location and product, talk about surrounding towns that you cover and suggestions as Umar mentions above.

        Also you could do a little testing and see how your competitors get around this issue. Crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' is going to be a big key to success.

        -Andy

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
        • UmarKhan
          UmarKhan @Houdoe last edited by May 20, 2015, 8:43 AM May 20, 2015, 8:43 AM

          Hey Hans,

          I don't think IP factor matters that much.. If you have a proper citations of NAP, optimized local content, G+ local pages, links from local sources and other local listings; I don't think this IP factor gonna hurt you that much.

          But if you're very much sure that all the things are perfect and you're still not climbing then you can think about the local IPs.

          Andy.Drinkwater 1 Reply Last reply May 20, 2015, 9:23 AM Reply Quote 1
          • Houdoe
            Houdoe @UmarKhan last edited by May 20, 2015, 8:32 AM May 20, 2015, 8:32 AM

            Hi Umar,

            Thanks for your answer! I'm not sure we're talking about the same thing here.

            Let me explain: my company is in town X. I want it to be found by people in town X.

            My potential client also lives in town X. But Google says he lives in town Y. Because his IP address tells that to them.

            It seems that I'm lower in the search results than I would have been if the client was located in X, as he should. Or am I wrong here?

            Cheers,
            Hans

            UmarKhan 1 Reply Last reply May 20, 2015, 8:43 AM Reply Quote 0
            • UmarKhan
              UmarKhan last edited by May 20, 2015, 7:45 AM May 20, 2015, 7:45 AM

              Hey Hans,

              Yes, Search engines use the following signals to determine the location of your website:

              • Hosting location (I think it's still matters)
              • Domain tld (eg .co.uk for the UK and .com for the US)

              It is important to check that the actual location of your servers is reflected in their IP address using a tool like this one. I remember once Matt Cutts discussed this topic "How should I serve different content based on user location?" here https://youtu.be/GFf1gwr6HJw

              Hope this helps!

              Houdoe 1 Reply Last reply May 20, 2015, 8:32 AM Reply Quote 1
              • 1 / 1
              1 out of 6
              • First post
                1/6
                Last post

              Got a burning SEO question?

              Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.


              Start my free trial


              Browse Questions

              Explore more categories

              • Moz Tools

                Chat with the community about the Moz tools.

              • SEO Tactics

                Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers

              • Community

                Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!

              • Digital Marketing

                Chat about tactics outside of SEO

              • Research & Trends

                Dive into research and trends in the search industry.

              • Support

                Connect on product support and feature requests.

              • See all categories

              Related Questions

              • AnkitS.1990

                Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business Knowledge Graph - Need Urgent Solution??

                Incorrect Image is Displaying on Google My Business for our company. We have updated new image on google business But still, Google is fetching and showing old image on the google my business knowledge panel. What will be the right fix for this? Our site URL :  www.yolobus.in

                Local Listings | Nov 4, 2020, 12:05 PM | AnkitS.1990
                0
              • Wagada

                Google My Business answers not appearing

                We've been trying to use the GMB Q&A feature as a lot of customers seem to be engaging with the listing/asking relevant questions. However, sometimes we answer a question directly from the business listing account but it does not appear (no error message is shown when posting either). When we go to re-post the answer, the text is sometimes still visible in the answer box field. Any ideas what might be causing the issue?

                Local Listings | Apr 23, 2019, 2:25 PM | Wagada
                1
              • nhhernandez

                Google listing only appears when I move / zoom in or out of the map

                Hi everyone, We are having an issue with this local business. The Google listing isn't immediately appearing on the map. You have to move the map or zoom in and out for the listing to appear. I find this really odd as our competitors - with no reviews and way further in proximity - are appearing with no issues. The listing is only about 4km where I'm doing the search, while competitors with no reviews are about 20km away. We are ranking in the top 5 organically for the search term I used (pool renovations brisbane), but nowhere in local unless the map is moved. When the listing appears, sometimes the pin also looks grey instead of red, while others are red (if that makes sense). On top of this, their organic rankings have also been on a downward trend since June. I'm currently doing a backlink audit to see if it's contributing to the issue. If anyone also has other ideas, could you please let me know? Thanks.

