🔍 Overview
The Business Assistant inside Search Atlas automatically scans your website and Google Business Profile (GBP) data to surface improvement suggestions. Two suggestions that commonly cause confusion are "No map detected on site" and "Address format mismatch." This article explains exactly what these checks do, why they may appear even when your setup looks correct, and whether ignoring them will hurt your GBP performance.
🗺️ How Map Detection Works
The Business Assistant checks for an embedded map on your website as part of its local SEO audit. There are two important limitations to understand:
- Homepage only: The map detection scan checks your homepage exclusively. If your embedded map lives on a Contact page, About page, or any other sub-page, the tool will not find it and will report "No map detected on site" — even though your map is correctly embedded and functioning.
- Hidden or toggled maps: Some website builders and themes allow maps to be hidden via UI controls, lazy-load settings, or conditional visibility rules. If your map is not rendered in the page source at the time of the scan, the tool will flag it as missing.
If you receive this suggestion and your map is already embedded, first confirm that the map appears on your homepage. If it is on a different page, you can either add a map to the homepage or safely disregard this suggestion — it will not affect your GBP ranking.
📍 How Address Formatting Suggestions Work
The Business Assistant compares the address listed on your website against the address stored in your Google Business Profile. It looks for differences in formatting, such as:
- Abbreviations vs. full words (e.g., St. vs. Street)
- Suite or unit number placement
- Comma usage and punctuation style
- State abbreviations vs. full state names
These are formatting suggestions only. The tool is designed to encourage consistency across your online presence, which is a recognised best practice for local SEO. However, minor formatting differences between your website and GBP do not directly influence your GBP ranking scores inside Search Atlas.
📊 Do These Suggestions Affect Your GBP Score?
This is the most important point to understand: the suggestions produced by the Business Assistant are automated recommendations, not hard ranking factors. Here is what you need to know:
- Map detection flag: Having or not having a map on your homepage does not directly change your GBP score within the platform. It is a best-practice signal, not a scored metric.
- Address formatting flag: Formatting differences between your website and GBP do not negatively impact your GBP performance score. Your score will not drop if you leave this suggestion unaddressed.
- Real GBP ranking factors include elements such as review volume and sentiment, posting frequency, citation consistency, and profile completeness — all of which you can manage directly inside the Local section of Search Atlas.
You can access your full local performance data by navigating to Left sidebar → Local → Overview (GBP Profile Completion). From there you can also manage posts, reviews, and local citations under their respective sub-pages.
✅ Recommended Actions
Use the following guidance to decide how to handle each suggestion:
- "No map detected on site" — Check whether your map is on the homepage. If yes, verify it is not hidden by a theme or lazy-load setting. If your map is on a contact or other sub-page and you prefer to keep it there, you can disregard this suggestion without any impact on your GBP score.
- "Address format mismatch" — Review the formatting difference flagged. If your address is accurate on both your website and GBP, the suggestion is safe to ignore. If you prefer full consistency, update the formatting on your website to match GBP exactly — either approach is acceptable.
- Focus on scored factors — Prioritise actions that directly influence your GBP performance, such as responding to reviews (Left sidebar → Local → Reviews (GBP Reviews)), publishing regular posts (Left sidebar → Local → Posts), and building citations (Left sidebar → Local → Local Citations).
💡 Key Takeaways
- Map detection only scans the homepage — maps on other pages will not be found.
- Address formatting suggestions highlight inconsistencies but do not lower your GBP score.
- Both suggestions are automated best-practice recommendations, not mandatory fixes.
- Your GBP score is driven by engagement, completeness, and citation signals — not by these formatting checks.
If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.