Troubleshooting: GBP Posts & Social Media Issues

🧊 Unfreeze OTTO Projects to Fix GBP Posting

🔍 Overview When an OTTO project is frozen, all connected features — including Google Business Profile (GBP) automated posting and profile management — are locked. You cannot disconnect a GBP profile, update posting settings, or make any edits to the project until it is unfrozen. This article explains why this happens and the steps you can take to resolve it. ❄️ Why Projects Get Frozen OTTO projects are frozen when your account does not have enough active OTTO plan slots to keep all projects running. Frozen projects continue to hold their slot in your quota but cannot be edited or managed. Common reasons this occurs include: - Your subscription plan was downgraded and you now have fewer OTTO slots available. - You activated new projects that pushed you over your plan limit. - Billing changes temporarily reduced your available slots. A frozen project still counts against your quota but is fully inactive — meaning GBP automated posting stops and you cannot disconnect the linked GBP profile without first resolving the frozen state. 🛠️ How to Unfreeze a Project To regain control of the GBP profile connected to a frozen project, you must first unfreeze it. Follow these steps: 1. In the left sidebar, click OTTO SEO, then select All Sites. 2. Locate the frozen project. Frozen projects are clearly labelled in the project list. 3. Check your current OTTO slot availability at the top of the page. If you have a free slot, click the frozen project and select Unfreeze. 4. Once unfrozen, the project becomes fully editable. You can now disconnect the GBP profile, update automated posting settings, or make any other changes needed. ⚠️ What to Do If You Have No Free Slots If all of your OTTO slots are in use, you will need to free up a slot before you can unfreeze the project you need to edit. You have two options: - Freeze a different active project — Navigate to OTTO SEO → All Sites, select a project you do not currently need active, and click Freeze. This frees up a slot you can use to unfreeze the project blocking your GBP work. - Upgrade your OTTO plan — If you need all current projects to remain active, consider upgrading to a plan with more OTTO slots. Contact our team via the chat widget for guidance on plan options. Once a slot is available, return to the frozen project, unfreeze it, complete your GBP edits or disconnections, and then re-freeze the project if you no longer need it active. 🔗 How to Disconnect a GBP Profile from a Project After the project is unfrozen, follow these steps to disconnect the Google Business Profile: 1. Go to OTTO SEO → All Sites and open the newly unfrozen project. 2. Navigate to the Overview tab for that project. 3. Locate the connected GBP profile under the Local SEO or GBP section. 4. Click the disconnect or remove option next to the GBP profile. 5. Confirm the disconnection when prompted. Once disconnected, the GBP profile is no longer linked to that OTTO project and can be connected to a different project or managed independently. 📋 Managing Multiple Frozen Projects with GBP Profiles If you have several frozen projects that all have GBP profiles attached, the most efficient approach is to work through them one at a time: - Unfreeze one project, disconnect its GBP profile, then re-freeze or delete that project if it is no longer needed. - Repeat for each remaining frozen project. - This approach avoids the need to upgrade your plan if your goal is simply to clean up and disconnect profiles. If you need to disconnect GBP profiles from a large number of frozen projects at once and do not have enough slots to work through them individually, reach out to our support team for assistance. 💡 Tips to Avoid This Issue in the Future - Before freezing a project, disconnect any GBP profiles you no longer need linked to it. - Regularly review your OTTO SEO → All Sites page to keep your active project list aligned with your plan's slot limit. - If you are approaching your slot limit, consider archiving or removing projects that are no longer in use rather than allowing them to be auto-frozen. 🙋 Need More Help? 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.

🛠️ Update Scheduled Posts and GBP

📝 Update a scheduled post 1. Open the scheduled posts area for the relevant project. 2. Select the post you want to update. 3. Make the required changes and save them. ⚙️ Complete GBP optimization tasks 1. Open the GBP optimization area for the relevant project. 2. Select the task you want to complete. 3. Follow the task instructions and save your progress. 📋 Provide details when the issue continues If you cannot update a scheduled post or complete a GBP optimization task, note the project name, affected post or task, the exact action you took, and the approximate time of the issue. A screenshot of the message can also help identify the problem. 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.

🔍 Why Some Google Business Profile Locations Are Missing from the Local Posts Section

If some of your Google Business Profile (GBP) locations don't appear in the Local → Posts section for automated Reviews and Postings, the issue is almost always related to how your Google account is connected, the status of each location, or how locations are assigned in Search Atlas. This article walks you through the most common causes and how to resolve them. ✅ Before You Start Make sure you have: - Admin or Manager access to the affected GBP locations in Google. - The Google account that owns or manages those locations. - Access to the Local SEO tool inside your Search Atlas dashboard. 🤔 Common Reasons Locations Are Missing 1️⃣ The location isn't connected to the right Google account Only locations managed by the connected Google account will sync. If a location is owned by a different Google account, it won't appear. 1. Go to Local → Posts (or your Local SEO settings). 2. Check which Google account is currently connected. 3. If the missing location is managed by a different account, disconnect and reconnect using the correct Google account, or add the location to the connected account in Google Business Profile Manager. If your account or project was recently migrated, your GBP connection may simply need to be re-established. Re-connecting your location is standard re-onboarding and does not mean your data was lost. 2️⃣ The Google connection expired and automation was paused If the connected Google account's authorization later expires or is revoked, Search Atlas automatically pauses Posts and Reviews automation for the affected locations until the connection is restored. When this happens, you'll receive an in-app notification that reads "GBP automations paused — reconnection required" with a link to the Google reconnect flow. The location can appear unavailable or stop generating posts even though nothing else changed. 1. Check your dashboard notifications for a "reconnection required" alert. 2. Reconnect the Google account from Local → Posts (or your Local SEO settings). 3. Once reconnected, the location's automation resumes. Note that any posts published directly on Google while the connection was down won't appear in Search Atlas until after you reconnect and the next sync runs. 3️⃣ The location hasn't been imported or selected After connecting your Google account, locations must be imported and enabled in Search Atlas. A location may be connected but not yet selected for automation. 1. Open your Local SEO project settings. 2. Look for the list of available GBP locations. 3. Make sure the missing location is toggled on or selected for Posts and Reviews. 4. Save your changes and refresh the page. 4️⃣ The location's verification or status isn't eligible Google only allows posts and review features on locations that are verified and in good standing. Locations that are unverified, suspended, duplicate, or pending will not appear or will be unavailable for automation. - Unverified: Complete verification in Google Business Profile Manager. - Suspended: Resolve the suspension with Google before the location can sync. - Pending or duplicate: Wait for Google to finalize the status, then re-sync. 5️⃣ Insufficient permissions on the Google account The connected Google account needs Manager or Owner access to each location. "Site manager" or limited roles may prevent a location from syncing for posting and review features. 1. In Google Business Profile, open the location and check your access level. 2. Request Manager or Owner access if needed. 3. Reconnect the account in Search Atlas after permissions are updated. 6️⃣ The location belongs to a different business group or account organization If your locations are spread across multiple business groups or location groups in Google, only the group tied to the connected account will sync. Confirm the missing location lives in the same group as the others. 7️⃣ Plan or location limits have been reached Every account has a usage limit for GBP automated posting, based on your account's allowed automated postings plus any purchased top-up quota. If you've reached your limit, additional locations won't appear as available. - Review your current plan's location allowance. - Remove an unused location or upgrade your plan to add more. - Deleted or disconnected locations do not count toward your limit. If you previously removed a location and later restore it, it may re-occupy an automation slot, so re-check your usage after restoring any locations. 🛠️ Step-by-Step Troubleshooting Work through these steps in order to resolve most missing-location issues: 1. Confirm the connected account. Verify that Search Atlas is connected to the Google account that manages all your locations. 2. Check for a reconnection alert and re-sync your locations. Look for a "GBP automations paused — reconnection required" notification. Disconnect and reconnect the Google account, or use the refresh/re-sync option in Local SEO settings to pull the latest list. 3. Check each location's status in Google. Ensure missing locations are verified, active, and not suspended or duplicated. 4. Verify your access level. Make sure the connected account has Manager or Owner permissions on every location. 5. Enable the location for automation. Toggle on the location for Posts and Reviews and save. 6. Confirm plan limits. Make sure you haven't exceeded the number of locations included in your plan. 7. Refresh and wait. After making changes, allow a few minutes and refresh the page. Newly verified or reconnected locations can take a short time to appear. 💬 Still Not Seeing Your Locations? If you've completed every step above and a location is still missing, contact our support team with the following details so we can investigate quickly: - The exact business name and address of the missing location. - The Google account email connected to Search Atlas. - The location's current status in Google Business Profile (verified, pending, suspended, etc.). - Your access level on that location (Owner or Manager). - Whether you've received a "GBP automations paused / reconnection required" notification. - A screenshot of your Local → Posts location list. Providing this information up front helps us identify the cause and restore your missing locations faster.

🛠️ GBP Auto Respond and Automated Posting Quota Issues

🔍 Overview Some users encounter two related issues inside the Google Business Profile (GBP) section of Search Atlas: - Auto Respond won't enable — the toggle stays off even after clicking to save changes. - Automated Posting shows a quota error — the platform reports you have hit a 10-account limit even though your actual number of connected listings is much lower. Both issues are caused by backend quota counting bugs, not by anything the user has misconfigured. Engineering has identified and resolved systemic quota-counting errors that allowed usage counters to become inflated or misaligned with the actual number of listings on an account. If you are experiencing either symptom, follow the steps below before contacting support. ✅ Step 1: Confirm Your Actual Listing Count Before reaching out, verify how many GBP listings are connected to your account. If the number shown in the Automated Posting quota error does not match your real listing count, this confirms the counter is inflated on the backend — which is a known bug that requires a support team correction. 🔄 Step 2: Try Disabling and Re-enabling the Feature For both Auto Respond and Automated Posting, try the following: 1. Turn the feature off completely. 2. Save or apply the change. 3. Wait a few seconds, then turn the feature back on. 4. Save again and refresh the page. In some cases, this clears a stale state and allows the setting to save correctly. If the toggle still reverts to off or the quota error reappears, proceed to the next step. 🔄 Step 3: Check for Recent Plan Changes If your account has recently been downgraded from a higher plan to a lower one, your Automated Posting quota may not have been correctly adjusted at the time of the change. This is a known issue where the quota counter is not properly enforced during plan transitions, which can leave your account in an inconsistent state. Make a note of any recent plan changes so you can share this context with the support team. 💬 Step 4: Contact Support for a Backend Quota Reset If the steps above do not resolve the issue, the quota counter on your account needs to be corrected manually by the support team — exactly as was done for the customer who reported this problem originally. This is not something you can fix from within the platform settings. When you contact support, include the following information to speed up the resolution: - Which feature is affected: Auto Respond, Automated Posting, or both. - The exact error message you see (e.g., "10-account limit reached"). - The actual number of GBP listings connected to your account. - Whether your plan has changed recently. 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. 📋 What to Expect After Support Intervenes Once the support team corrects the quota on the backend, both Automated Posting and Auto Respond should become available to enable without errors. You do not need to reconnect your listings or change any settings — the fix is applied on the account level. After confirmation from the support team, refresh the page and attempt to enable the features again. ⚠️ Known Background Context Engineering has shipped fixes for several quota-counting bugs in the GBP Automated Posting system, including cases where the usage counter allowed activity above the plan limit, and cases where the counter became inflated independently of actual usage. If you are seeing a quota error that clearly does not reflect your real usage, you are likely affected by a residual instance of one of these bugs. Reporting it through the chat widget helps the team identify and resolve any remaining cases.