                Local Listings | Sep 14, 2018, 3:21 AM | nhhernandez
                1
              • TonikSEO

                Multiple language in site links on SERP

                hi there guys! I have this client that sells roofing reparation. His site is in two languages. In this image here, the green square are the results in english and red square in french. The picture is from a english SERP. What would you guys do to make sure that the SERP shows the right language to users on Google? It is very important for us to have both language separated. Our region is bilingual so, it's a big problem! The original language of the site is in french and I don't have any problem with this version. But when i checked the english side, there is this problem... mixing language in the SERP is not very good for my ROI. Thanks guys!  toiture2.png

                Local Listings | Jul 27, 2016, 3:30 PM | TonikSEO
                0
              • Smart_Start

                Using Hashtag for Google My Business

                I was told by a Google My Business representative to include #{keywords} in my description. I was told this would boost my rankings. Has anyone else heard of this?

                Local Listings | Jul 18, 2016, 6:08 PM | Smart_Start
                0
              • RobertFisher

                No Location option in Incognito Search Settings

                I was checking on a client ranking and went to Incognito in Chrome for the search. I went to search settings to set the location and thought I had done something wrong. I closed and went back to search settings and still no location setting. See attached. Interestingly, when I went to my signed in Chrome and set the location and then went to incognito and went to search settings, then location showed up for me. This also begs a question about why Google has this where you must be signed in to set a location in Incognito mode. Thanks for any input you have, Robert G1lS9EK.png cRRlULo.png

                Local Listings | Dec 10, 2015, 10:57 AM | RobertFisher
                0
              • EcommerceSite

                How long until an address changes after verification on Google My Business?

                Started working with a company recently that had a Google My Business with an old address. I went ahead and claimed it and verified it with the postcard, but it still shows the old address if search. How long will that be?

                Local Listings | Jul 8, 2015, 2:21 PM | EcommerceSite
                0
              • JohnWeb12

                Does Google Penalize for Hiding Address?

                I have a situation where a client is working out of their home. I know that Google does not like when you list a business with a home address so we have hidden the address on Google, but are wondering if Google penalizes businesses for hiding it? When listing them to other directories we do our best to find ones that we can hide the first line of the address. But does that matter? Should we just be listing to our normal directories with the address visible? Does a mix of hidden addresses and visible ones hurt your rankings? Thanks in advance for your help!

                Local Listings | Feb 10, 2015, 2:20 AM | JohnWeb12
                0

              Get started with Moz Pro!

              Unlock the power of advanced SEO tools and data-driven insights.

              Start my free trial
              Products
              • Moz Pro
              • Moz Local
              • Moz API
              • Moz Data
              • STAT
              • Product Updates
              Moz Solutions
              • SMB Solutions
              • Agency Solutions
              • Enterprise Solutions
              • Digital Marketers
              Free SEO Tools
              • Domain Authority Checker
              • Link Explorer
              • Keyword Explorer
              • Competitive Research
              • Brand Authority Checker
              • Local Citation Checker
              • MozBar Extension
              • MozCast
              Resources
              • Blog
              • SEO Learning Center
              • Help Hub
              • Beginner's Guide to SEO
              • How-to Guides
              • Moz Academy
              • API Docs
              About Moz
              • About
              • Team
              • Careers
              • Contact
              Why Moz
              • Case Studies
              • Testimonials
              Get Involved
              • Become an Affiliate
              • MozCon
              • Webinars
              • Practical Marketer Series
              • MozPod
              Connect with us

              Contact the Help team

              Join our newsletter
              Moz logo
              © 2021 - 2025 SEOMoz, Inc., a Ziff Davis company. All rights reserved. Moz is a registered trademark of SEOMoz, Inc.
              • Accessibility
              • Terms of Use
              • Privacy

              Looks like your connection to Moz was lost, please wait while we try to reconnect.