Thanks for taking the time to read this. I run a small self storage business in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, where there are only two actual self storage facilities. However, Google Maps currently shows around 15 listingsclaiming to offer self storage in the area.
Many of these listings point to addresses where no facility—or even office—exists. Their websites claim to offer self storage with 24/7 access at those specific locations, and their Google Maps profiles include opening hours and even a review or two. But in reality, there’s nothing there. The websites are outdated and the contact details are often non-functional.
At least four of these listings appear to be controlled by the same company, using the same logo across different sites. They just change the name and domain to match storage-related keywords and the local area (e.g., “[Area] Storage”). This makes them look like different businesses, but they all point to places where no self storage facility exists.
This is misleading for users and damaging for legitimate operators like us. We’ve followed Google’s Help Center steps and reported the listings repeatedly over the past month using several accounts, but none have been removed.
I’d really appreciate any guidance or support from moderators or experienced Local Guides on how to take this further.
Hi @Yelnur This community forum is reserved for Local Guides. Since your question is about your business, it’s more appropriate to ask it in the Google Business Profile Help Community.
London’s self-storage industry is under siege from a wave of fake Google Maps listings—“shadow listings”—that mimic real businesses to hijack leads and manipulate pricing, costing legitimate operators millions. These scams exploit urgent consumer needs, bypass Google’s verification systems, and flood search results with cloned websites and false information, creating an unfair and dangerous digital marketplace.
But companies like mine are too small for Google to notice—it’s simply too big and busy to help each of us individually. I believed this community was built to bridge that gap, because Google trusts you, and your credible history means its systems are more likely to act when you report abuse than when I do; it would be amazing to create a pipeline so people like me can ask for your support.
Multiple business listings and all of them have fake reviews and fake businesses?
None of the businesses are legitimate and when you call all the numbers on different Google Business Profiles, they all lead to the same person?
You can fill out the form if you are sure that they are impersonating real businesses, committing fraud through Google-registered businesses and creating an illegal digital marketplace by filling their websites with false information.