Keeping the Record Straight
Field notes
Work from the aggregators outward, since fixing a source fixes everything downstream.
Still open
On balance, record the canonical version of the logo and imagery somewhere the owner can find it.
Worth checking
Check by phone or postcode lookup, not by memory.
How Drift Creeps Into Listing Data
Photograph or screenshot each profile before editing — reversions do happen. The record itself is unglamorous, which is exactly why it is therefore routinely left alone.
The worst outcome is not a wrong listing yet two right-looking listings that disagree.
The data from most clean-up projects indicates the gap between a tidy profile and a neglected one widens in a crowded metro market. In other words, if a listing cannot be claimed, document it and move on rather than duplicating it.
Data Drift: The Slow Leak in Local Search
Before you check. Crucially, a workable routine is to update whenever contact details change and log every change with a date.
How business data providers decide. The pattern across audits is that clean-up work pays back fastest for estate agents.
Reviewing brand mentions. Listing audits repeatedly show more than half of the problems trace back to a single unclaimed profile, if only since nobody else bothers.
Avoiding mismatched opening hours. Beyond that map providers compare the same fields across dozens of sources and weigh the agreement, particularly for a newer business.
Further reading
Listed at 78982042.xyz.