A recent Google update indicates that Google can now pull Facebook data into a business’s Google My Business (GMB) listing.

Unfortunately, this could create problems for dealerships if their Facebook or GMB listing isn’t properly optimized or up-to-date (more on this in a moment).

As of now, service information from Facebook is being pulled into the GMB overview tab of some listings on mobile. The business owner or CEO’s name is also reportedly appearing from a number of different sources, including Facebook.

Here’s an example from Twitter. This tweet shows services being pulled from Facebook and the business owner’s name appearing on the mobile version of this plumbing business’s GMB listing:

A business owner’s name can also appear on the desktop view of a business’s GMB listing.

Here’s an example from a screenshot we took:

It appears GMB listings that have missing information can trigger Google to pull information from Facebook and other sources to fill in the gaps.

Currently, it isn’t yet known how often Google will pull information when GMB listings are incomplete.

In order for information to be pulled from Facebook and placed on a GMB listing, it’s believed that information will need to first exist on multiple company-owned sources (e.g. Facebook and a company’s website).

Profile pages with current information may become even more valuable if this acts as the data source.

Impact on automotive dealerships

The primary impact that this GMB update will have on automotive dealerships is the possibility that inaccurate information will be pulled from Facebook and placed on dealerships’ GMB listings.

To prevent this from happening, Dealer Teamwork recommends that dealerships fully optimize their GMB listings.

An optimized GMB listing contains other benefits for dealerships including:

• Improving your local SEO efforts by increasing your opportunity to show up in direct search (i.e. your company name) and local discovery search (i.e. Ford dealer near me)
• Providing more tracking capabilities and better reporting — allowing you to measure GMB phone calls, website visits and direction requests
• Adding more opportunities to connect with ready-to-buy customers
• And more

For tips and best practices on how to properly optimize your dealership’s GMB profile, check out our blog: Top 10 Ways Dealerships Can Optimize Google My Business Profiles To Drive Website Traffic.

Dealerships should also update their social media profiles to ensure name, address and phone number (NAP) information are accurate and consistent across profiles.

There are two reasons why dealerships should do this:

1. It further reduces the chance of Google pulling inaccurate information from Facebook and other sources if there’s missing information on your GMB listing
2. Accurate and consistent NAP information can have positive local SEO benefits, which can increase your dealership’s visibility to local automotive shoppers in the search results

Unfortunately, the process of updating NAP information across various profiles and filling out GMB listings can be tedious.

Because of this, many dealerships find it useful to work with a partner who can do this work for them.

At Dealer Teamwork, our unique Local SEO service differs from other Local SEO strategies. We’ve bundled the following into our service to emphasize driving business outcomes:

• GMB listing management and optimization to grow phone calls, appointments and website traffic
• GMB insight reporting to improve Local SEO tracking for fast and easy evaluation
• Automating online listing citation management to ensure NAP information is accurate and consistent across profiles and directories

You can learn more about our Local SEO service offering on our website, or sign up for a live demonstration with our team today.

Note: We’re keeping a close eye on new Google My Business enhancements.  We’ll share updates as more information on this Google feature becomes available.