Where does Google get its meta descriptions from?

[nhhernandez]

We have a new client and they don't have meta descriptions yet. However, Google has assigned descriptions for them now appearing on the SERPs. The problem is that Google added a phone number that's totally not the client's and goes to a different unrelated business. Our plan is to update the meta to reflect the correct information, however, we're just perplexed as to how Google came up with the incorrect phone number. Where does it get its information from? The page currently has all the correct phone number, hours, and content.

I've read that Google sometimes also doesn't recognise our meta descriptions if it thinks they could serve up a better one. My next question is, what if Google insists on showing the incorrect phone number. Is there a way we can fix this? Thanks!

[nhhernandez]

Thank you! Yes, we have a feeling the phone number came from a hidden code somewhere. We asked our client if their website was built by the same developer that built the site of the business where the phone number goes to. If this is the case, then that solves the mystery.

[Ian_Lewis]

Hey!

Thanks for posting, that's a really good question,

Google will typically create a meta description based on the content of that page, in this instance if the meta description is completely missing Google will use an algorithm to pull through keywords that it deems relevant to the user's search query, directly from the copy of the page.

One negative of this is, you will have a lack of control over what is displayed in the SERPs about your brand.

If the meta description is pulling through an incorrect phone number, this may be caused by a hidden piece of code on the page, that Google deems relevant.

Do you have an the page URL as an example?

That being said, when you come to update the meta description, as long as it contains relevant and up to date information based on the content of the page and it's within Google guidelines, (150 - 160 Characters) then Google should not find the need to create a meta description, and the bogus number should no longer be displayed.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,