Influencing telephone number search

[TimHolmes]

Hey All,

I am not sure this is possible but here goes...

I've a phone number pulled in from "Google My Business" for the company I work for Caravan Guard Insurance.

We have different numbers for specific functions e.g. claims, renewals, quotes.

Currently If I type in "caravan guard claims number" into Google Search it shows our general tel number which is clearly pulled in from GMB and the Knowledge Panel. Can this be influenced or have multiple options?

For example If I were to search "caravan guard number" it would continue to show our default customer number like present, but if I were to search for "caravan guard claims number" it shows our claims number.

Not sure it is possible, but thought I would ask.

Cheers all

Tim

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[Xiano]

The short answer is no. A single knowledge panel listing cannot have multiple options, and you can't get a single listing to serve up different numbers based on the department inferred.

You can add additional numbers (https://support.google.com/business/answer/3370250?hl=en#addlphone) but they will not display. My opinion on this is so that Google does not get confused if other citations (and your website) list other numbers for your business.

Also, within Google's guidelines you can create separate listings for multiple departments (https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en-GB#departments) but I don't think that is really aimed at what you're doing, and I think it would upset Google, so I wouldn't recommend it.

I see you use Google Ads, so one (possibly costly) alternative, if you're very worried about customer experience, is to use Google Ads to offer up the phone number. The CPC should be relatively low as I don't think there'd be much competition for the specific keywords and your landing page/phone number would be super relevant.

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Tim!

As Alex says, you can add multiple phone numbers to your GMB dashboard, but getting Google to associate the numbers as in your screenshot might not be possible. I'm wondering if Schema could influence this, but I don't know for sure on that.

However, I do want to raise the point that large companies with multiple departments are often eligible for multiple listings, and if the business is big enough, Google will display links to the department listings within the main listing. Adding an attachment to show what this looks like. https://imgur.com/a/7FGNPpw

I am not sure if your company is big enough for this treatment, but the fact that you have different phone numbers for different departments is a start. Read Google's Guidelines pertaining to "Departments within other Businesses" to see if you're eligible: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en

[TimHolmes]

Thank you for the tips guys, I am going to try and play with departments and see if that has the desired effect on search intent without negatively impacting our overall GMB profile and the knowledge panel.

[MiriamEllis]

You're welcome, Tim, and good luck!