📍 Fix GBP Automated Posting & Billing Disputes

📋 Overview Some customers have experienced automated Google Business Profile (GBP) posting stopping unexpectedly, or have noticed quota counts that did not reflect their actual active locations. Separately, customers who cancelled their subscription and expected a refund for charges made shortly after cancellation have raised billing disputes. This article explains what happened, what has been fixed, and what steps to take if you are still affected. 🛑 Why Did Automated GBP Posting Stop? Automated GBP posting may have paused for one or more of the following reasons: - Quota counted deleted locations: A bug caused deleted or disconnected GBP locations to remain counted toward your active posting quota. This inflated your quota usage and, in some cases, caused the system to treat your account as over-limit, preventing new posts from being generated for approval. - Posts not entering the approval queue: Even when a custom posting frequency was correctly configured, a pipeline issue prevented new posts from being created and surfaced for review. - Review replies posted despite quota being disabled: A separate issue allowed review reply automation to continue even when GBP automation quota was turned off at the admin level. This has also been resolved. ✅ What Has Been Fixed The Search Atlas engineering team has resolved the core issues that caused these problems. Here is a summary of completed fixes: - Quota counting corrected: Deleted and inactive locations are no longer counted toward your active GBP posting quota. Your quota should now accurately reflect only connected, active locations. - Post generation restored: The automated posting pipeline has been updated so that posts are generated and queued for approval according to your configured frequency. - Review reply automation scoped correctly: Review replies now respect quota settings. Automation will not run when GBP quota is disabled. - Pipeline reliability improvements: Additional work is in progress to ensure exact-minute publishing, eliminate stalled background jobs, drain any backlog of queued posts, and improve system observability so issues like these are caught earlier. 🔍 Check Your Current Posting Status After these fixes, your automated GBP posting should resume automatically. To verify everything is working correctly, follow these steps: 1. Log in to Search Atlas and navigate to Local → GBP Galactic (GBP Projects) in the left sidebar. 2. Confirm your locations are connected and show as Active. 3. Check your posting frequency settings to ensure your preferred schedule is still configured. 4. Review the Posts Pending Approval queue to see if new posts have been generated. 5. If the approval queue is empty and no posts have appeared within your expected posting window, proceed to contact support using the instructions at the bottom of this article. 💳 Billing Disputes and Refund Questions If you cancelled your subscription and were subsequently charged — for example, if you cancelled on July 7th but were billed on July 9th — here is how billing and cancellations work, and what to expect: - Cancellation effective date: Cancellations take effect at the end of your current billing period. A charge that occurs after a cancellation request but before the billing period ends may still be valid, depending on when in the cycle you cancelled. - Refund eligibility: If you believe a charge occurred in error — outside your billing period, or after your access was fully terminated — you may be eligible for a refund. Refund requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis. - Documenting your request: To help our team validate your refund request as quickly as possible, have the following ready: your account email address, the exact cancellation date, the charge date and amount, and any confirmation emails you received. Our team cannot process refunds through this knowledge base. Please use the support chat described below so a human teammate can access your account history and confirm whether a refund was issued or is owed. 🛠️ Still Experiencing Issues? If automated posting has not resumed, your quota still appears incorrect, or you need a billing dispute reviewed, our support team can investigate your specific account. 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.

🔧 Fix GBP Post Count and Visibility Discrepancies

Overview If your Search Atlas dashboard shows a total post count (for example, 19 posts) but only a smaller number appear in your visible post list, this can be confusing. This article explains why this happens and how to confirm that your Google Business Profile (GBP) posts were successfully published. Why the Post Count and Visible List Differ The total post count displayed in your dashboard reflects all posts ever created or scheduled for your Google Business Profile — including posts that have already expired, been removed by Google, or are no longer active. The visible list, by contrast, shows only your currently active and live posts. Google automatically expires certain GBP post types after a set period. This is a Google platform behaviour, not a Search Atlas issue. Common reasons for the discrepancy include: - Expired posts: Some GBP post types expire after a set period and are removed from the live view automatically by Google. - Google content policies: Occasionally, Google may not publish or may remove a post that conflicts with its content guidelines. - Scheduled vs. published posts: Posts that are queued for a future date are counted in the total but are not yet visible on your profile. - Post rollover: As new posts are added, older posts may no longer appear in the active visible list on your profile. How to Confirm Search Atlas Published Your Posts Search Atlas automatically publishes posts to your connected Google Business Profile on the scheduled date and time. To verify that a post was successfully sent: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas dashboard and navigate to the GBP posting area. 2. Locate the post in question and review any status or indicator information shown for that post to determine whether it has been submitted to Google. 3. Cross-check directly in your Google Business Profile manager at business.google.com to see which posts are currently live on your profile. If a post appears there, it was successfully published. 4. If a post you expected to be live does not appear in your GBP manager, note the post details (title, scheduled date and time) so you can report them to the support team. What to Do If a Post Did Not Publish as Expected If you believe a post was not published correctly, try the following steps: 1. Go to your account settings and verify that your Google Business Profile is still connected and authorised under your integrations. 2. If the authorisation appears to have expired, reconnect the integration and attempt to republish the post. 3. Check your GBP manager at business.google.com to confirm whether the post appears there. 4. If the post is still missing after reconnecting and republishing, contact our support team with the post details (title, scheduled date and time) for further investigation. 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.

🔧 Troubleshooting Otto GBP Content Publishing Failed Errors

🧭 Overview When Otto is enabled on your Google Business Profiles (GBPs), it automatically schedules and publishes content such as posts, updates, and offers. If you see a content publishing failed notification for one or more GBPs, it means Otto attempted to publish but encountered an error before completion. This article walks you through the most common root causes and the steps to resolve each one. 🔍 Step 1: Identify How Many GBPs Are Affected Before troubleshooting, determine the scope of the problem. This helps narrow down whether the issue is isolated to a single profile or systemic across your account. - Go to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) (URL: /seo-automation-v3). - Review your Otto-enabled GBPs and note which ones show the content publishing failed status. - If only one GBP is failing, the issue is likely profile-specific (permissions or data). If multiple GBPs are failing simultaneously, the issue is more likely API-level or account-level. ⚠️ Step 2: Check the Four Root Cause Categories Most publishing failures fall into one of four categories. Work through each one in order. 1. Image Validation Errors Google enforces strict image requirements for GBP posts. Otto will fail to publish if an image does not meet these standards. - Minimum size: 400 × 300 pixels. Maximum file size: 5 MB. - Accepted formats: JPG and PNG only. GIF, WebP, and HEIC files are not supported. - Images must not contain watermarks, overlaid text that covers more than 10% of the image, or prohibited content under Google's policies. - To fix: open the affected GBP's content settings in Otto, remove or replace the non-compliant image, and re-trigger publishing. 2. API Connection Errors Otto connects to Google Business Profile via the Google My Business API. A broken or expired connection will cause all publishing attempts to fail. - In Left sidebar → Local (GBP Projects), locate the affected GBP and check its connection status indicator. - If the connection shows as disconnected or expired, click Reconnect and complete the Google OAuth flow. - After reconnecting, wait up to five minutes and check whether queued posts publish successfully. 3. Permissions Errors Otto requires Owner or Manager level access to a GBP in order to publish content. If your role was changed, or the Google account used to connect the profile was removed from the GBP, publishing will fail. - Log in to Google Business Profile Manager (business.google.com) and confirm the connected Google account has Manager or Owner access to the affected profile. - If the account was downgraded to Site Manager or removed entirely, restore the correct permission level and then reconnect the profile inside Otto. 4. Data Format Errors GBP posts have content rules that Otto must follow. Publishing fails when post content exceeds limits or uses unsupported characters. - Post text must not exceed 1,500 characters. - Offer posts require a valid start date and end date; missing or past-dated offers will be rejected by Google. - URLs attached to posts must be fully qualified (beginning with https://) and must resolve without redirect errors. - To fix: review the scheduled post content in Otto, correct any field that violates these rules, and save the changes before re-publishing. ✅ Step 3: Confirm the Fix With Resolution Checkpoints After applying a fix, use these checkpoints to confirm the issue is fully resolved before moving on. 1. Return to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO → All Sites (SEO Automation) and open the affected GBP. 2. Verify the profile's connection status shows Connected with a green indicator. 3. Check that the previously failed post now shows a status of Published or Scheduled, not Failed. You can verify this in Left sidebar → Local → Posts (GBP Posts). You can verify this in Left sidebar → Local → Posts (GBP Posts). 4. If the post was published, confirm it is visible on the live GBP listing by visiting the Google Business Profile directly. 5. If failures persist after completing all steps above, note the exact error message displayed in Otto and proceed to the next section. 🔁 Step 4: If Errors Continue After Troubleshooting If you have worked through all four root cause categories and the publishing failure persists, the issue may require account-level investigation. Before reaching out, collect the following information to speed up resolution: - The name and location of the affected GBP(s). - The exact error message shown in the Otto dashboard. - The date and time of the most recent failed publishing attempt. - A screenshot of the connection status screen for the affected profile. 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.

