Google My Business phone support has ended, but help from the experts has not

Google has officially shut down its phone support for Google My Business, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get quality support. I wrote an article back in 2015 about phone support, and I still get questions about that post all the time, so I figured it was time for a follow-up about the current support options.

Phone support is gone (but not really)

On Nov. 11, Google officially shuttered Google My Business phone support and removed the numbers from the GMB home page. If you happen to have one of the numbers saved, you’ll hear a short voicemail directing you to the Google My Business Help Center.

If you click “contact” at the top right, you’ll see a list of potential issues – for many of these, you can still select a call back from Google support – but that’s not always the easiest solution. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and get a great support rep that helps solve your problem quickly. Other times you’ll get someone who’s entirely script-based and it’ll take some patience to get to the root of your problem and find a solution.

Local Search Forum is a helpful resource

Most of the time, the local search community is your best resource for assistance with Google My Business help. Joy Hawkins (a fellow Search Engine Land columnist) runs the Local Search Forum, which is probably the best place on the internet to find info on local search issues and tactics. 

Just head over to the forum’s “Google My Business & Google Maps” discussion and drop in your question. You’ll usually get an answer pretty quickly from one of the Local Search pros who frequent the forum.

Google My Business Forum is responsive as well

The Google My Business Forum is an awesome resource if you’re having any problems with your GMB listing. You can’t talk to anyone from Google, but it’s managed by Google “Product Experts”  (basically, GMB superusers who have special access to Google because they’ve helped users on the forum for a long period of time).

In most cases, the product experts will be able to answer your questions or help you with your problems, but if they get stumped, they can escalate issues directly to Google. The forum is a great place to get help with reinstating suspended listings, report inappropriate reviews or Q&A content, report GMB or maps spam or to get help with verification of a listing.

Your best support option is social media

I know, it sounds crazy – but most of the experts agree with me… The best way to get GMB support is through the Google social media channels. I’ve been sharing the Twitter link in conference presentations for years now – it’s by far my favorite method for getting GMB support. Send a tweet or a DM to @googlemybiz, and you’ll usually get a response within a day or two. Keep in mind, they’re only there Monday through Friday, so the weekend might cause more of a delay in response time.

You can also head over to the GMB Facebook page and either send a message or leave a post on the wall. Same as Twitter, they’re only there Monday through Friday. I’ve always preferred Twitter support, but I’ve heard from several Local Search experts that Facebook support is fast and efficient as well.