You moved, your phone number changed, or you stopped offering a service. Yet a customer turned up at the old address, called a dead number, or asked for something you no longer do. You search for your own business on Google and are surprised: information from years ago is still sitting there.
The good news is that this usually gets fixed. The bad news is that the information lives in several places, and a different person controls each one. In this article I explain how to find the source when you see wrong information on Google, which parts you can correct yourself, and who to ask about the rest. Address and opening hour problems on the map card are a separate topic; here we look at the bigger picture.
Where does Google get its information?
Google does not invent facts. It collects what it finds about you and displays it. So you first need to find where the wrong information comes from. There are four main sources:
| Source | Who controls it? |
|---|---|
| Your own website | You, or the person who built it |
| Other websites (directories, news, guides) | The owner of that site |
| Google's earlier copy (the cached version) | Google; it refreshes over time |
| Your Google business profile | You |
If you try to fix things without finding the right source, you waste effort. Take a screenshot of the wrong information and note which page and which search it appeared on.
Old pages on your own website
This is the case I meet most often. An announcement from years ago, the page for a service you dropped, or an old phone number is still sitting on the site. Google reads it from there and shows it.
Things you can check yourself:
- Search your site for the old number, old address or old name. If the site has no search box, search Google for the old detail together with your website address, and the matching pages usually show up.
- Go through the home page, the contact page and the footer at the bottom of every page.
- Look for service pages that are no longer valid.
Give the person who looks after your site a list of what you find. If a page with wrong information is no longer needed, ask them to redirect it to the right page instead of just deleting it, so a customer who finds the old page does not end up on an empty one.
Old address and phone on other websites
Sometimes the problem is not with you. A business directory you signed up to years ago, a chamber of commerce list, a city guide or a news article may still publish old details. You cannot change these yourself; you need to contact the owner of that page.
The order I suggest:
- Note the address of the page showing the wrong information.
- Look for a contact form, an email address or a "correct this listing" option on that site.
- Write a short, polite message with the correct details, your business name and the page address.
- If there is no reply, write once more after a week or two.
Doing this one by one is tedious. If there are many listings, rank them: the places customers see most come first.
Older news articles are usually not changed, so keep expectations low. For legal issues, consult a lawyer.
Google's cached version and delays
Sometimes you have fixed your site but Google still shows the old version. The reason is that Google keeps a copy of pages and takes time to refresh it. The more often a page is visited, the faster it refreshes; rarely visited pages take longer.
What you need to do is make sure the fix is really live, then wait. In urgent cases, the site owner or an expert can ask Google to look at the page again. There is no guaranteed timeline. If you fixed your own site and several weeks have passed but old information still appears, it may be fed from another source, so go back to the list above.
Removing a page on someone else's site from Google is generally not possible while that page is still live. The source has to be corrected first.
Your Google business profile
The business card beside the search results is under your control. If the name, phone, opening hours or description there are out of date, you can correct them in your profile. If you own the profile, you can do this yourself or have an expert do it. Other people or former employees can also suggest changes, so check your profile now and then.
Fixing the profile may not correct everything in the search results, because Google compares information from several sources. If they do not match, old information can come back. So make the sources consistent first.
Start with a small record
Prepare a simple table: the wrong information, where it appears, the page address, who you wrote to and when. It makes follow-up easier and gives you a ready note for the person helping you. The same error may sit in five places. After your corrections, repeat the search about a month later and add the result to the table.
Who fixes what?
- You: your Google business profile, the parts of your site you manage.
- The person who built your site: old pages, redirects, update notifications.
- Another site's owner: the wrong address, phone or old article on that site.
- Google: refreshing the cached version; its own request routes for content that breaks its rules or contains personal data.
Frequently asked questions
How long until the old information disappears?
There is no fixed time. On your own site it can range from days to weeks; on other sites it depends on when the owner acts.
I am losing customers over an old address. What should I do first?
Correct your profile and the contact page of your site. Also announce the new details on social media and in your phone greeting.
Can I write to Google and have old information deleted?
There is no general right to have old information deleted. Google updates pages over time when the source changes or is removed. For unlawful content or personal data there are separate routes; ask a lawyer.
Google shows my business as closed. What now?
First make sure the business status in your profile is correct. Then check that your site and other directories tell the same story; when sources conflict, Google may pick the wrong one.
Wrapping up
Seeing wrong information is annoying, but the fix usually starts with finding the source. Record it, find where it comes from, fix what is yours, and write to the right person for the rest. If you would like to go through the sources together and make a correction plan, you can reach me through my SEO services page.