Another Business is Using My Client's Address

[IlluminousGwen]

This morning my client contacted me that another business is using their address as their own! They received a Google verification postcard with pin number on it, but luckily had the foresight to not give it to the person when they called. After some research, we also found out that they are using our address on Facebook and LinkedIn as well. The kicker is: this business is another SEO firm! You would think they would know that using our address would cause NAP issues for their own business.

Has anyone dealt with another business trying to hijack their address for local rankings? Any advice on steps to take to report this abuse would be appreciated. Since this person is obviously unscrupulous, we don't want to provoke them into taking any other negative action online that could affect our business.

[MiriamEllis]

Wishing you good luck! Spammers really give me the blues.

[IlluminousGwen]

Thank you for the resources Miriam. We are currently in process of creating a cease and desist letter as you suggested and will be taking other necessary steps as well.

[MiriamEllis]

Okay, thanks for that helpful clarification. So, this SEO company is working in clear violation of Google's guidelines, which state:

_Use a precise, accurate address to describe your business location. _

So, as far as Google goes, please follow the guidelines provided in this great article by Joy Hawkins for combating spam: http://www.joyannehawkins.com/ultimate-guide-fighting-spam-google-maps/

Linkedin offers this: https://www.linkedin.com/help/linkedin/answer/61664/reporting-fake-profiles?lang=en but you may need to dig deeper.

This resource may help connect you to the support for a variety of other platforms: http://www.reengageconsulting.com/be-where-your-customers-are-with-local-business-listings/

Now, all this being said, it seems like you might want to get legal advice in this matter. I'm not qualified to give that in any way, but it seems like a cease and desist-type letter to the SEO company might get them to do the work of removing all of this spam, rather than the burden being on your shoulders. Hope this helps, and sorry for the frustration of this situation.

[IlluminousGwen]

Yes, my client is the only business located in this suite and this other business does not even have a brick-and-mortar location. My client is in court reporting and this other company is in SEO, so not in the same category, no.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi There!

Just to clarify, you are saying that your client is the only business located at this address and that this other company is NOT located there. Is that right? And is your client also an SEO firm, or are they in a different category entirely?

[IlluminousGwen]

Thanks for the response, Linda.

Yes, we have had their own business verified for years. I've double checked that everything is alright with our page verification and for now, it appears to be fine. I did use the steps to report an error on the map, but it looks like this person could just as easily change it back.

The bigger concern that I have is this other business reaping havoc in our own local rankings by creating conflicting NAP issues since he is using our address on ALL of his profiles. Any other tips that anyone has would be much appreciated.

[Linda-Vassily]

How awful! Has your client gone in and claimed their own listing? Even if they did before, they should probably do it again in light of this situation.

This Google support page might be helpful--there is a "report a problem" link.