Anti-myth table
Six things agencies routinely tell shop owners. What Google's help documentation actually says.
- Six industry myths, each matched to Google's actual published wording.
- Q&A is gone: Google removed the feature entirely in 2024.
- The moat: we are the agency that quotes Google. Most competitors contradict it.
- This table is the Beat 1 payload for the VSL.
"We are the agency that quotes Google. Most competitors contradict it."
Every shop owner who has bought GMB help before has been told one of the six things below. Most contradict Google's published guidance. This is the anti-myth payload from VSL Beat 1, sourced.
| Industry myth | What Google actually says | Source |
|---|---|---|
| "NAP consistency is a Google ranking factor" | Google's published phrase is "complete and accurate info matters." NAP (Name, Address, Phone) is industry shorthand, not Google's term. There is no Google statement that third-party citation consistency is a direct ranking factor. | support.google.com/business/answer/7091 |
| "Add more categories to rank higher" | "Use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business from the provided list. Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business." Adding categories you do not legitimately fit is an abuse signal. | support.google.com/business/answer/3038177 |
| "Post weekly to boost ranking" | Google has never published Posts as a ranking factor. Posts are an engagement and freshness surface. Worth doing if it serves the customer, not because of a ranking claim. | support.google.com/business/answer/7342169 |
| "More photos = better ranking" | Google says photos must "represent reality" and meet basic quality bars. There is no published frequency-affects-ranking rule. Volume of photos is not a documented signal. | support.google.com/business/answer/6103862 |
| "Q&A is a ranking factor" | Google removed the Q&A feature from Business Profiles entirely in 2024. It no longer exists. Any agency still pricing Q&A work is selling something that is not on the product. | Feature removed; no current Google URL. Industry confirmation widespread. |
| "Put your keywords in your business name to rank" | "Your name should reflect your business's real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers. Adding unnecessary information to your business name is not permitted, and could result in your profile being suspended." | support.google.com/business/answer/3038177 |
Why this matters in the script
Hook B and Body Beat 1 of the VSL specifically call out the failed advice viewers have already paid for. That is not abstract. Every shop on our warm list has been pitched at least one of the six rows above. Naming them directly does two things: it earns the viewer's "yes, that was me" reaction, and it positions New Limits as the agency that quotes Google rather than the one that contradicts it.
What we do instead
Each renovation references Google's own published guidance, line for line, in the written audit. Where a competitor agency would type "we'll optimize your categories," our audit cites support.google.com/business/answer/3038177 and explains which category change tracks to which rule.
That is also why the proposal document is the deliverable shown on screen during Beat 4 of the VSL. The artifact is verifiable. The advice in it is verifiable. The customer can hold each line up against Google's help center and confirm we are not making it up.