📅 Fix GBP Automated Posts Not Appearing

🔍 Overview After configuring automated posts for your Google Business Profile (GBP), you may notice that no posts appear — even when the start date is set to today. This guide walks you through the most common causes and how to fix them so your posts publish as expected. ⚙️ How Automated GBP Posts Work Search Atlas schedules and publishes GBP posts automatically based on the configuration you set. However, a few conditions must be met before posts will go live. If any step in the setup is incomplete, posts will not be created or published. ✅ Step 1: Verify Your GBP Project Is Connected Automated posts require an active, connected GBP project. To check this: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Local → GBP Projects to open your GBP projects dashboard. 2. Confirm your business location appears and shows a connected status. 3. If your location is disconnected or missing, reconnect your Google Business Profile account before proceeding. 📝 Step 2: Check Your Post Configuration Navigate to your post settings and review each field carefully: 1. Go to Left sidebar → GBP Projects → Posts. 2. Open the automated post series you configured. 3. Confirm the following are set correctly: - Start date: Make sure it is set to today or a past date — future dates will delay publishing. - Frequency: Ensure a posting interval (e.g., weekly, daily) has been selected. - Post content: At least one post template or content variation must be saved. - Location assigned: The post series must be linked to a specific GBP location. 4. Save any changes you make before leaving the page. ⏱️ Step 3: Allow Processing Time After saving your configuration, automated posts do not always publish instantly. The system may take up to a few hours to process and queue the first post, especially if the start date is set to the current day. Wait a few hours, then return to Left sidebar → Local → GBP Projects → Posts to check whether the first post has been created. 🔄 Step 4: Confirm Google Permissions Are Active Search Atlas needs ongoing permission to publish to your GBP listing. If your Google account credentials have expired or been revoked, posts will silently fail. To rule this out: 1. Go to Left sidebar → Local → GBP Projects and select your GBP project. 2. Check whether there is any warning or error message related to your Google account connection. 3. If you see a reconnect prompt, follow the on-screen steps to reauthorise access. 4. After reconnecting, return to Left sidebar → GBP Projects → Posts and confirm your automation is still enabled. 🛠️ Step 5: Review the Posts Feed for Errors Search Atlas logs post activity in your Posts dashboard. To check for errors: 1. Navigate to Left sidebar → GBP Projects → Posts. 2. Look for any posts marked with a failed or error status. 3. If errors are present, note the message shown — this will help identify whether the issue is with content formatting, image size, or an account permission problem. 4. Correct the flagged issue and re-enable the automation if it was paused. 💡 Common Reasons Automated Posts Are Not Created - Start date is in the future: Posts will not publish until the configured date is reached. - No content template saved: The system has nothing to publish if post content is empty. - GBP account disconnected: Expired Google permissions stop all publishing activity. - Location not assigned: A post series without a linked location will not run. - Automation toggled off: Double-check that the automated posting switch is turned on. 🆘 Still Not Seeing Posts? If you have followed all the steps above and automated posts are still not appearing, there may be an account-level or platform issue that requires investigation. 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.

🔗 Fix GBP Linking Issues and Schedule Onboarding

🔍 Overview Some customers complete the Google Business Profile (GBP) connection process in Brand Vault without errors, yet the status does not update to Connected. This article explains why this happens, how to fix it, and how to schedule a personalised onboarding session to get the most out of Search Atlas. ⚠️ Why Your GBP Status May Show as Disconnected A known issue can cause GBP connection status to display incorrectly after the authorisation flow completes. This typically occurs in one of the following situations: - The Google account used to connect GBP was accessed via a shared link during Step 2 of the onboarding flow, rather than a direct login. - The connection completed successfully in the background, but the status indicator did not refresh automatically. - The Google account has multiple Business Profiles and the correct location was not selected during the linking step. 🛠️ Steps to Resolve the GBP Connection Issue 1. Refresh the page after completing the authorisation flow. The status indicator sometimes requires a manual page reload to reflect the updated connection state. 2. Avoid shared links. If you were invited to connect via a shared or forwarded URL, navigate directly to Local → GBP Projects (and click the Connect GBP Account button) and start the connection process from there instead. 3. Check your Google account permissions. Make sure you are logged in to the Google account that has Owner or Manager access to the Business Profile you want to link. 4. Select the correct Business Profile location. During the authorisation screen, confirm you are selecting the specific location you want to connect—not a different profile associated with the same Google account. 5. Disconnect and reconnect. If the status still shows as disconnected after following the steps above, click Disconnect next to the location in Local → GBP Projects, wait 30 seconds, then go through the connection flow again using a direct login. 6. Clear browser cache or try a different browser. Cached session data can sometimes interfere with OAuth flows. Use an incognito window or a different browser as a quick test. ✅ How to Confirm Your GBP Is Successfully Connected Once the connection is established correctly, you will see the following indicators in Brand Vault: - The location card displays a green Connected badge next to the Business Profile name. - GBP data—including reviews, Q&A, and local listing details—begins populating within the location dashboard. - The OTTO SEO agent can access GBP signals for that location when running local SEO tasks. If the badge remains grey or shows Disconnected after completing all steps above, this may indicate an account-level permission issue on the Google side. Double-check that your Google account has not had its GBP access revoked or transferred. 📅 How to Schedule a 1-on-1 Onboarding Session Search Atlas offers personalised onboarding sessions to help new customers set up their account correctly and get the most value from the platform. To schedule your session: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform. 3. Type onboarding session to trigger the scheduling flow, or type human teammate to speak directly with a team member who can book a time that works for you. During your onboarding session, a Search Atlas specialist can walk you through GBP linking, OTTO SEO configuration, keyword tracking setup, and any other areas where you need guidance. 💡 Tips for a Smooth GBP Connection - Always use a direct browser session—not a shared or forwarded link—when authorising Google integrations. - Connect GBP using the Google account that is the primary owner of the Business Profile wherever possible. - If you manage multiple locations, connect them one at a time and confirm each status before moving to the next. - Keep your browser up to date to avoid OAuth compatibility issues. 🙋 Still Need Help? 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.

GBP Automation Post Quota Explained

GBP Automation in Search Atlas operates on a monthly post quota system — not a per-credit deduction. Your plan includes a fixed number of automated Google Business Profile posts per billing cycle, tracked independently from Universal Credits, Hyperdrive Credits, and AI Gen Points. 📋 How the Post Quota Works Every Search Atlas plan that includes GBP Automation comes with a monthly post allowance covering all posts scheduled and published through the Automated Posting feature across your connected GBP locations. - The exact quota depends on your subscription tier — it is not a universal fixed number. - Your dashboard shows total posts allowed, posts used, and posts remaining (for example, 24 of 25 used). - GBP Automation posts are completely separate from Hyperdrive Credits, which power Cloud Stacks, Citations, and Press Releases. Using those features does not affect your post count. - The quota resets automatically at the start of your next billing cycle. 🔍 How to Check Your Remaining Post Quota 1. Log in to your Search Atlas dashboard. 2. In the left sidebar, go to Local → Posts (GBP Posts). 3. Review the quota summary displayed on that screen — it shows your total allowance, posts used, and posts remaining. 4. You can also verify your quota via the top-right avatar → Settings (Account Menu) or top-right avatar → Billing. ⚠️ What to Do When Your Quota Runs Out Once your monthly post quota is exhausted, GBP Automation will pause and stop publishing new posts. Scheduled posts will not go out until the quota resets at the start of your next billing cycle. If you need to continue posting before the reset, contact the Search Atlas support team via live chat to discuss your plan options. 🛠️ Known Issue: Automation Blocked Despite Available Posts A known project count mismatch can sometimes incorrectly block GBP Automation from running even when your quota still shows posts remaining. If your automation has stopped unexpectedly and the dashboard confirms posts are still available, this discrepancy may be the cause. Contact support and share a screenshot of your quota screen so the team can investigate and resolve it promptly. 💬 Need More Help? 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.

🗂️ GBP Posts Count vs List View Discrepancy

🔍 Overview If your Search Atlas dashboard shows a total post count (for example, 19 posts) but only a smaller number of posts appear in the list view (for example, 1), this is a known UI display issue. It does not mean your posts are missing or were never published. The counter and the list view pull data from different parts of the system, and they can temporarily fall out of sync. This article explains what causes the discrepancy, how to confirm your Google Business Profile (GBP) posts were actually published, and what to do if the issue persists. ⚙️ Why This Happens The total post count shown in your dashboard reflects the number of posts recorded in the backend database. The list view, however, renders posts through a separate UI layer. When there is a sync delay or a rendering issue between these two layers, the counter may display the correct total while the list view shows fewer — or even just one — post. This means: - Your posts were created and stored correctly in the system. - The counter number is accurate — it reflects real records. - The list view has a display bug and is not rendering all posts at that moment. - Posts that are not visible in the list may still have been sent to Google Business Profile as scheduled. ✅ How to Confirm Your Posts Were Published to GBP Before assuming posts are missing, verify their status directly in Google Business Profile. Follow these steps: 1. Open your Google Business Profile account at business.google.com. 2. Navigate to the Posts section of your business listing. 3. Check whether the posts appear there with the correct dates and content. 4. If the posts are visible in GBP, they were successfully published by Search Atlas — the issue is limited to the dashboard display only. If the posts are not visible in GBP either, note the post titles or dates you expected to see and contact support so a teammate can review your account backend directly. 🛠️ Steps to Resolve the List View Display Issue Try the following steps in order to restore the full list view in your Search Atlas dashboard: 1. Refresh the page using a hard reload. On most browsers, press Ctrl + Shift + R (Windows) or Cmd + Shift + R (Mac). This clears the local page cache and forces the list to reload. 2. Check your filters. Make sure no date range filter, status filter, or location filter is applied that could be hiding posts. Reset all filters to their default state. 3. Switch browsers. Open the dashboard in a different browser (for example, Chrome, Firefox, or Edge) to rule out a browser-specific rendering problem. 4. Log out and log back in. Sign out of Search Atlas, wait 30 seconds, then sign in again. This refreshes your session token and can resolve temporary sync issues. 5. Wait and revisit. If a backend sync is in progress, the list view may catch up within a few minutes. Return to the posts section after 5–10 minutes and check again. If the list view still does not show all posts after completing these steps, the issue requires a backend review by our support team. 🚫 Steps That Will NOT Fix This Issue The following actions are commonly suggested for UI problems but will not resolve a backend-to-UI sync discrepancy: - Clearing your browser cache and cookies — this affects locally stored files, not the backend data sync. - Reinstalling or resetting the browser — the issue is server-side, not browser-side. - Deleting and recreating posts — your original posts already exist in the system and may already be published to GBP. Avoid recreating posts until a support teammate confirms the originals were not published, as doing so could result in duplicate posts on your Google Business Profile. 📋 What to Have Ready When Contacting Support To help our team resolve the issue as quickly as possible, please gather the following before reaching out: - The total post count shown in your dashboard (for example, 19). - The number of posts visible in the list view (for example, 1). - The Google Business Profile location affected. - Any filters currently applied to the posts list (or confirmation that no filters are active). - A screenshot of the discrepancy if possible. 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.

