How to Prevent Google Business Profile Suggested Edits

Last Updated on 30 July 2025 by Dorian Menard

You can’t stop GMB suggested edits from happening, but you can minimise the impact through active monitoring, having a solid foundation of business information, and tight access management.

Google lets anyone propose changes to your business listing — customers, competitors, Local Guides and even AI systems. You can not turn this feature off completely but you can secure your profile by doing:

Immediate monitoring of all suggested changes
Consistent business information across all online platforms
Regular access audits to remove unauthorised users
Active profile management with frequent updates and posts

The risk of ignoring suggested edits is severe. Unauthorised changes to your business name, address, phone number, or hours can destroy your local search visibility overnight. One incorrect edit can remove you from “near me” searches, redirect customer calls, and cost you thousands in lost revenue.

This comprehensive guide shows Perth business owners exactly how to minimise edit risks, catch changes immediately, and maintain control over their Google Business Profile better than competitors who leave their listings unprotected.

Why Google Allows Suggested Edits (And Why It’s Your Problem)

Google’s crowdsourcing approach aims to keep business listings “accurate” through user input. The platform trusts that collective intelligence will improve data quality across millions of listings. This is the reason why we recommend all our clients to push edits to their GBP from the frontend!

Google new system comes at your expense!

Who can edit your profile:

Random users and Local Guides
Google’s AI systems
Third-party apps with API access
Data scraped from your own website or social profiles
Former employees or agencies with lingering access

The risk is real: malicious edits from competitors, automated changes that introduce errors, or simply outdated information that Google trusts more than your own updates.

The Most Vulnerable Parts of Your Profile

Certain fields are targeted more frequently than others. Understanding these weak points helps you monitor more effectively:

Field	Risk Type	Impact
Business Name	Competitors can inject spam or brandjack	Visibility drops; misrepresentation risk
Address / Map Pin	Can redirect customers to wrong location	Instant local ranking crash
Phone Number	Hijacks leads or breaks contact flow	Calls diverted or lost
Website URL	Can be changed to competitor’s site	Traffic lost, trust broken
Primary Category	Alters keyword ranking relevance	Reduced relevance in SERPs
Operating Hours	Inaccurate hours confuse customers	Lost visits or negative reviews
Business Attributes	Can mark business as “Permanently Closed”	Devastating if not caught immediately

High-risk fields:

Business name (can be altered to include competitor names or keyword spam)
Address and map pin location
Phone number and website URL (imagine if a competitor
Primary business category
Operating hours
Business attributes (including “permanently closed” status)

Real-world example: A Perth law firm we helped with their SEO campaign last year, recently discovered their address had been changed to a competitor’s location, causing their Google Maps visibility to plummet for 3 weeks before they noticed. Local search traffic dropped by 67% during that period.

Anyone can suggest edits to a GBP!

Entities That Can Suggest Edits to Your GBP

Entity Type	Example / Risk
Random Users	Can submit malicious edits without any real knowledge
Local Guides	High-trust accounts; edits often auto-approved
Google’s AI Systems	Pulls data from 3rd party sources and enforces changes
Third-Party Apps (API)	May push outdated info automatically
Former Employees/Agencies	Often forgotten, but still have access to live profiles
Scraped Web Sources	Pulls incorrect or outdated info from your own platforms

How Edits Get Approved (And Why Google Sometimes Ignores You)

Google’s algorithm weighs several factors when deciding whether to approve suggested edits:

Trust signals Google considers:

Consistency across your website, directories, and social profiles
Listing activity and engagement levels
Authority of the edit source (Local guide accounts can do a lot of damage)
How recently you’ve updated your profile

Inactive or inconsistent listings are at higher risk of auto-approved edits. If your business information varies across platforms, Google may trust external sources over your own updates.

The worst thing a competitor could do is move your address pin on the map.

Step-by-Step: How to Monitor and Reject Suggested Edits

If you want to protect your Google Business Profile listing, you need to be proactive and have a system in place.

Step	Action
1. Log In	Check GBP dashboard weekly for edit alerts
2. Identify	Look for orange/red icon over the pen symbol
3. Reject	Click “Reject” or “Suggest an edit” to reverse change
4. Justify	Provide reason or evidence for rejection
5. Monitor	Track status of appeal in dashboard or escalate if ignored

Checking for Edits in Your Dashboard

It is recommended to regularly log into your account to check for any pending edits or suggestions.

Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard
Navigate to the “Info” section
Look for the “Suggested edits” notification at the top
Review each suggested change carefully

The little red (or orange who knows) icon on top of the pen in the second listing (bottom one) is what shows you that the listing is pending edits

Managing Notifications

Google sends notifications about suggested edits, but these can be delayed or missed entirely. Some changes may go live automatically without explicit approval.

Critical actions:

Check your dashboard weekly (minimum)
Set up email notifications for all profile activity
Respond to edit notifications within 24 hours
Document all changes for future reference

Rejecting and Reverting Changes

If you spot an unwanted edit:

Click “Reject” on pending suggestions
For live changes, click “Suggest an edit” to revert
Provide detailed reasoning for your rejection
Monitor the status of your appeal

Locking Down Your Profile: Prevention Tactics That Actually Work

Hopefully there are a few things a local business can do to protect their dearest web asset.

