u/CalamitySoupCan

I recently added a lot of custom services (plus service descriptions) to more accurately reflect what I do as a real estate agent. The ones Google provides don't allow for nuance (like specializing in working with inherited home sales, divorcing couples, etc). I just went today to continue adding descriptions to the services, only to discover they'd all been removed. I checked my competitors (who have had their custom services listed longer than me) and they were not removed.

Additionally, I don't have the ability to add in products (like I used to on one of my GBPs).

And, something else I've noticed is that even when I did have services listed, Google didn't show a list of services section on the profile snapshot like it would for others in my industry. For many who have services listed, they're right at the top of the profile above the address. Mine never showed up at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions or insight?

I am always extremely cautious of making changes to my Google Business Profile because I had it suspended for months last year after making a totally acceptable business address change. But Google recently changed me from "Real Estate Agent" to "Real Estate Agency" and I am trying to figure out what I should do.

From a search perspective, if it increases my business, I don't care. But if it reduces where I show up (especially in AI citations) because people usually look for an individual and not a company, I want to switch it back. So my first question is - does anyone have concrete data on whether it's better for traffic/clicks/findability to be listed as a real estate agency vs real estate agent?

I am of course pretty concerned about going against the almighty Google and changing it back (especially so soon) so my second question is - what exact steps should I take to change it back if I was going to? Do I contact support and tell them so they can do it? Do I do it myself and hope they don't suspend me?

Any insight, especially from other Realtors, would be appreciated.

I received a one star review from a person who's never been my client. They said I'd done a bad job and then referenced that I don't live in the area anymore (true, which is one of the reasons I obviously never worked with him). The reviewer is unable to be contacted through Yelp due to their settings.

I reported it as not a real client review and left a public response saying the same. But I'm so confused why someone would write a seemingly specific review (referencing my location) while also not actually having worked with me.

What I think is weirdest is, 2 years ago he wrote another 1 star review for someone who does what I do and they also commented back saying they had no idea who he was and hasn't worked with him. Other than that, he's posted mainly 5 star reviews of places.

Both of us are in the top search results organically for our same industry and we also are both women.

Am I missing some sort of angle here? Who does this kind of thing and why?

Also, what's everyone's success rate been for getting these kinds of reviews removed?

Almost 3 years ago I relocated my business. My AI summary still says I work in the old area even though all my recent reviews, my description, and my updates mention the new area.

Several months ago I had a friend click to report it was wrong. I got a call which absolutely sounded like a scam but I now believe was Google calling me to verify the info, but because it sounded like every other Google Business scam call, I didn't know to take it seriously. I had them request again and didn't get a second call.

I've reached out several times via chat and email since then to have them fix it and they just keep saying they can't at this time.

It confuses people and I'm losing business. Is there a special way I can get this fixed? Or even a department at Google I can have a lawyer send a letter to?

We are going to Rome, Pompeii, Tivoli, Florence, and Venice in October. While we are aware we are also going to be tourists, we visit Europe a lot and we do not like getting caught in tourist traps for restaurants and tours and want to minimize our interaction with other tourists when possible.

However, we do want to see the biggest attractions. So I'm looking for tips and suggestions on best small group tours, local guides, times to visit certain things, etc, and also for restaurant suggestions that are going to be enough streets away from the attractions that they won't be primarily catering to tourists. If a place has a menu only in Italian, that's ok.

I have proper expectations that going to places like the Coloseum is going to be busy, so I don't need snarky, Reddit-style comments about that. I'm just looking for the not-immediately-obvious suggestions I know others will have. For example, is there one local tour company that does a better job more authentically explaining the region, is there a skip the line option for things, a surprisingly quiet time to visit something, a great restaurant near an attraction if you walk 5 blocks north, etc.

Looking for advice and suggestions for all mentioned cities. Thank you!

I am hearing more lately that franchises are encouraging their owners to join BNI because of how successful it's been for other owners. I'm wondering if we can compile a list here of which franchises suggest joining so I can then reach out to my local ones and ask them about taking a seat in our launching chapter. We only need 5 more people.

Has anyone successfully moved their Yelp profile to a new state and kept their reviews?

Would really appreciate any firsthand experience here as I’m trying to decide if this is worth doing.

Context: My original Yelp profile is #1 organically in a very competitive market (about 1,000 miles from where I work now). It has 38 visible reviews (and over 100 hidden). I created a second profile in my current market, but it only has 5 reviews that Yelp will show, which is just not cutting it because it's an even more competitive market. I’ve been operating in both states, but I’m now fully closing down in the first one.

My dilemma: I can move my original Yelp profile to my new location (confirmed by Yelp since I’m service-based with no storefront). BUT… If I leave it where it is, I can still refer leads out and get a referral fee. I used to get at least 5 closed referral deals a year off of it but now it's dropped to almost 0. (It's still getting tons of traffic to the page, just the people are not converting with my referral agent).

So if I move my page, I potentially bring a strong, review-heavy profile into my actual market. But I’m worried Yelp will drop/filter reviews and kill the value of me moving it in compassion to just leaving it in Market 1 and trying to get referral fees.

So, if you’ve moved your Yelp profile a significant distance (200+ miles, especially out of state):

Did your reviews stay or get filtered?

What happened to your rankings?

Was it worth it?