Google confirmed by phone label in local panel may add trust to local listings

Google is testing displaying in some local panel listing results within search if the local details of the business have been confirmed. Google is adding a label to the local listing that says “confirmed by phone” followed by when it was last confirmed; such as 8 weeks ago.

What it looks like. Here is a screenshot I captured based on Saijo George spotting this and posting about it on Twitter:

As you can see, it says this business listing was “confirmed by phone call 8 weeks ago.”

Duplex. It is possible that these are the phone calls Google automatically places to businesses to confirm that the business is open, that the phone number still works and the hour of operations are correct. This may be powered by Google Duplex or humans at Google or both.

How to get the label. You might ask, how can you get this label added to your local listing? The truth is, you do not have control over that label. Google has to call you, you have to answer and respond to the call and then Google has to decide if they want to add the label to your listing.

Why we care. It is unclear if this feature will stick and if this label actually improves searcher trust and maybe clicks and interactions with the local business listing. But it is cool to see the various pieces of Google Duplex, Business Profiles, Web Search and more all start to come together in a single interface.

About The Author

Barry Schwartz a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land and a member of the programming team for SMX events. He owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on very advanced SEM topics. Barry’s personal blog is named Cartoon Barry and he can be followed on Twitter here.