Consistency Is King

Ensure your business information matches exactly across:

Your website’s contact page
Social media profiles
Directory listings (Yellow Pages, True Local, etc.)
Email signatures
Physical signage

Pro tip: Even minor variations in formatting (e.g., “Unit 1” vs “U1”) can trigger unwanted edits. NAP consistency is key when trying to rank in Google Maps!

Access Control Audit

Remove unnecessary users and managers from your profile:

Go to “Users” in your GBP dashboard
Review all current managers and owners
Remove ex-employees, former agencies, or unknown users
Limit access to essential staff only

Google also dishes out suspensions at the account level, so you do not want your listing to be managed by dodgy agencies or people that could get you in trouble! If your business has already faced a suspension, you may need to consider a Google Business Profile reinstatement service to recover your listing.

Third-Party App Permissions

Many businesses unknowingly grant profile access to apps and tools:

Visit your Google Account security settings
Review “Third-party apps with account access”
Revoke permissions for unused or unknown applications
Regularly audit these permissions (quarterly minimum)

Keep Your Profile Active

Active profiles are less likely to have edits auto-approved:

Post weekly updates
Upload new photos monthly
Respond to reviews promptly
Update business hours for holidays immediately

This is what we do on a monthly basis for clients trusting us with their GBM management.

Tools to Automate Monitoring and Protection

Manual monitoring isn’t scalable for busy business owners. Consider these professional tools:

Local Falcon/Falcon Guard

Automated monitoring alerts
Rollback capabilities
Multi-location support

Localo

Instant change notifications
Review management integration
Comprehensive reporting

Whitespark Local Platform

Real-time edit notifications
Bulk profile management
Citation consistency tracking

Tool	Key Features	Approx. Monthly Cost
Local Falcon Guard	Auto-monitor edits, rollback, multi-location support	$100–$150
Localo	Instant notifications, review integration, reporting	$50–$80
Whitespark Local Platform	Edit alerts, citation monitoring, profile manager	$75–$120

These tools typically cost $50-200 monthly but can save thousands in lost revenue from undetected changes.

Localo allows you to easily monitor any changes pushed to your profile with their smart protection feature

What to Do When Edits Go Live

If suggestions are accepted and edits go live, it is never too late but you should always act quick!

Immediate Response Protocol

Document the change – screenshot the incorrect information
Revert immediately – use “Suggest an edit” to correct the information
Appeal if rejected – provide evidence supporting your claim
Report malicious activity – if you suspect competitor sabotage

Handling Persistent Issues

If your information keeps reverting to incorrect data:

Check for conflicting citations across the web
Identify and update inconsistent directory listings
Consider whether legacy data sources are overriding your updates
Report systematic abuse to Google Business Profile support

If you cannot revert an edit or there is a glitch with the system, it is recommended to contact Google support. They are not very responsive (kind of useless between us), and you might have to escalate your issue in the Google Business Profile forums if it goes unresolved.

Agency & Multi-Location Risks: The Hidden Dangers

Managing 1 listing for a single location is already hard enough, but it can clearly become a headache if you are managing multiple listings and locations!

Here are the most common issues our multi-location clients often run into:

Legacy access problems:

Ex-employees with lingering profile access
Former marketing agencies with API connections
Automated tools pushing outdated information

Too many managers syndrome:
Multiple people managing your profile increases error risk. Establish clear protocols for who can make changes and when.

Access audit checklist:

Review all users monthly
Document who has access and why
Remove access immediately when staff leave
Use role-based permissions (manager vs owner)

FAQs

Can you block suggested edits completely?
No. Google’s system is designed to allow community input. They trust more a random user than you the business owner (blame Google here not us).

Why does Google let anyone suggest edits?
To maintain data accuracy across millions of listings through crowdsourcing and become they can do whatever they want.

How do you know if an edit was made?
Check your dashboard regularly and enable email notifications. Look for the little red dot above the pen showing the edit button.

What if your information keeps reverting?
Look for conflicting citations and inconsistent data across the web.

How do you report malicious edits?
Use the “Report a problem” feature in your dashboard or contact Google Business Profile support.

The Only Way to Win

You cannot block suggested edits, but you can outwork and outsmart the system. Success requires:

Relentless consistency across all platforms
Immediate response to all notifications
Regular audits of access and permissions
Professional monitoring tools for scale
Documentation of all changes and appeals

Your Google Business Profile is too valuable to leave unprotected. Set up monitoring today, audit your access controls, and never let your guard down.

Need help protecting your Google Business Profile? Search Scope’s comprehensive GBP monitoring service is included in our Google Business Profile management service and ensures your digital presence remains accurate and optimised for local search success.

Contact us to learn how we can safeguard your business from unwanted edits and maintain your competitive edge in Perth’s local search landscape.