Your agency put the wrong address on Google Maps and customers keep turning up at the old place

Why the wrong address is still showing

Your website and your Google Maps listing are two completely separate things. Changing the address on your website does nothing to Google Maps. They do not talk to each other.

Google Maps pulls its address from a separate free tool called Google Business Profile. Someone has to log into that tool and change the address there. If your agency set up the profile years ago in their own Google account, you cannot do it yourself - and clearly, they have not done it either.

So the website says the new address. Google says the old one. Customers search on their phone, get directions, and end up outside a building you left six months ago.

Who owns your Google Business Profile

Here is the bit most business owners do not realise: the listing belongs to the business, not the agency. Google is very clear on this. The agency is just a manager on the account - they do not own it any more than your accountant owns your bank account.

The reason it feels like they own it is that they set it up using their own email address, so when you try to log in, you cannot find it. That is a setup problem, not an ownership problem.

You can take direct control of the listing yourself, without the agency's cooperation. Google has a process specifically for this.

How to take the listing back from your agency

First, try the polite route. Email the agency and ask them to add you as the Primary Owner of the Google Business Profile, using your personal Gmail or work email. A reasonable agency will do this in five minutes.

If they ignore you, drag their feet, or say they need to charge you for it, skip them entirely. Go to google.com/business, sign in with your own email, and search for your business. Google will show the existing listing and offer a button that says something like "Request access" or "Claim this business".

Google then emails the current owner (the agency) and gives them seven days to respond. If they do not respond, ownership transfers to you automatically. Most agencies, when they realise the customer is leaving, just ignore the email and let the transfer happen. It is the path of least resistance for them.

How to fix the address yourself in 10 minutes

Once you have access, the fix itself is trivial. Search for your business on Google while signed in, click "Edit profile", change the address, and save. Google may ask for re-verification by post - a postcard arrives at the new address in five to seven days with a code on it. Type the code in and you are done.

While you are in there, also check:

• The phone number is correct
• The opening hours are right
• The service area (if you deliver or travel to customers) covers the right postcodes
• There are recent photos of the actual premises
• Any old reviews that mention the old address are not the most prominent ones shown

The agency that forgot to update Google Maps almost certainly forgot to update Bing Maps, Apple Maps, and your Facebook page too. Worth half an hour of your evening to check all four.

How to stop this happening again

The root cause is that someone you pay every month considered your Google listing to be outside the scope of their job. The agency that lets customers turn up at an empty building for six months is the same agency that sends you a £150 invoice for hosting that month.

Whoever looks after your website should also be looking after the basic stuff that decides whether customers can actually find you. Google Business Profile updates take ten minutes a month, if that. They should be included, not extra.

I am SkipTheAgency - a solo developer who does exactly this kind of work for UK small businesses. The Maintained plan at £65/month covers your hosting, your site changes, and your Google Business Profile updates as standard. No tickets, no waiting five days for an address change, no customers turning up at the old shop.