🛠️ GBP Automated Posts: Fixing Stale Schedule Date and Image Size Errors

Two distinct errors can prevent your GBP automated posts from publishing to Google Business Profile: a "Must be a future datetime" rejection when a post sits unapproved past its scheduled date, and an "Image is not supported" rejection when a Media Library image exceeds Google's 5 MB limit. Identify which error you are seeing below and follow the steps to resolve it. ⚠️ Understanding the Two Error Types Both errors occur inside the GBP Automated Posts workflow and block a post from reaching Google Business Profile. They have different root causes and different fixes. - "Must be a future datetime" (HTTP 400) — The post's scheduled date passed before it was approved. Google rejects any post submitted with a past timestamp. - "Image is not supported" — A Media Library image attached to the post exceeds Google's 5 MB file size limit. Google rejects the entire post, even if the image looks correct inside Search Atlas. 📅 Fixing the "Must be a future datetime" Error Why this error occurs When a GBP automated post enters Awaiting Approval status, it holds its original scheduled date. If the approver does not act before that date and time pass, the timestamp becomes stale. When you then approve the post, Search Atlas submits it to Google's API with that expired timestamp — and Google returns HTTP 400: "Must be a future datetime." The error message appears in the Status column of the Automated Posts table next to the affected post. How to fix it 1. Go to Local → Posts (GBP Posts). 2. Locate the post showing the "Must be a future datetime" error. 3. Click Edit on that post. 4. Update the Scheduled Date and Time field to any date and time in the future. 5. Save your changes, then click Approve. Note: In some cases, posts pending approval may display as Scheduled rather than Awaiting Approval. If you cannot locate the post by status, search by post title or scheduled date instead. The post submits successfully once its scheduled datetime is in the future. 🖼️ Fixing the "Image is not supported" Error Why this error occurs Google's Business Profile API enforces a strict 5 MB maximum file size for post images. When a GBP automated post uses a Media Library image that exceeds 5 MB, Google rejects the entire post with "Image is not supported" — even if the image previews correctly inside Search Atlas. The error message appears in the Status column of the Automated Posts table next to the affected post. How to fix it 1. Go to Local → Posts (GBP Posts). 2. Locate the post showing the "Image is not supported" error. 3. Click Edit and remove the current image from the post. 4. Compress or resize the image to under 5 MB using a tool such as Squoosh or TinyPNG. 5. Upload the compressed image to the Media Library or attach it directly to the post. 6. Save your changes, then click Approve. The post publishes successfully once the attached image is within Google's 5 MB limit. 💡 Preventing These Errors Going Forward Avoid stale schedule dates - Approve posts before their scheduled date passes — treat the scheduled datetime as a hard deadline for the approval action. - When approval cycles are long, schedule the post further in advance to give reviewers enough lead time. - Check the Awaiting Approval queue regularly so no post expires before it is reviewed. Keep Media Library images within Google's size limit - Before uploading any image to the Media Library for use in GBP posts, confirm it is under 5 MB. - Target a minimum resolution of 720 × 720 px and a maximum file size of 5 MB — this satisfies both Google's quality requirements and size cap. - Add image compression as a standard step in your GBP content preparation workflow to prevent failures at publish time. 🎯 You can now diagnose and resolve both the "Must be a future datetime" and "Image is not supported" errors in GBP Automated Posts — reschedule any post whose date has already passed, and compress any Media Library image above 5 MB before re-approving. For a full walkthrough of configuring GBP Automated Posts, see the GBP Automated Posts Overview article.

🛠️ GBP Scheduled Posts Stuck in "Scheduled" Status — Not Publishing

If your Google Business Profile posts show Scheduled status in Search Atlas but never appear on Google, a platform issue may have caused them to get stuck. Use this guide to identify the affected posts and reschedule them so they publish successfully. 📋 What "Stuck in Scheduled" Means for GBP Posts When you schedule a GBP post in Search Atlas, the platform queues it for delivery to Google's API at the chosen date and time. A post stuck in Scheduled status means Search Atlas queued the post but never sent it to Google — so it never appeared on your Business Profile. The most common causes are: - A platform-side publishing queue error (resolved) - Google Business Profile API rate limit exceeded during a high-volume publishing window (resolved) - An expired or disconnected Google Business Profile OAuth connection - The connected Google account losing Owner or Manager permissions on one or more GBP locations Posts scheduled before the platform fix was deployed in April 2026 may still show Scheduled status and will not self-publish — they require a manual reschedule to go live. Posts scheduled after that date are not affected by that issue. ⚠️ Note about automated posts: If you use GBP Galactic automation with Approve before posting enabled, those posts may also appear under the Scheduled filter even though they are actually Awaiting Approval. Before treating an automated post as stuck, open the post and check whether it was created via Galactic automation and whether an approval step is configured. If it requires approval, complete the approval step instead of rescheduling. 🔍 How to Identify Stuck Scheduled Posts in Search Atlas Follow these steps to find every post that is overdue and still showing Scheduled status: 1. In Search Atlas, go to Local → Posts (GBP Posts). 2. Open the Status filter and select Scheduled. 3. Review the DATE column — any post whose scheduled date has already passed is stuck and needs action. 4. Open each overdue post and confirm it is not a Galactic automation post awaiting approval before treating it as stuck. 5. Note the affected locations so you can resolve them all in one pass. You now have a complete list of every overdue post that did not publish to Google. 🛠️ How to Fix a Stuck Scheduled GBP Post Reschedule the stuck post to a new future date and time so Search Atlas requeues it for publishing: 1. Click the stuck post to open it. 2. Click Edit. 3. Update the Scheduled Date to a future date and time — at least 15 minutes from now. 4. Click Schedule to confirm. After the new scheduled time passes, the post status updates from Scheduled to Published, and the Fix Now button disappears from the post — both confirm the action was registered successfully. Verify the post appeared on Google by checking the Business Profile directly in Google Search or Google Business Profile Manager. ⚠️ If the Post Fails Again After Rescheduling Repeated failures usually point to a broken connection rather than a post issue. Restore your GBP integration before rescheduling again: 1. Go to Settings → Integrations → Google Business Profile. 2. Check the connection status. If it shows Disconnected or an error, click Reconnect and complete the OAuth authorization flow. 3. Confirm the reconnected Google account has Owner or Manager access on the affected GBP locations. 4. Return to Local → Posts (GBP Posts) and reschedule the post once the integration page shows a green Connected status. After a successful OAuth reconnect, the connection badge updates from Connect to a green Connected state. Once you re-publish a previously stuck post, the Fix Now button on that post also disappears — together these two signals confirm both the reconnection and the re-publish were registered successfully. 📍 How to Reschedule Stuck Posts Across Multiple Locations If the same post content is stuck across several locations, use bulk actions to fix them all at once: 1. In Local → Posts (GBP Posts), filter by Status: Scheduled. 2. Use the checkbox at the top of the list to select all overdue posts. 3. Click Bulk Edit → Reschedule. 4. Set a new future date and time to apply to all selected posts. 5. Click Confirm. All selected posts are rescheduled in one action. After the new scheduled time passes, verify each location shows Published in the Posts list. ✅ How to Confirm a GBP Post Published Successfully After rescheduling, confirm the post went live using either method: - Inside Search Atlas: Go to Local → Posts (GBP Posts) and confirm the status changed from Scheduled to Published. The Fix Now button should no longer appear on the post. - On Google directly: Search for the business on Google or open Google Business Profile Manager and confirm the post appears under Posts. A Published status in Search Atlas confirms the post was successfully delivered to and accepted by Google. 🎯 You can now identify stuck scheduled GBP posts, reschedule them, and confirm they published correctly. If posts continue to fail after reconnecting your Google Business Profile integration, contact Search Atlas Support with the affected location names and post IDs for further investigation.

🗺️ Fix Inaccurate GBP Galactic Post Content

🔍 Overview If OTTO is generating Google Business Profile (GBP) posts about topics completely unrelated to your business — for example, a pressure washing company receiving posts about hot tubs — the cause is almost always an incorrectly populated Galactic post prompt field. This article explains how that field works and how to fix it. ⚙️ How the Galactic Post Prompt Field Works When OTTO generates automated GBP posts, it can draw content from two sources: - Your Knowledge Graph — This is the recommended source. OTTO uses the business information, services, and details already stored in your OTTO settings to generate accurate, on-brand content automatically. - The Galactic post prompt field — This is an optional free-text field where you can provide a custom instruction or topic for OTTO to write about instead. If this field contains any text, OTTO will follow those instructions and may ignore your Knowledge Graph data entirely. The Galactic post prompt field is optional by design. Leaving it empty tells OTTO to rely on your Knowledge Graph, which produces the most relevant and accurate content for your business. 🚨 What Causes Off-Topic GBP Posts Off-topic posts are almost always caused by one of the following: - A previous prompt was entered in the Galactic post prompt field and was never removed. - A generic or unrelated instruction was accidentally saved in the field. - The field was populated during initial setup with placeholder or test content. Even a single word or leftover phrase in the prompt field is enough to steer OTTO away from your Knowledge Graph and generate irrelevant content. 🛠️ How to Fix It: Clear the Galactic Post Prompt Field 1. In the left sidebar, click OTTO SEO to open the OTTO dashboard. 2. In the left sidebar, go to Local → GBP Galactic (GBP Projects) and open Posts for your connected GBP property. 3. Find the post prompt field (sometimes labelled as a custom prompt or writing instruction box). 4. Check whether the field contains any text. If it does, delete all content from the field so it is completely empty. 5. Save your settings. 6. Allow OTTO to generate the next scheduled post. It will now pull content directly from your Knowledge Graph. You do not need to enter anything in the prompt field to get high-quality posts. An empty field is the correct configuration for most businesses. ✅ When Should You Use the Prompt Field? Leave the Galactic post prompt field empty in most cases. Only populate it if you have a specific, time-sensitive need — for example: - You are running a limited promotion and want posts to focus on a specific offer. - You want to highlight a new service that has not yet been added to your Knowledge Graph. - You are testing a particular content angle for a short period. If you do add a custom prompt, review it regularly and clear it once it is no longer needed. Leaving an outdated prompt in the field is the most common cause of inaccurate GBP posts. 🔎 Verify Your OTTO Settings and Knowledge Graph If clearing the prompt field does not resolve the issue, the next step is to confirm that your Knowledge Graph contains accurate business information. Incomplete or missing data in OTTO settings can sometimes cause OTTO to fill gaps with unrelated content. - Go to OTTO SEO in the left sidebar and open your OTTO settings for the affected property. - Confirm that your business name, category, services, and description are fully populated and accurate. - Make sure there are no placeholder entries or incorrect service categories listed. Once your Knowledge Graph is complete and the prompt field is empty, OTTO has everything it needs to generate relevant, accurate GBP posts without any manual input. 💬 Still Seeing Inaccurate Posts? If you have cleared the prompt field, verified your Knowledge Graph, and OTTO is still generating off-topic content, our team can investigate further. 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.

