How can I PREVENT my page from ranking for a keyword?

[geodigitalmarketing]

Hello,

I'm in a unique situation where I need to prevent a web page and business listing from ranking for a keyword in Google. The keyword is a phone number that is not associated with the business and is not listed anywhere on the page or in reviews on the business listing. It's causing confusion for people who perform a reverse phone number lookup and see our business and think we called them. I already submitted feedback on the search results, have contacted GMB support, have submitted the page for indexing in Search Console, and am now going to try displaying the correct phone number in the page title and meta description. 
Aside from these steps, is there anything else I can do? Your help is appreciated!

Thanks!

• Lindsey

[geodigitalmarketing]

Thanks, Miriam!  I appreciate your time and expertise. We'll continue to proceed with the steps you recommended.  I'll also provide an update if we do eventually resolve the issue!

-Lindsey

[MiriamEllis]

Hi Lindsey,

Wow - okay, yes, this is really a strange scenario, and after looking through the details of your reply, I can honestly say I've never seen anything quite like this before.

I was hoping that your replies to my questions would lead us both to discover that this phone number is actually listed somewhere on the website, but I can find no reference to it. I wasn't able to reproduce BrightLocal pulling this up at zip code level, but as local people have sent you screenshots of this, then clearly it's happening. It seems extremely odd that Google would pull all this together from comments including the business name on the pages of reverse phone number lookup sites, but I can't find any other website referencing the number, leading me to ask, "Can Google really be pulling this together this way?".

I have two suggestions.

1. Short term: I would suggest that the medical center change the automated phone number message so that is stating the proper number so that at least patients are being given some clue of what they should dial to reach the center. I called the number and it didn't give me the correct number to call for this particular service.

2. Long term: There could be something I am overlooking here, in the limited time I have to dig into this. The best local sleuth I know is Joy Hawkins of Sterling Sky. I would recommend that the medical center gather those BrightLocal screenshots and reach out to Joy to see if you can book some of her consulting time. I would ask her to see if she can provide a clear hypothesis of why this is happening and a plan of action. Joy is a also a Google forum Top Contributor, so there is a chance she might be able to escalate your issue for you.

I hope these suggestions at least provide a path forward for you, if not a resolution of this mystery.

[geodigitalmarketing]

Hi Miriam,

Thank you for your response. Below are the answers to your questions.

1) What is the origin of this unwanted phone number? Was it previously used by the business or do you have no idea at all where it's coming from? The business we're referring to is a health system, and the phone number is an outgoing phone number that is used by physicians to anonymously call their patients. If you call the phone number, you hear a pre-recorded message that it is an outgoing phone number and are unable to reach anyone via that line. I'm unaware whether this phone number was ever used as an actual phone number, but it's very unlikely.

**2) If you have no idea where it's coming from, have you looked up the number in Google's main search engine to see which website pages it is published on?  **
The web pages this phone number is published on are all "reverse phone number" websites such as shouldianswer.com, npnr.org, okcaller.com, everycaller.com, callersmart.com, and so forth. These are all 3rd party sites that we have no control over.

4) If a third party, is the name and/or address of your business also published on the page that is listing the unwanted phone number?  The organization name appears in some of the user comments, but not this specific location's name or address. I've requested that the user comments be removed from the 3rd party sites, and they have been taken down. Most 3rd party sites just list the city. I've been unable to find the address or specific location name listed with the phone number.

6) Where, exactly, is Google displaying your name associated with this phone number? Is it in your Google Knowledge Panel? Is it in the organic results? The location is displaying in both Google organic results and the knowledge panel. The organic link always appears, but the knowledge panel only appears when performing a search in that geographic area. I've received screenshots from users searching in that area and have also been able to replicate it using BrightLocal's local search results checker.

Sadly, when looking in Search Console, this incorrect phone number is also the #1 keyword driving traffic to this page, so I'm eager to figure out a solution!

I'm attaching an image of the phone number and location as it appears in search results.

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[MiriamEllis]

Hi Lindsey,

This sounds like a difficult situation. I have a few questions:

1. What is the origin of this unwanted phone number? Was it previously used by the business or do you have no idea at all where it's coming from?

2. If you have no idea where it's coming from, have you looked up the number in Google's main search engine to see which website pages it is published on?

3. If yes to #2, do you control any of the website pages listing this number, or are they controlled by a third party?

4. If a third party, is the name and/or address of your business also published on the page that is listing the unwanted phone number?

5. If yes to #4, have you contacted the third party to ask them to update the page so that your name is no longer associated with the number?

6. Where, exactly, is Google displaying your name associated with this phone number? Is it in your Google Knowledge Panel? Is it in the organic results?

It would likely be most helpful if you could share the identity of the business in question, and perhaps the last 4 digits of the bad phone number (I don't recommend putting your name and phone number in the post or it will just add to references to your name+this phone number). If you aren't able to share the identity of the business, your answers to the above questions may at least help the community to offer better advice. So sorry to hear you're having trouble with this!