Here’s an update that will affect businesses with multiple locations in particular. One of the big American agencies, Sterling Sky, noticed a potentially useful change in the way Google shows Google Business Profiles and organic results on the same page for any particular query.
Up until now it seemed that it tended to be a case that having a high ranking website was what pushed your Google Business Profile ranking higher. A very important pillar of local SEO for years!
However, in 2024 Joy Hawkins of Sterling Sky and her colleagues noticed that things didn’t seem to be behaving that way anymore for several businesses that they monitored.
In yet another algorithm change, which she christened the “Diversity Update,” Google appears to be demoting organic rankings for pages already linked to in the local pack. This means if your business appears in the local pack for any particular query, Google may avoid showing the same page that your profile links to in the organic results.
Joy Hawkins and her team noticed this initially in August 2024, with changes rolling out into autumn. The impact has been most severe for brands that previously ranked well in both the local pack and organic results.
What Actually Changed:
Local pack visibility now feeds back into your website’s organic rankings, a first in local SEO.
The demotion affects individual pages, it’s not domain-wide, in other words your whole website doesn’t get hammered..
Linking your Google Business Profile (GBP) to your top-ranking organic page can now hurt your organic rankings… if that page was already ranking well for important searches.
The Fix:
Change your GBP link to point to a different but relevant page (not that same “top” organic page).
This can allow you to retain both strong local and organic rankings.
If your rankings dropped recently, try adjusting your GBP link and monitor the results.
Who It Helps:
Businesses with multiple service area pages or locations where they don’t have GBPs—these may now rank better organically.
Key Advice:
If you think you’ve lost organic traffic recently, phone calls have dropped off or fewer people are walking through the door, review and potentially change the page linked in your GBP.
The solution has been tested across many clients and shows consistent recovery. Joy’s original Linked In article is here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/googles-new-diversity-update-how-fix-your-ruined-rankings-joy-hawkins-1lucc
It should be noted that I haven’t heard any UK people mentioning this, but I have seen some odd changes to some of my clients’ rankings in the last 6 months or so, and I am wondering if this might be at the heart of it. To help with the workflow… here’s a handy checklist that should guide you through the process.
Local SEO Checklist: Diversity Update Edition
🔍 1. Audit Your Current Setup
Identify which local landing pages are linked from each Google Business Profile (GBP) if you have multiple locations.
Check if any of these GBPs with the linked pages also rank in the local pack.
Review organic rankings of these same pages — did they drop recently (especially since Aug–Nov 2024)? Your rank tracking tool or Search Console will help you here.
🔄 2. Reconsider GBP Linking Strategy
If a page appears in both the local pack and organic results (often for smaller businesses, it’s your home page), consider linking your GBP to a different, relevant internal page.
E.g., link to a related service or location page instead of the homepage.
Ensure the new page is still highly relevant to your main keywords.
📈 3. Monitor Performance Post-Change
Track organic rankings and local pack visibility after updating the GBP link.
Use tools like BrightLocal, Whitespark, or Google Search Console to monitor changes.
Look for signs of organic recovery or gains in the local pack.
🧪 4. Test & Compare (Mainly for larger multi location businesses)
Run split tests for multi-location businesses:
Keep the original setup for some listings.
Apply the change to others.
Compare traffic, rankings, and leads over a few weeks.
🛠 5. Maintain Relevance & UX
Ensure the new target pages linked from your GBP are:
Crawlable and indexable.
Optimised with localised content.
User-friendly and fast-loading.
Include clear calls-to-action and location signals (e.g., NAP details).
🚨 6. Exceptions & Considerations
Remember that some high-authority sites may still rank top in both local and organic, even with this demotion.
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