🌌 GBP Galactic Setup and Troubleshooting Guide

🗺️ Overview This guide covers three common setup and troubleshooting areas inside GBP Galactic: review reply automation filtering, automated GBP post generation, and whitelabeled report domain configuration. Work through each section that applies to your situation. ⭐ Part 1: Review Reply Automation — Filtering Old or Already-Responded Reviews Review reply automation is designed to respond only to new, unanswered reviews. If you are seeing tasks generated for reviews you have already responded to, or for older reviews that predate your automation setup, the steps below will resolve this. Why does this happen? When GBP Galactic first connects to your Google Business Profile, it performs an initial sync of all existing reviews. Without correct filtering, the automation can surface already-responded reviews as pending tasks. This is controlled by the deduplication logic and the hide filter. How to hide already-responded or unwanted reviews from automation: 1. Navigate to your GBP Galactic dashboard and open the Reviews section. 2. Locate the review that is incorrectly appearing as a task. 3. Click the eye icon next to the review. This marks the review as hidden and removes it from the active automation queue immediately. 4. Repeat for any other reviews that should not trigger automation tasks. Preventing this in future syncs: - After connecting a new GBP location, always audit the initial review list and hide any pre-existing responded reviews before enabling automation. - The deduplication system checks whether a reply already exists on the Google side. If a reply was posted outside of Search Atlas (for example, directly in Google Business Profile), allow up to 24 hours for the sync to detect it. Once detected, the review will no longer generate a task. - If tasks continue to appear for a review that has a confirmed reply on Google, use the eye icon to manually hide it and then contact support so the sync can be investigated. Key rule: The eye icon is your primary tool for removing any review from automation consideration. Hidden reviews are never deleted — they remain visible in your review history but are excluded from task generation. 📝 Part 2: Automated GBP Posts — Troubleshooting No-Generation Issues If automated GBP posts are not being generated for your approval, there are several prerequisites to check before assuming a platform error. Step 1 — Confirm automation is enabled for your location. 1. Go to your GBP Galactic dashboard and select the relevant business location. 2. Open Settings for that location and find the Automated Posts toggle. 3. Confirm the toggle is switched on. If it is off, enable it and allow up to 24 hours for the first post draft to appear. Step 2 — Check your approval workflow settings. - Automated posts are placed in an approval queue before publishing — they do not go live automatically unless you have explicitly enabled auto-publish. - Open the Posts tab inside GBP Galactic and check the Pending Approval filter. Posts may already be waiting there without triggering a notification if email alerts are disabled. - If auto-publish is enabled but posts are still not appearing on Google, confirm that your GBP connection has active write permissions (see Part 3 for reconnection steps). Step 3 — Verify your GBP location is correctly connected. - A disconnected or expired GBP OAuth token will silently prevent post generation. Go to Integrations inside your account settings and confirm the Google Business Profile connection shows a green Connected status. - If the status shows an error or expired state, click Reconnect and complete the Google authorisation flow. Posts should resume within 24 hours. Step 4 — Check post frequency limits. - If a post was generated recently, the system may be respecting a minimum interval between posts. Review your configured posting frequency in location settings and confirm the schedule aligns with your expectations. 🔗 Part 3: Whitelabeled Reports — Domain Configuration and URL Setup Whitelabeled reports allow you to share branded report links with clients using your own custom domain instead of a Search Atlas URL. Follow these steps to configure your domain correctly. Step 1 — Open Agency Settings. 1. Click your Avatar in the top navigation and select Agency Settings (White Label Setup). Step 2 — Open Whitelabel Settings. 1. Inside Agency Settings (White Label Setup), locate the white label configuration options (Upload Agency Logo / Brand Colors / Favicon / AI Assistant Branding). 2. Locate the Custom Domain field. Step 3 — Add your custom domain. 1. Enter the subdomain or domain you wish to use for report URLs, for example reports.youragency.com. 2. Save the domain entry. The platform will display the DNS records you need to add. Step 4 — Update your DNS settings. 1. Log in to your domain registrar or DNS provider. 2. Add the CNAME record exactly as shown in the platform. The record name will be your chosen subdomain and the value will point to the Search Atlas hosting address provided on screen. 3. DNS propagation typically takes between 15 minutes and 48 hours depending on your provider. Step 5 — Verify and activate. 1. Return to the whitelabel settings in Search Atlas and click Verify Domain. 2. Once verified, the status will change to Active and your report URLs will begin using your custom domain. 3. If verification fails after 48 hours, double-check that the CNAME record was entered without extra spaces and that no conflicting A records exist for the same subdomain. Linking your GBP to whitelabeled reports: - When creating a report that includes GBP data, ensure the GBP location is connected and authorised (see Part 2, Step 3). Without an active GBP connection, GBP widgets inside whitelabeled reports will display as empty or show a connection error to your client. - After reconnecting GBP, refresh the report and allow up to one hour for data to repopulate. ✅ Quick Checklist - Hide already-responded reviews using the eye icon to stop false automation tasks. - Confirm the Automated Posts toggle is on and check the left sidebar → Social → Pending Approvals queue before assuming posts are missing. - Reconnect your GBP OAuth token if it has expired — this affects both post generation and report data. - Add your CNAME record exactly as shown and use the Verify Domain button to activate your whitelabeled URL. 💬 Need More Help? 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.

📍 GBP Contractor Photo Upload Fix

The contractor photo upload feature in Google Business Profile has been fully restored, ensuring a seamless end-to-end experience from upload to Media Library integration. ✨ What's New A bug affecting the contractor photo upload workflow in GBP has been resolved. The fix covers the complete pipeline: backend processing, frontend product UI, and Media Library integration now all work together without interruption. Users can upload contractor photos and expect them to be correctly stored and reflected across the platform. 🛠️ How to Use It 1. Navigate to the GBP & Local SEO section of the platform. 2. Select the business profile you want to manage. 3. Go to the Photos section and choose Contractor Photos. 4. Upload your photo using the upload prompt — the file will be processed and saved to your Media Library automatically. 5. Confirm the photo appears correctly in both the GBP profile and the Media Library. 📋 What to Expect The upload workflow now completes reliably from start to finish. Photos uploaded as part of the contractor category will be properly handled by the backend, displayed in the product UI, and synced with the Media Library. No additional steps or workarounds are required. 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.

⚠️ GBP Galactic API_UNSUPPORTED Error Explained

🔍 What This Error Means If you see an API_UNSUPPORTED error while using GBP Galactic inside Search Atlas, your account connection is not broken. This error is specific to the Q&A posting feature within GBP Galactic and reflects a known limitation with the underlying Google Business Profile API. Generic troubleshooting steps — such as reconnecting your account, re-verifying your location, or checking your GBP connection — will not resolve this error because the issue is not related to your account setup. 📋 Why This Happens Google's Business Profile API does not currently support posting or managing Q&A content through third-party platforms. When GBP Galactic attempts to perform a Q&A action via the API, Google returns an API_UNSUPPORTED response, which is then surfaced to you inside the platform. This is a limitation imposed by Google, not a bug or misconfiguration on your end or within Search Atlas. ✅ What Still Works in GBP Galactic Only Q&A functionality is affected. All other GBP Galactic features continue to work as expected, including: - Publishing and scheduling Google Posts - Updating business information such as hours, address, and contact details - Managing and responding to customer reviews - Uploading and managing photos - Viewing local performance insights and analytics - Managing products and services listed on your profile 🚫 What Is Currently Unsupported The following Q&A actions cannot be completed through GBP Galactic due to the API restriction: - Posting new questions to your Google Business Profile - Submitting answers to existing questions via the platform - Managing or moderating Q&A content from within Search Atlas 🛠️ What You Should Do Instead Until Google extends API support for Q&A functionality, you will need to manage your Q&A content directly through Google. Follow these steps: 1. Go to business.google.com and sign in with the Google account linked to your business profile. 2. Select the location you want to manage. 3. Navigate to the Q&A section from the left-hand menu or the profile overview. 4. Post new questions, submit answers, or flag inappropriate content directly from this interface. This workaround ensures your Q&A section stays active and up to date while the API limitation remains in place. 📌 Quick Summary - API_UNSUPPORTED error in GBP Galactic is caused by a Google API restriction, not an account or connection issue. - Only Q&A posting and management is affected — all other GBP Galactic features work normally. - Reconnecting your account or re-verifying your location will not fix this error. - Manage Q&A content directly at business.google.com until Google adds API support. 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.

