September 22, 2025

Protect Your Business: The Google Maps Pin Scam Explained

Imagine your business suddenly drops in Google search rankings. Your phone stops ringing, and fewer customers inquire about your services. The reason? It may be because of a sneaky scam involving your Google Map pin. In this post, we'll uncover the Google Maps pin scam, its impact on home service businesses, and how you can protect your company.

What is the Google Maps Pin Scam?

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) ensures that potential customers can find you easily. However, scammers have found a way to manipulate this tool, causing serious issues for businesses. The Google Maps pin scam involves unauthorized changes to your business's location on Google Maps, leading to a drop in your search rankings and customer visits.

Here's how these scammers operate:

Using the "Suggest an edit" feature on your Google Business Profile, scammers propose a change to your business's location.
Google doesn't notify you of these changes, so they often go unnoticed.
Google's algorithm treats the change as a move to a new location, negatively affecting your search rankings.

Why This Matters for Your Business

Google relies on accurate location data to provide relevant search results. When your business's pin is moved, your relevance to local searches decreases. This leads to a drop in your search rankings, making it harder for customers to find you.

Incorrect location data can mislead customers who use your address to confirm that you service their area. Additionally, new employees coming to your office for the first time might be directed to the wrong location. This not only frustrates them but also impacts your business's professionalism and reliability.

For home service businesses, decreased visibility and customer confusion translate directly into lost revenue. Lower search rankings mean fewer customer inquiries and jobs, which can significantly impact your bottom line.

How to Fix an Altered Google Maps Pin

If you discover that your business has been targeted, follow these step-by-step instructions on how to correct the issue:

Use a Different Email: Attempting to move the pin using your Google Business Profile settings can lead to your profile being suspended or even shut down. Log into Google using an email address not linked to your Google Business Profile.
Find Your Business: Search for your business listing on Google Maps.
Suggest an Edit: Click the "Suggest an edit" button on your business profile.
Correct the Location: Select "Edit map location" and move the pin to the correct position.
Save Changes: Confirm and save the changes.

Preventative Measures

Regular Monitoring

Regularly check your Google Business Profile for unauthorized changes. Set a routine to review your profile to catch any discrepancies early.

Enhance Security

Strengthen your Google Business Profile security:

Routine Audits: Regularly review your profile for any unauthorized edits.
Verification: Ensure your business is verified to prevent unauthorized modifications.
Notifications: Set up alerts for changes to your profile.

Educate Your Team

Train your team to recognize and respond to these scams. Ensure they know the importance of verifying location data and how to act if they notice suspicious changes.

Don't Get Scammed

The Google Maps pin scam poses a real threat to home service businesses. By understanding how the scam works, its potential impact, and how to address it, you can protect your business from falling victim. Regular monitoring, security enhancements, and team education are key to maintaining a reliable online presence.

Book a Free Strategy Session and let’s see how we can help you

Content overview 1

Join the newsletter

Tips, trends, and tools to grow your home service business - straight to your inbox.

Thank you! Your submission has been received!

Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.

want to run a free website assessment?

Get your free SEO & AI Visibility Assessment. We’ll analyze how your website performs across Google and AI search engines — uncovering SEO gaps, speed issues, and LLM visibility opportunities that impact traffic and conversions.

Launch the most advanced AI-powered technology in the home services industry. Faster load times, higher rankings, greater visibility, and more conversions.

SPEAK TO AN EXPERT

TESTIMONIALS

What do our customers have to say about their experience with CI Web Group?

THE REAL STORY,
straight FROM OUR CUSTOMERS

I love this company! I have learned so much in a short amount of time. If your not working with them you definitely need to be.

Stacy

MAC Warehouse Air Conditioning & Heating

CI Web Group has been amazing to work with! Our company did a complete overhaul of our website and it turned out amazing. We have seen a substantial increase in calls and web traffic leading to a lot of new work since launching the new site. The whole team has been great to work with especially Vee & Addison. Can't recommend them enough if your looking to take your HVAC & Plumbing company's digital marketing to the next level!

