Check your google voice settings (click on the gear icon on top right of web page). Under Security, there is an option for Filter Spam - make sure it's enabled. It does filter a good amount of spam for us, but it's not foolproof. Beyond that, there's not much to do in blocking spam to a GV number. If you don't need to answer things live, waiting for voicemail and responding as necessary is one response - but that may or may not be suitable for your use case. More on reddit.com

I need help in setting my Performance Max ads campaign. Please let me know if anyone can help me in that. ... I wanted to kick off this thread because I’d really love to learn from the pros here about running Google Ads more effectively. Here’s what has worked for me so far as a small business ... More on reddit.com

If you have a core of clients that you have a strong relationship with then those are your ones to ask first. Send them a 'somewhat' personalised email and be honest - Google reviews really help your business so it would be hugely appreciated if they could take a minute to leave a review. (you can send a link direct to the review. Google generates this for you somewhere...)

If you don't have a core of return customers then you could look to set an automated email that sends a set time after a client has purchased from you...? Mailchimp can do this depending on how your systems are set up. Hard to know your best options without knowing more.

Basically... Just ask. If you know you are nailing your customer experience/your product is on point then you have nothing to fear.

I'd steer clear of offering discounts in return - I think it comes across as desperate or possiblely even underhand/disingenuous... IMO.

Good luck

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If you Google your exact business name and it isn't showing up, there can be a few factors at play. You can DM me the listing if you want. But generally its because of the keywords in the name that other businesses are ranking for. Let's say your name is "Trusted AC Repairs". Well Google will then output AC companies besides yours that are ranking for those keywords. I'm not saying this will be the case with your profile, but it might be. With the phone number, make sure you have the new phone number on your website. Then ask someone you know who uses Google Maps a lot to find your listing, suggest an edit, and input the new phone number there. That could push the edit through. If you need any help, send me a message. Edit: I didn't know I would get so many messages in my inbox. I'm getting through them as quickly as I can. I have no problem helping. More on reddit.com