📅 GBP Automated Posts Not Appearing After Setup

🔍 Overview If you configured automated Google Business Profile (GBP) posts to start today but don't see any posts yet, there are a few common reasons this can happen. Posts may be held for review before publishing, or there may be a short delay after initial setup before the system begins generating content. The steps below will help you identify what to check. ⚙️ Why Posts May Not Appear After Configuration After setting up GBP post automation, posts may not appear publicly for one or more of the following reasons: - Posts require approval before publishing: Your automation settings may be configured to hold generated posts in a review queue. In this case, posts will not go live until they have been manually approved. - Initial setup delay: When you first configure automation, it may take some time — potentially up to a day — before the system begins generating and scheduling posts. This is expected behavior and not an error. - Automation settings may need review: If neither of the above applies, it is worth revisiting your automation configuration to confirm that it was saved correctly and is active for the intended GBP location. 🗂️ What to Check in Search Atlas To investigate why posts are not appearing, navigate to your GBP post automation settings within Search Atlas and look for any of the following: - Posts that are queued or awaiting review rather than published - An approval or review requirement that may be holding posts back from going live - Whether the automation is active and associated with the correct GBP location If you find posts in a pending or review state, approving them through your post management area should allow them to publish to your GBP listing. ⏱️ If You Just Completed Setup Today If you configured your automation settings today and no posts have appeared yet, this is likely normal. Allow up to 24 hours from the time of configuration, then return to your post management area to check whether posts have been generated or are queued for review. ✅ Quick Troubleshooting Checklist - Check for posts in a pending or review state in your GBP post automation area. - Confirm your automation is active and assigned to the correct GBP location. - Allow up to 24 hours if you only recently completed setup. - Review your automation configuration to ensure all settings were saved correctly. If you have checked all of the above and posts are still not appearing, reaching out to our support team with your project name, the GBP location affected, and the date you completed your configuration will help us investigate quickly. 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.

Fix Google Business Profile Post Rejections Fast

🔍 Why One Listing Rejects Posts While Another Does Not Google reviews every post individually against its content policies. Even if you use the same process across multiple listings, differences in wording, images, categories, or listing status can cause a post to be rejected on one listing but approved on another. The rejection is tied to the content of the post and the state of that specific listing, not your account or workflow. ⚠️ Most Common Reasons GBP Posts Are Rejected Review the list below and match it to your rejected post to identify the likely cause. - Prohibited content: Posts must not include phone numbers, URLs (outside the designated call-to-action button), pricing claims that may be misleading, or references to competing businesses. - Restricted categories: Businesses in regulated industries such as alcohol, firearms, healthcare, or financial services face stricter content rules. A post accepted on a general retail listing may be blocked on a regulated-category listing. - Low-quality or policy-violating images: Images with excessive overlaid text, stock photos with watermarks, or images that contain nudity, violence, or shocking content will cause rejection. - Keyword stuffing or spammy language: Repeating keywords unnaturally or using excessive capitalisation (e.g. "BEST PRICE BEST SERVICE BEST DEAL") triggers spam filters. - Ineligible post type for the business category: Offer posts and Event posts have additional requirements. Offers must include a valid start and end date. Events must have a title and date range. Missing these fields causes rejection. - Suspended or unverified listing: Posts cannot be published to a listing that is suspended, pending re-verification, or flagged for a policy review. The listing itself must be in good standing. - Duplicate content: Posting identical or near-identical content across multiple listings in a short window can trigger a duplication flag on one or more of those listings. - External link destination issues: If your call-to-action URL leads to a broken page, a page that redirects to an app store, or a page with restricted content, Google may reject the post. ✅ How to Fix a Rejected GBP Post Because GBP post rejections are enforced by Google's own content policies, the fix must be made on the post content itself. Follow these steps: 1. Identify which of the common rejection reasons above applies to your post by reviewing the post's wording, images, dates, and the status of the listing it targets. 2. Revise the post to remove or correct the policy violation — for example, remove prohibited content, replace a non-compliant image, add missing date fields for Offer or Event posts, or rewrite spammy language. 3. Resubmit the corrected post and monitor its status. 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.

🔗 Add Your GBP Link to Search Atlas Socials

🧭 Overview When adding a Google Business Profile (GBP) link under your social profiles in Search Atlas, the link must follow a specific HTTPS format. If you paste a link copied directly from your GBP dashboard or Google Maps, it may be rejected as invalid. This article explains why that happens and how to fix it. ✅ What Format Does Search Atlas Accept? Search Atlas validates social links and requires a clean, direct HTTPS URL pointing to your Google Business Profile. The accepted format looks like this: - Accepted:https://www.google.com/maps?cid=YOUR_CID_NUMBER - Accepted:https://maps.google.com/?cid=YOUR_CID_NUMBER - Accepted:https://www.google.com/maps/place/Your+Business+Name/@lat,lng,17z/data=... Links that are shortened, redirected, or copied from the GBP dashboard's sharing panel (such as g.page short links or goo.gl links) are not accepted because they do not begin with a verifiable HTTPS Google Maps URL. 🔍 How to Find Your Correct GBP Link 1. Open Google Maps in your browser (maps.google.com). 2. Search for your business by name. 3. Click on your business listing to open the info panel. 4. Look at the URL in your browser's address bar — this is your direct GBP link. 5. Copy the full URL directly from the address bar. Make sure it starts with https://. Do not use the Share button inside your GBP dashboard or Google Maps, as those links are often shortened or redirected and will fail validation. 📍 How to Add the Link in Search Atlas 1. Log in to Search Atlas and go to Local in the left sidebar. 2. Select the GBP project you want to update. 3. Navigate to Overview. 4. Locate the Socials or social profiles section within your project settings. 5. Paste your correctly formatted HTTPS Google Maps URL into the GBP link field. 6. Save your changes. If the link passes validation, it will be accepted and saved. If it is still rejected, double-check the steps in the section below. 🛠️ Troubleshooting a Rejected GBP Link If your link is still being rejected after using the address bar URL, check for these common issues: - The link starts with HTTP, not HTTPS. Search Atlas requires a secure URL. Make sure the link begins with https:// and not http://. - The link contains extra tracking parameters. Some browsers append UTM or click-tracking parameters to URLs. Remove anything after the core URL if possible. - You copied from the GBP app on mobile. Mobile share links are often shortened. Always copy from a desktop browser's address bar. - The link includes special characters or spaces. Make sure the URL is clean and contains no spaces or unsupported characters. - You used a g.page vanity URL. Even if your business has a custom short link (e.g., g.page/yourbusiness), this format is not accepted. Use the full Google Maps URL instead. 💡 Quick Reference: Accepted vs. Rejected Formats - ✅ Accepted: https://www.google.com/maps/place/BusinessName/@12.345,-98.765,17z - ❌ Rejected: https://g.page/yourbusiness - ❌ Rejected: https://goo.gl/maps/abc123 - ❌ Rejected: http://maps.google.com/... (HTTP, not HTTPS) - ❌ Rejected: A link copied from the GBP dashboard Share panel 💬 Need More Help? 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.

Automated GBP Posting Stopped After Image Bug

🔍 What Happened Some Google Business Profile (GBP) automated posts stopped publishing due to a bug in the AI image generation process. When image generation failed, the automation either skipped the post entirely or published it without an image. This issue has since been resolved on the backend, and automated posting should now be running normally across connected GBP locations. ⚙️ Why Some Locations Were Affected and Others Were Not The bug did not affect every account or location equally. Whether a specific location was impacted depended on how that location's automation was configured — in particular, whether it relied on automatic image generation as part of the posting process. Locations that were not using image generation in their automation were less likely to be affected. ✅ How to Confirm Your Automations Are Working Again Because the fix was applied on the backend, no configuration changes are required on your end. To confirm that automated posting has resumed for your locations, check whether new posts have appeared in your GBP locations after the fix was deployed. If new posts are showing up, your automation is running normally again. If you are not seeing new posts and believe your automation should have resumed, please reach out to the Search Atlas support team so they can investigate the specific location on your behalf. Provide the affected location name(s) and a description of what you are seeing. 💡 What to Do If Posting Has Not Resumed If automated posting is still not working for one or more locations, please contact the Search Atlas support team. You can reach support via the live chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform — type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. Provide the affected location name(s) and a description of what you are seeing so the team can investigate directly.

🛠️ GBP Scheduled Post Image Not Saving

🔍 Overview Some users have reported that when editing the image on a scheduled Google Business Profile (GBP) post and attempting to save the change, nothing happens — the change does not save, even after reloading the page or swapping to a different image. This is a known issue that requires investigation by our support team on a per-account basis. ✅ What to Do Because this issue has no confirmed self-serve workaround at this time, we recommend contacting our team as soon as you encounter it so we can investigate with account-specific context. To get help, 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. Please share the following details when you reach out: - The scheduled GBP post affected (title, date, or any identifiable detail) - The image you are trying to use (file name or a screenshot) - A description of what happens when you attempt to save the image change 💡 What Our Team Will Do Once connected, our team will review your account and the affected scheduled post directly to identify why the image update is not persisting and work to resolve it for you.

🛠️ GBP Post Images Failing to Save

🔍 Overview Some customers have experienced an issue where adding an image to a Google Business Profile (GBP) post causes the post to fail to save. The post may remain in draft state without the image attached. This has been confirmed as a backend defect that Search Atlas engineering has investigated and resolved. ⚠️ Symptoms - You add an image to a GBP post, but the post will not save. - The issue occurs across multiple projects, not just one. - The post appears to be stuck in draft state with no image attached. - The image may appear as a placeholder or cloud icon in the post preview. 📋 What Caused This Issue This was a confirmed backend defect in the Search Atlas platform. Images failed to attach to posts because of missing internal media reference data that links uploaded images to their respective posts. Additionally, a separate issue caused a 403 error when uploading images in GBP Posts, and in some cases the UI could become frozen or unresponsive during post creation. Engineering has resolved these defects and applied fixes to affected posts. ✅ Steps to Take Right Now 1. Navigate to Left sidebar → Local → GBP Projects and open the affected project. 2. Locate the post or posts that failed to save with images. Check whether they are sitting in draft state. 3. Try re-opening each affected draft post and re-attaching your image, then attempt to save again. In many cases, the underlying fix allows the save to complete successfully now. 4. If the image still does not attach or the post remains stuck, do not delete the draft. Leave it in place so that our team can inspect the post data if needed. 5. Note which specific posts and projects are affected before reaching out — this helps our team investigate faster. 💡 Tips to Avoid Image Issues - Use images uploaded directly through the platform rather than external URLs where possible, as external URLs may not meet storage requirements. - If you see a placeholder or cloud icon instead of your image in the post preview, this is a sign the image did not attach correctly — do not publish the post until the image is confirmed. - If the post creation screen freezes or becomes unresponsive while uploading an image, refresh the page and check your drafts before attempting again to avoid creating duplicate posts. 🚀 Still Experiencing the Issue? If you re-attach your image and the post still will not save, this may indicate a new or unresolved instance of the defect. Please do not delete your draft posts, as our engineering team may need to inspect them directly. 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.

