If you've noticed that the phone number displayed on your Google Business Profile (GBP, formerly Google My Business) has been changed without your knowledge, and you're seeing a banner in your profile management screen that says "Your phone number was updated by Google", this article explains why it has happened and what you can do to correct it.
What's happening
Google's algorithms automatically update Business Profile information (phone number, address, opening hours, etc.) when they detect that the information on your profile differs from what appears on other trusted sources. The most important of those sources is your own website.
When Google's crawler (Googlebot) visits your website, it reads the phone number displayed there and compares it to the number on your Business Profile. If the two don't match, Google assumes the website is correct and updates your profile to match.
Why this affects customers using call tracking
If you use our call tracking service, your website uses Dynamic Number Insertion (DNI). DNI swaps the phone number displayed on your website depending on how the visitor arrived. Visitors from Google Ads see one number, visitors from organic search see another, and so on. This allows us to attribute phone calls back to the marketing channel that drove them.
The unintended side effect is that Googlebot is also a visitor. When it crawls your site, the DNI script serves it a dynamic tracking number rather than your main business number. Google then reads that tracking number, decides it is the "correct" number for your business, and updates your Business Profile to match.
This is why the number Google has swapped in is usually one of your tracking numbers rather than something random.
How to override the change
Submitting a manual edit to your Business Profile tells Google to overwrite its automatic update with your preferred value.
- Sign in to the Google account that manages your Business Profile.
- Search for your business on Google, or open it in Google Maps, and select Edit profile.
- Go to the Contact tab.
- In the Phone number field, delete the number Google has inserted and enter your correct main business number.
- Select Save.
Your edit will go into review. This usually takes a few minutes, though Google states it can take up to a few days for the change to appear publicly.
It's a good idea to check back on your Business Profile periodically to make sure your correct number is still displayed. If Google updates the number again, simply repeat the steps above to restore it.
Checking other sources
Google also pulls information from third-party directories. While you're reviewing your Business Profile, it's worth checking that your main business number is listed correctly on major directories such as Yell, Bing Places, Apple Maps, Facebook, and any industry-specific listings. If any of these show a tracking number instead of your main number, they may also be contributing to the issue.
Further reading
Google's official documentation on this behaviour is available here: Understand Google updates on your Business Profile.
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