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    4. Not Showing Up in Local Pack - Possible Possum Filter?

    Not Showing Up in Local Pack - Possible Possum Filter?

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    • sponnu0123
      sponnu0123 last edited by

      We have a medical practice client who isn't showing up at all on local category searches for their zip code. Wondering whether it's a Possum algorithm filter, and if so, how we can resolve this. The client is named Wall Street Dermatology, and is located in the same building as two other medical practices in the same dermatologist specialty. They share the same address (65 Broadway, New York, NY), but have different unit numbers. My client is Suite 904. To be clear, these are entirely separate businesses that are not affiliated with each other. They happen to be located in the same building. When running local searches (for example, in US zip code 10004) for the category term "dermatologist", my client is not appearing at all. The two other practices are appearing just fine. In fact, one of the competing practices has not only their practice listed, but one of their doctors individually and even one of the physician assistants. My client, Wall Street Dermatology, isn't showing up. IMO, the GMB profile is robust, with more reviews than competitors, and more content overall. While there's SEO work to be done, the citations and link profile exceeds some of the other practices who are showing up in "dermatologist" (use zip code 10004) searches. Google is showing profiles of dermatologists who haven't even claimed their profiles or have websites.One more thing: For a two-week span, the business was showing up in the 3-pack for "dermatologist" after making upgrades to the GMB profile. This was a first. So they've been there before. However, they made some changes to NAP. 1) added the providers name to the business name: "Business Name: Provider Name". 2) Updated "Suite" to "Ste" in order to match USPS. After that change, the business fell off entirely again.Note: We do appear on searches for the business name. And we do appear for some secondary keywords (for example, "Cosmetic Dermatology"), but not for the main keyword. Is this related to Possum (https://moz.com/learn/seo/google-possum)? Is Google confused that my client is related to the other practices in the same building? Any suggestions?

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      • ClaytonJ
        ClaytonJ last edited by

        There is probably not enough information for me to assist greatly.

        I would recommend an audit of all location citations for the client. Check the consistency of NAP.  Secondly, I would then be auditing what directories the competitors are listed in.  Would analyse the companies that are listed versus yours.  I would start there before -spreadsheet up competitors your client.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • DonnaDuncan
          DonnaDuncan last edited by

          sponnu0123,

          They show up for me. I searched for "dermatologist 10004" as well as "dermatology 10004". Wall Street Dermatology ranks #1 in the local pack for both phrases.

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • effectdigital
            effectdigital last edited by

            Would be nice to know what type of medical practice it is. You have companies that pioneer experimental treatments who have a foot in various buildings, then you have actual local surgeries and traditional medical practices. If you are working with medical practitioners of a very new, pioneering treatment - it may have been flagged YMYL (Your Money Your Life) and taken an EAT hit

            Just throwing this out there as others seem to have the basics nailed down

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • sponnu0123
              sponnu0123 last edited by

              Thanks everyone for responses, although it's not been figured out. To recreate the issue (which still exists), use Bright Locals local search results checker: Choose "dermatologist" in zip code 10006, which is the location of the practice:https://www.brightlocal.com/local-search-results-checker/Then open up the Maps results to see all of the dermatologists listed. My client Wall Street Dermatology isn't appearing at all under "dermatologist" which suggests some kind of suppression that we're trying to get to the bottom of.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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