🛠️ GBP AI Image Generation Not Working Correctly

What This Article Covers Some users noticed that AI-generated images for Google Business Profile (GBP) automated posts stopped reflecting their actual business — for example, a pool or landscaping company receiving random, unrelated scene photos instead of relevant visuals. This was accompanied by empty or blank image prompts. This article explains what happened and confirms the fix is live. What Caused the Issue A regression in the GBP automated posting feature caused AI image generation to stop using your business context when creating images for scheduled posts. As a result: - Images no longer matched your business type or industry. - Image prompts appeared empty or blank in the post preview. - Scheduled posts occasionally showed incorrect statuses or failed to generate images at all. This was confirmed as a platform bug and escalated to the engineering team as a priority issue. The Fix Is Now Live The engineering team investigated and resolved the underlying issue. The fix has been fully deployed to production. You do not need to take any technical action to receive this fix — it is applied automatically to your account. If you created automated posts during the affected period and they produced incorrect or unrelated images, those posts should now generate correctly when you create new ones. What to Do If You Are Still Affected If you are still seeing unrelated images or empty prompts after the fix, please reach out to our support team so we can investigate your account. 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.

🛠️ Fix GBP Post Generation Stuck on Preview

🔍 Overview Some customers experience GBP (Google Business Profile) post generation getting stuck at the preview stage — the post editor never populates, the preview shows No data, or the process simply stops without an error message. This can happen even after refreshing the page or clearing your browser cache. This article explains what you can try right now and what information to have ready if you need to escalate. ⚠️ What Causes This Behaviour GBP post generation can stall at the preview stage for a number of reasons, including intermittent failures during content generation, network interruptions that cut off a request mid-process, or a temporary issue on the platform side. Because the failure often occurs silently — with no error message displayed — it can be difficult to tell exactly what went wrong. 🛠️ Steps to Try First 1. Wait a moment and watch the spinner. Content generation can sometimes take longer than expected. If the spinner is still running, give it additional time before assuming it has failed. 2. Refresh and retry. Once the wait has passed, refresh the page and attempt post generation again. Intermittent failures often succeed on a second attempt. 3. Try a different browser. Use an up-to-date version of Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge and ensure no browser extensions are blocking network requests. 4. Check your internet connection. A dropped or unstable connection can interrupt the generation process and cause a silent failure. 5. Clear your browser cache. Stale cached data can occasionally interfere with the post editor loading correctly. Clear your cache, then retry. 📋 What to Have Ready Before Contacting Support If the steps above do not resolve the issue, gather the following information before reaching out so our team can investigate as quickly as possible: - The name of the GBP project or location where the issue is occurring - The exact step at which generation stalls (e.g., immediately after starting, or after appearing to load briefly) - Any error message displayed, or confirmation that no message appeared - The time and date when the issue occurred - A screenshot or screen recording of the stuck state if possible 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.

📅 Fix GBP Scheduled Posts Failing Across Locations

🔍 Overview If your Google Business Profile (GBP) posts are stuck in Scheduled status and never publish — especially across multiple store or franchise locations — this article explains what to do when this happens and how to get it resolved. ⚠️ Common Symptoms - Posts remain in Scheduled status past their intended publish date and time. - Multiple location posts fail at the same time with no error message. - Posts appear stuck with no confirmation that they went live on Google. 🧠 Why This Happens Scheduled GBP posts failing to publish across multiple locations is a known issue that can affect franchise or multi-location accounts. The exact root cause may vary and typically requires investigation by the Search Atlas support team to diagnose and resolve. ✅ What To Do 1. Check directly in Google Business Profile. Log in to your Google Business Profile dashboard and verify whether the posts actually published on Google's side. If they did, the issue may only be a display lag inside Search Atlas — no further action is needed. 2. Gather key details before escalating. To help the support team investigate quickly, have the following ready: the names of the affected locations, the exact scheduled date and time of the failing posts, and any error messages you see (if applicable). 3. Contact support. If posts are confirmed stuck and not published on Google's side, reach out to the Search Atlas support team with the details above so the issue can be investigated and resolved on the backend. 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.

🛠️ Fix a Stuck Local SEO Post Generation

🔍 Overview When creating a Local SEO post, the workflow moves through a series of steps before your content is ready. Occasionally, the process stalls at Step 2 – Generating Your Posts and does not advance, even after refreshing the page or clearing your browser cache. This article explains why this happens and what you can do to get your posts generated successfully. ⚠️ Why Posts Get Stuck at the Generating Step The post generation process relies on a background task queue. If a task in that queue stalls or encounters an error, your post can appear frozen indefinitely. Common reasons this occurs include: - A background processing task became stuck or timed out before completing. - One or more linked business locations encountered an error during content creation, causing the entire batch to pause. - A temporary platform-side issue disrupted the generation queue at the time you submitted your post. - The post entered a silent Failed state with no visible error message or retry option shown in the UI. Refreshing the page, restarting the workflow, or clearing your browser cache will not resolve these issues because the problem occurs in the background, not in your browser. ✅ Steps to Resolve a Stuck Post 1. Wait up to 10 minutes. Background tasks can occasionally be delayed under high load. If the post is still stuck after 10 minutes, move to the next step. 2. Navigate to your Posts list. Go to Left sidebar → Local → Posts. Check whether the post appears with a Failed or Draft status. 3. Delete the stuck post and start a new one. If the post shows no option to retry or resume, delete it and create a new post from scratch. This clears the stalled background task and starts a clean generation request. 4. Check your connected locations. Before re-creating the post, confirm that the Google Business Profile locations you are targeting are properly connected. Go to Left sidebar → Local → Overview and verify each location shows an active status. A disconnected or misconfigured location can silently cause generation to fail. 5. Recreate the post for a single location first. If you are generating posts in bulk across multiple locations, try creating the post for one location only. This helps identify whether a specific location is causing the failure before you run a full batch. 💡 Tips to Prevent This Issue - Keep your Google Business Profile locations connected and authorised at all times before running post generation. - Avoid navigating away from the generation step immediately after submitting — allow the UI to confirm the task has been accepted before leaving the page. - If you run bulk post generation across many locations, monitor the Posts list after submission to catch any locations that did not receive content. - Note that when bulk generation partially succeeds, the platform may show a lower number of created posts than expected. Review your Posts list to confirm which locations received content and which did not. 🆘 Still Stuck? Contact Support If your post remains stuck after following the steps above, or if you see a Failed status with no way to retry, our team can investigate the background task queue and resolve it for you. 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.

🛠️ Fix OTTO GBP Automated Posting Content Accuracy

🔍 Overview OTTO's Google Business Profile (GBP) automated posting feature generates and publishes posts on your behalf using AI. If your posts contain topics that are unrelated to your business — such as references to products or services you don't offer — this is almost always caused by missing, incomplete, or misconfigured prompt settings inside OTTO. This article explains why this happens and walks you through how to fix it. ⚙️ Why Irrelevant Content Appears in Your GBP Posts OTTO generates GBP post content based on the instructions and context you provide in its settings. If those instructions are vague, incomplete, or missing key details about your business, OTTO may fill in the gaps with content pulled from general AI training data — which can include unrelated industries or services. Common reasons this happens include: - No custom prompt configured: OTTO falls back to a generic prompt that lacks your business-specific context. - Prompt is too broad: A vague prompt like "write about cleaning services" may trigger content about services adjacent to your niche, including ones you don't offer. - Business description is missing or minimal: Without a clear description of what your business does and does not do, the AI has limited guidance. - Service exclusions not specified: If you haven't told OTTO what topics to avoid, it has no way to know what's off-limits. 🚀 How to Fix and Configure Your OTTO GBP Prompt Follow these steps to update your prompt settings and ensure OTTO only generates content relevant to your business: 1. Go to Left sidebar → OTTO SEO, then open All Sites (SEO Automation) (URL: /seo-automation-v3). 2. Locate your connected GBP property and open its OTTO settings. 3. Navigate to the GBP Posting section and find the Prompt or Content Instructions field. 4. Write a clear, specific prompt that includes the following: - Your exact business type (e.g., "exterior pressure washing business") - The specific services you offer (e.g., "house washing, driveway cleaning, roof soft washing") - Services or topics to explicitly exclude (e.g., "do not mention hot tubs, pools, or any indoor services") - Your target audience and location if relevant 5. Save your changes and allow OTTO to generate the next scheduled post using the updated prompt. 💡 Tips for Writing an Effective OTTO Prompt A well-structured prompt significantly reduces the chance of irrelevant content being generated. Keep the following best practices in mind: - Be specific, not general: Instead of "write about my cleaning business," try "write about my residential exterior pressure washing company serving homeowners in Austin, TX." - Use exclusion language: Explicitly state what the post should never mention. For example: "Never reference hot tubs, spas, pools, or interior cleaning." - Include a tone or style direction: For example, "Keep the tone professional and friendly, focused on outdoor property maintenance." - Add a call to action: Tell OTTO how you want posts to end, such as "End every post with a call to action to request a free quote." - Review after the first post: After saving your updated prompt, check the next generated post to confirm the content aligns with your expectations before it goes live. 🔄 What to Do If Incorrect Posts Have Already Been Published If OTTO has already published GBP posts with irrelevant content, take the following steps: 1. Log in to your Google Business Profile directly at business.google.com. 2. Navigate to Posts and locate any posts with incorrect content. 3. Delete or edit those posts directly in the GBP dashboard. 4. Return to OTTO in Search Atlas and update your prompt as described in the steps above to prevent recurrence. 🛠️ Still Seeing Irrelevant Content After Updating? If you've updated your prompt and OTTO is still generating off-topic content, there may be a configuration issue that requires a closer look. 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.