Ben Warner

Warner Services

As someone who's worked with a lot of vendors, I can confidently say CI Web Group stands out in every way. From the moment we started working together on rebuilding the HRI Plumbing website, I was blown away by their professionalism, creativity, and the sheer amount of value they bring to the table. This experience has been nothing short of awesome. The attention to detail, responsiveness, and strategic thinking they’ve shown throughout the process continue to impress me. I'm genuinely excited about what we’ve accomplished so far and what’s still ahead. Thank you to the entire CI Web Group team—you’ve made a huge impact, and I truly appreciate everything you do.

Chris Williams

HRI Plumbing

I've been with CI Web Group for countless years and I can honestly say that they have always had me and my company's best interest first and always. I feel fully heard, and fully taken care of by all their staff. And it doesn't hurt that my business has increased substantially with their expertise.

Jen Coen

LJ Refrigeration

I had the pleasure of working with the CI Web Group team on an HVAC industry conference. The team helped with marketing including email, landing page development and website development. The team members are responsive and dedicated to ensuring that their clients are satisfied with the outcome. They were quick to make any changes I suggested and forthcoming with thoughts and ideas which was very helpful. I would highly recommend them!

Brittany Doering

TACCA

CI Web Group has been such a joy to work with. They have been so thorough and proactive with all the onboarding and project management. For the first time since managing my company's marketing department, I have confidence that everything is being handled in a timely manner without having to micromanage them! I highly recommend CI Web Group!

Hannah Messer

Springdale Heating & Air

We have used CI Web Group for years for our website design, SEO and SEM services for our HVAC company. Our results and reporting have been stellar. We have worked with a few other online marketing companies and none of them have been as on top of web edits for us. They do a fantastic job communicating updates and new products, offer monthly reporting to ensure they are tracking results, and every single team member is easy to reach and are great communicators. Hoda has been especially wonderful lately as our lead point of contact for a complete website relaunch. A+ service and performance.

Midwest Comfort

Such a professional marketing company with team members that understand the in and outs of marketing and service. Vee is an all-star, Beca helped me create an awesome website. Can not say enough about how great CI Web Group is. I have had 3 marketing companies in the last 10-years and no one has processes like CI Web Group. Such a blessing working with Vee and Beca!!

Ryan Black

Integrity Refrigeration & AC

Great company. They stay on top of the latest industry information to make sure my business stays relevant on Google. Vee and Andrew and the rest of the team always is super attentive to me and is there when I need them. Thank you very much for what you do!

Shane Viggiani

Ampere Electric

Absolutely fantastic group of people!! Everyone we have worked with has been 100% top tier! Very friendly and extremely helpful, regardless of whether you are an SEO novice or Pro. They always make sure you have exactly what you need!

Zack Grossenburg

Mr. Breeze Heating & Cooling

CI Web Group always provides excellent service. We would recommend them to anyone. Thank you for taking such good care of Sinclair Air.

Sinclair Air

CI web group was a game changer for Econo West Air we have been amazed on how professional they are. ... Not to mention my inquiries on my web page are off the charts.

Dave Kerr

Econo West Air

CI has built the engine that can- it it just keeps getting better and further ahead.

Stephanie Allen

Air Works Solutions

TemperaturePro San Antonio began working with CI web Group in early 2023 to transition over website services. The process was painless & smooth. The entire team, from onboarding, development, content and support, have all been amazing to work with. Each division is incredibly responsive and keeps me in the loop on all processes. I would highly recommend CI Web Group.

Courtney Meier

TemperaturePro

I’VE BEEN WITH CI WEB FOR YEARS, THE NEW AI ENABLED WEB PLATFORM GETS BETTER RANKINGS

Reviewer name

CI Web Group is hands-down the BEST marketing company we have ever worked with. From day one, they made us feel like family—not just another client. They don’t just provide amazing marketing services; they truly care. Whenever we’re thriving, they cheer us on, and whenever we’re struggling, they recognize it and jump in immediately to help. Their team has built us the best website we’ve ever had, delivered top-notch SEO that actually works, and given us expert advice on all things Google—from Local Service Ads to PPC. Every single thing they do is A+ quality. If you’re looking for a marketing company that delivers results AND genuinely has your back, CI Web Group is the only choice. We can’t recommend them enough!

Amanda Fairbrother

Cherry Blossom Plumbing