01 · Diagnostic Test: Are you missing by name, or missing by trade?
Two completely different problems with different fixes
Before changing anything, run these two 10-second searches on your phone:
Test A: Search your exact business name + townExample: "O'Connor Heating Midleton"
If you don't appear here, you have a Verification, Suspension, or Indexing block (Fixes 1 to 4 below).
Test B: Search the job + town a customer typesExample: "boiler service midleton"
If you pass Test A but fail Test B, you have a Category, Service, or Town-Page gap (Fixes 5 to 9 below).
02 · Fixes 1 to 4: When you don't even show up for your own name
Verification, suspensions, and unindexed websites
- Fix 1 — Your profile is 'Verified' but still in Google's 72-hour pending queue: Right after passing video verification in Ireland, your dashboard often says "Verified" while the public map pin takes 3 to 5 days to go live. Check if it says "Edits are being reviewed".
- Fix 2 — Your street address was cleared without setting Service-Area towns: If you hid your home address as a mobile trade but left the Service Areas field blank, Google Maps has no geographic polygon to attach your business to. Add your 10 to 15 towns immediately.
- Fix 3 — Duplicate profile or soft suspension at the same Eircode: If an old agency or directory created a duplicate listing with the same phone number or Eircode, Google filters one of them out. Claim and merge or remove the duplicate.
- Fix 4 — Your website has a leftover
noindex tag or no Search Console sitemap: Many web designers build a site on a staging link with <meta name="robots" content="noindex"> or Disallow: / in robots.txt and forget to remove it on launch day. Type site:yourdomain.ie into Google — if zero pages appear, verify Google Search Console and submit /sitemap.xml.
03 · Fixes 5 to 9: When you show up by name, but vanish for '[Trade] [Town]'
Why customers searching for the job never see you
- Fix 5 — Wrong Primary Category: If a customer searches "roof cleaning cork" and your primary category is
Window cleaning service with no Pressure washing service or Roofing contractor category added, Google filters you out before ranking even begins.
- Fix 6 — Your website homepage says 'Welcome' instead of the job and town: If your page title is "Home | Walsh Electrical Ltd" instead of "Electrician in Limerick | Rewiring, Fuseboards & EV Chargers | Walsh Electrical", Google doesn't know which search you belong on.
- Fix 7 — You are searching for a town 12 km away with no page for that town: A Google Business Profile alone rarely ranks in the top 3 outside a 4–6 km radius if there are competitors based inside that next town. Build a dedicated page for every town you cover.
- Fix 8 — The Google Maps 'Proximity Filter' hid you behind a competitor on the same street: When two businesses share the exact same category within 200 metres, Google sometimes collapses the weaker one until the user zooms in. Differentiate your secondary categories, services, and review count.
- Fix 9 — Zero reviews in the last 6 months: A profile that hasn't received a review since 2023 drops steadily behind active local competitors. Send your review link to your last 5 happy customers this week.
Common Questions
Frequently asked questions
How long after building a new `.ie` website does it show up on Google?
If you verify the domain in Google Search Console, submit an XML sitemap, and ping IndexNow, Google usually indexes the homepage within 24 to 72 hours. Ranking on page 1 for competitive trade or clinic keywords takes 3 to 10 weeks depending on the pages and local competition.
Why did my business suddenly disappear from Google Maps overnight?
Sudden disappearance is almost always either (a) a profile suspension triggered by changing your business name, address, or phone number all at once, or (b) Google's 'Possum' proximity filter hiding your pin because another business with the same primary category verified at the same building or industrial estate.
Does having a `.ie` domain help me show up higher in Ireland than `.com`?
Yes. The `.ie` ccTLD (registered through IEDR with an Irish connection) is an explicit country-level signal to Google that your business serves users in Ireland on google.ie.
Written by Bartek · Founder, RankHigher.ie