🔄 GBP Locations Missing From Galactic Import List

Overview If you have verified Google Business Profile (GBP) locations with Manager or Owner access and they appear correctly in Google Business Profile Manager but are missing from the import list inside GBP Galactic, an integration refresh is usually all that is needed to bring them back. This article walks you through what to check on your end and the steps to trigger a refresh. If the locations still do not appear after following these steps, our team can perform a backend refresh to resolve it. Why This Happens GBP Galactic pulls your locations through a live integration with your connected Google account. Occasionally, this sync can fall out of step — meaning Google shows the locations correctly on their side, but the integration layer inside Search Atlas has not picked up the latest data. This is a known sync issue and does not affect your actual GBP listings or rankings. What to Check First - Confirm your access level: Make sure the Google account connected to Search Atlas has Manager or Owner access for the missing locations in Google Business Profile Manager. - Confirm the locations are published: Locations that are pending verification or suspended in Google may not be importable. - Check you are using the correct Google account: If you manage multiple Google accounts, ensure the one connected to Search Atlas is the same one that owns the missing locations. Steps to Resolve 1. Disconnect your Google account from Search Atlas: Go to your Account Menu (avatar) → Settings → Integrations and locate the connected Google Business Profile account. Disconnect it. 2. Reconnect your Google account: Re-authorize the same Google account that has Manager or Owner access to the missing locations. Complete the full OAuth flow so Search Atlas can re-query your account. 3. Return to GBP Galactic and open the import list: After reconnecting, navigate back to GBP Galactic and check the import list again. The missing locations should now appear. 4. If locations are still missing after reconnecting: Contact our support team. Provide the following so we can trigger a backend re-sync as quickly as possible: - The exact names of the missing GBP locations - The Google account email connected to Search Atlas - Confirmation that you have Manager or Owner access in Google Business Profile Manager for those locations If the Issue Persists If your locations are still missing after reconnecting your Google account, our team can perform a backend re-sync of your connected Google account, which causes the platform to re-query your account and register all eligible locations. Please reach out to our support team through the chat in the platform and we will resolve it for you.

🛠️ GBP Auto-Posting and Auto-Review-Reply Not Working

🔍 Overview Some users have reported two related issues with Google Business Profile (GBP) automation in Search Atlas: automated posts requiring manual approval despite being set to post automatically, and the auto-reply to reviews toggle appearing active but not sending replies. Both issues were confirmed as platform bugs and have since been resolved by the engineering team. This article explains what happened, what was fixed, and what to do if you are still seeing unexpected behaviour. ⚙️ What Was Happening - Auto-posting not working: Posts that should have published automatically were being held for manual approval, even when the automatic posting setting was enabled. - Auto-review-reply not working: The toggle for automatic review replies appeared to be active and showed a confirmation, but replies were not actually being sent to reviews. ✅ What Was Fixed Both issues were escalated as high-priority bugs and resolved by the Search Atlas engineering team. 1. Auto-posting fix: A confirmed bug was causing automated posts to be skipped or held for approval incorrectly. The fix has been built and deployed to production. 2. Auto-review-reply fix: A separate issue was preventing review replies from being sent even when the automation appeared enabled. This has also been resolved and confirmed working in production. 🔎 Steps to Verify Your Settings Are Now Working If you are on the platform now and want to confirm automation is functioning correctly, follow these steps. 1. Navigate to your GBP automation settings and confirm that auto-posting is still set to publish without requiring manual approval. If the setting was changed during the issue period, re-apply your preferred setting and save. 2. Check your recent posts to confirm the latest scheduled content published automatically without requiring a manual approval step. 3. Review your GBP review reply settings and confirm the auto-reply option is enabled. 4. Check your recent reviews to see whether replies have been posted automatically. Keep in mind that any replies you sent manually before the fix will already appear — only reviews received after the fix was deployed should be used to confirm the automation is now working. ⚠️ Still Seeing the Problem? If you have verified your settings and automation is still not working as expected after the fix was deployed, this may indicate a separate configuration issue specific to your account or location. In particular, confirm the following before contacting support: - Your GBP location is connected and active in the platform. - No recent changes were made to your GBP location connection that may have interrupted automation. If the issue persists, please reach out to the Search Atlas support team so they can investigate your specific account configuration.

🛠️ Fixing Post Scheduling Freezes and Drafts That Won't Save

If the post scheduling editor reloads without saving, or your posts stay in Draft instead of moving to Scheduled, this guide will help you resolve it quickly. In most cases the issue is caused by a temporary browser session, a missing required field, or an interrupted connection to your social account. The steps below fix the problem for the majority of users. 🤔 Why This Happens The scheduling editor saves a post in two stages: it first stores your content, then confirms a valid publish time and an active social connection before changing the status to Scheduled. If any part of that process is interrupted, the editor can reload and leave the post in Draft. Common causes include: - An expired or outdated browser session. - A required field left empty (such as the date, time, or target account). - A scheduled time set in the past. - A disconnected or re-authentication-required social account. - Cached files or a browser extension blocking the save request. - An unsupported or oversized media attachment. ⚡ Quick Fixes to Try First Work through these steps in order. Most users are back to scheduling after the first two or three. 1. Refresh and retry. Reload the page, reopen the draft, and try saving again. This clears a stale session. 2. Check every required field. Confirm you have selected a publish date, a time, and at least one connected account before clicking Schedule. 3. Set a future time. Make sure the scheduled date and time are at least a few minutes ahead of your current time and time zone. If you see the error "Scheduled date must be in the future" — which can also appear when using Post Now — adjust the time and retry. 4. Reconnect the social account. Open your connected accounts settings and confirm the target profile shows as active. If it shows an error or asks you to reconnect, re-authorize it and return to the editor. 5. Clear your browser cache. Clearing cached files removes outdated scripts that can freeze the editor. 6. Try an incognito or private window. This disables extensions and confirms whether an add-on is interfering. ❄️ If the Editor Still Freezes When the editor continues to reload or hang, the cause is usually local to your browser or network. Try the following: 🌐 Switch browsers Open the scheduler in a different up-to-date browser, such as Chrome, Edge, or Firefox. If scheduling works there, the original browser likely has a corrupted cache or a conflicting extension. 🧩 Disable extensions Ad blockers, privacy tools, and script blockers can prevent the save request from completing. Disable them for our app or add the site to your allowlist, then retry. 🖼️ Check your media attachment Remove any attached image or video and try scheduling a text-only version. If that saves successfully, the media file may be too large or in an unsupported format. Re-add it using a standard format (such as JPG, PNG, or MP4) within the size limits shown in the editor. If you are using an AI-generated image and the editor returns "Enter a valid URL," reload the editor and re-insert the image before scheduling. 📶 Confirm a stable connection A weak or interrupted connection can stop the save from finishing. Switch networks if possible and avoid scheduling while on a VPN that may block requests. ♻️ Recovering an Unsaved Draft If the editor reloaded and your work appears to be gone: 1. Open your list of posts and filter by Draft. Many auto-saved versions are stored here even when the status did not update. 2. Open the most recent draft and confirm the content is intact. 3. If the edit form opens with a blank publish date even though the list view shows a scheduled date, reload the editor so the saved date loads correctly before making changes. 4. Re-enter the publish date, time, and account, then click Schedule. 5. Confirm the status now reads Scheduled and that the post appears on your calendar. ✅ Confirming a Post Is Truly Scheduled To be sure a post will publish, check that all of the following are true: - The status label reads Scheduled, not Draft. - The post appears on your content calendar at the correct date and time. - The target account is connected and shows no reconnection warning. - The scheduled time is in the future and matches your intended time zone. 🚧 Known Issues We're Tracking A few scheduling problems are known to our engineering team and may not be fully resolved by the steps above: - The editor sometimes shows a generic "error scheduling post" message that does not reveal the underlying cause. If the fixes above don't help, contact support so we can read the exact error returned for your post. - In some cases a scheduled post does not auto-publish at its set time and the Publish action fails without a visible error. If a post stays in Scheduled past its publish time, let us know so we can publish it manually and investigate. 📞 When to Contact Support If you have completed the steps above and posts still will not move to Scheduled, please reach out so we can investigate your account directly. To help us resolve it faster, include: - The browser and version you are using. - A screenshot of the editor and the post status. - The date, time, and time zone you tried to schedule. - The social account and platform involved. - Whether the issue happens with every post or only specific ones. Our team can review your connection logs and confirm whether anything on the account side needs attention.

🖼️ GBP Post Images & AI Image Generation — Troubleshooting Guide

This article covers two common issues related to Google Business Profile (GBP) post images in Search Atlas: 1. AI-generated images are replacing your manually uploaded photos — controlled by a configuration setting. 2. AI image generation for GBP posts is not working at all — typically a backend issue that requires support escalation. 1️⃣ AI images are replacing my uploaded GBP photos If your scheduled GBP posts are showing AI-generated images instead of your original photos, this is usually related to the Image Source setting inside Search Atlas. Even if you manually upload images, the system may still replace them if the configuration allows AI-generated visuals. ⚠️ Common scenario You may experience this if: - You scheduled posts for multiple days (e.g., 30 days) - You uploaded your own images manually - You notice later that images have been replaced with AI-generated versions - You expected original photos to remain unchanged This can happen even when automation appears to be off, if the Image Source setting is not restricted to your media library. ✅ How to fix it Follow these steps to ensure your original images are always used: Step 1 — Open Posts Navigate to: Left Sidebar → Local → AI Automations → Posts Step 2 — Select your GBP location Choose the business you want to manage. Example: “Feel Good Inc” Step 3 — Open Automated Posting settings Click the gear icon next to Automated Posting Step 4 — Update Image Source Under Image Source, select: 👉 Select only from Media Library ❌ Do NOT use: “AI Generate all images” Step 5 — Save your changes Click: 👉 Update settings 🔄 What to expect after updating - Future scheduled posts will use only your uploaded images - AI-generated images will no longer replace your originals - Your manual uploads will remain consistent across scheduled content ⚠️ Important note If posts were already generated or scheduled before updating this setting: - They may still contain AI-generated images - You may need to review or update those posts manually 2️⃣ 🚫 AI image generation not working for GBP posts If you are trying to use AI-generated images for your GBP posts and the system is not generating images at all (e.g., images fail to appear, generation errors out, or AI data is not loading), this is a separate issue from the configuration above. What to do: 1. Record a short video or take screenshots showing the issue (the failed generation attempt, any error messages, and the affected GBP location). 2. Contact Search Atlas Support and share the recording along with your GBP project details. 3. Our specialized team will investigate and escalate as needed. These issues are typically backend-related and resolved on our side — no action is required from you beyond reporting it. ✅ Once resolved, simply retry generating AI images for your GBP posts and they should work as expected. 🧾 Summary - AI image replacement is controlled by the Image Source setting - To keep original photos, select “Select only from Media Library” - Update settings to apply changes - Review existing scheduled posts if needed - If AI image generation is not working at all, contact support with a recording so our team can investigate and escalate Keeping control over your images is key to maintaining a consistent and authentic brand presence on your Google Business Profile. Whether you want to preserve your manual uploads or rely on AI-generated visuals, both workflows should work smoothly — and if anything doesn't behave as expected, we're here to help.