Competitors can move your Google Maps pin to a wrong location, and you might not notice until your rankings drop and customers can't find you. Here's what the scam looks like and how to stop it.
There is a manipulation tactic circulating in local SEO that most business owners have never heard of, and it can devastate your Google Maps rankings without you ever being notified. It's called the Google Maps pin moving scam, and it works because Google allows users to suggest edits to any business listing, including the map pin location.
Here's how it works, how to detect it, and how to protect your business.
Google Business Profile allows anyone, customers, competitors, or bad actors, to suggest a correction to a business's location pin on Google Maps. When someone submits a pin move suggestion, Google may automatically apply the change (especially if it's reinforced by multiple reports) without notifying the business owner.
The result: your pin moves to a wrong location, sometimes across the street, sometimes to a competitor's address, sometimes to a vacant lot or a completely different city. Customers searching for your business on Maps get directed to the wrong place. Your local pack rankings drop because your pin no longer matches your verified address. And unless you're monitoring your profile actively, you may not notice for weeks.
⚠️ Common Mistake: Assuming that once your GBP is verified, the pin location is locked. It's not, suggested edits can override your verified location.
The most common perpetrators are:
The motivation is almost always ranking manipulation. Moving your pin away from your verified address weakens the proximity signal Google uses for local search, which can drop you out of the 3-Pack for searches near your actual location.
Check your pin location immediately using these steps:
📊 Flento Data: In audits of local business profiles, approximately 1 in 12 service businesses has a pin location that doesn't match their registered address, many from this exact type of manipulation.
Step 1: Fix it immediately Go to your GBP dashboard → Edit profile → Location → drag the pin back to your correct address → Save.
Step 2: Verify the fix propagates After saving, search Google Maps for your business as an external user. It may take 24–48 hours for the corrected location to appear publicly.
Step 3: Report the abuse Contact Google Business Profile support and report the unauthorized edit. Provide screenshots of the incorrect location if you captured them.
Step 4: Request a review lock (limited availability) In some cases, Google support can flag your profile to require additional verification before user-suggested location edits are accepted. This is not widely available but worth requesting.
Monitor your profile weekly The most effective protection is regular monitoring. Check your pin location, business name, phone number, and hours at least once per week. Competitors submitting edits will be countered faster if you catch changes quickly.
Enable Google Business Profile notifications Go to your GBP dashboard → Settings → Notifications → turn on email alerts for profile edits and customer suggestions. This doesn't guarantee you'll be notified of every change, but it helps.
Use a monitoring tool Track your Google Maps rankings consistently. A sudden unexplained ranking drop is often the first signal that something has changed on your profile, including a moved pin.
Document your correct location Keep a screenshot of your correct pin location on file. If you need to report manipulation to Google support, showing before-and-after evidence strengthens your case significantly.
Pin moving is one of several black-hat tactics used to harm competitors' Google Business Profiles. Others include:
All of these exploit Google's crowdsourced editing system. The best defense against all of them is the same: monitor your profile actively and respond to changes immediately.
💡 Pro Tip: If you're in a highly competitive local market (e.g., personal injury law, HVAC, pest control), check your profile for unauthorized changes at least twice a week during competitive periods.
