A Google Bug in GMB is Placing Service Area Businesses (SABs) in the Center of the Country

This issue is impacting Service Area Businesses (SABs). The problem is Google is nulling the address in the backend. When setting up a SAB, you clear your address in the info tab. The address, while not shown, can be seen by Google. Since the listing has no address, Google is placing the listing in Independence, Kansas. The reason the listings are appearing in Kansas is that it is the center of the United States.

The issue drastically impacts the rankings and performance of the listing. The listing will not show up or rank in their area. Instead, countless SAB listings are ranking in Independence, Kansas. This glitch also hinders businesses located in Independence.

This issue seems to impact SAB in Canada, UK, Australia (where thye might show the business in Ghan, NT) and is likey a worldwide issue. You can check if this is impacting you by typing your business name in Google, Google will auto-suggest your business name and the city and state. If you are not seeing your city and state but somewhere far away from you, this technical issue impacts your listing.

It has been going on for a while and Google is aware of the issue. The process to fix this issue is to contact GMB Support for your address to be set in the backend.