How to Remove Fake Photos From Your Google Business Profile in BC (Before They Steal Your Calls)

To remove fake photos from your Google Business Profile in BC, report the image on Google Maps, then open a Business Profile support case with screenshots, because a report on its own can sit for days. If you run a roofing, HVAC, plumbing, electrical, excavation, painting, concrete or landscaping company anywhere from Surrey to Hope, this matters more than it did a month ago. Last week a scammer uploaded more than 150 AI-generated photos to business listings, each carrying the business's own name and a fake phone number. One victim was a roofing company.

TL;DR

• Anyone with a Google account can upload a photo to your listing, and it can sit near the top of your profile.

• Scammers now upload AI-made images with your company name and their phone number. The calls go to them and you never hear the phone ring.

• Google's new "Does this look right to you?" emails cover suggested edits, not photos. Nobody warns you.

• Check your photos tab every Monday. Report anything with a number that is not yours, then open a support case with screenshots.

What happened to the roofing company last week

On September 10, local search consultants documented a Google Maps contributor who had uploaded more than 150 AI-generated photos to unrelated businesses. Every image showed the business's own name and the same phone number, which belonged to none of them.

One was a roofing company. The fake image sat at the top of their profile, where a cover photo would go. The owner reported it, contacted Google support, and got a form reply saying Google was not sure what the issue was. He uploaded new photos, a logo and a cover image to push it down. None of it worked. Google removed the contributor on September 11, the day after a consultant posted the story publicly.

Read that timeline the way a contractor should. The fix did not come from the report button. It came from noise.

Why a fake photo costs a Fraser Valley contractor more than a wrong edit

A wrong set of hours costs you a few calls at the edge of the day. A fake phone number on a photo takes the call itself.

Picture the first windstorm of October coming through Chilliwack. A homeowner with shingles in the yard searches "roofer near me", sees your company name on an image, and dials the number printed on it. That call goes to whoever uploaded the picture. Your phone stays silent, so you never know the job existed.

Storm-driven trades feel this first. Roofing, tree work, emergency plumbing and furnace repair all get calls from people in a hurry. But the same trick works on an electrician in Abbotsford or an excavation company in Mission. Urgency is the only ingredient.

The second problem is that no alarm goes off. Google now emails verified owners when someone suggests an edit to the listing, subject line "Does this look right to you?", with four days to respond. Useful, but it does not cover photos. The photos tab is watched by exactly one person, and that person is you.

How to check your Google Business Profile photos in BC

Five minutes on your phone, every Monday morning, the same way you check the fuel cards.

1. Open your listing on Google Maps the way a customer would, not through the dashboard.

2. Tap Photos, then the "By customers" filter. Your own uploads are not the risk. Customer uploads are.

3. Read every image for text. Phone numbers, web addresses, QR codes. Real customers post a finished deck, not a graphic with your logo and a phone number.

4. Look for AI tells. Your name spelled slightly wrong on a truck. A storefront you do not have. Anything glossy you never shot.

5. Check what shows first. If a customer image sits ahead of your own cover photo, that is where the damage is.

If you cover the Lower Mainland and the Valley with more than one profile, check every one.

How to remove a fake photo from your Google Business Profile

Do these the same day you find the photo. It is stealing calls while it sits there.

Step 1: Report the photo. Open the image on Google Maps, tap the flag or three-dot menu, choose "Report a problem", and pick the reason for spam or misleading content. Add one sentence: "This image was uploaded by a third party and shows a phone number that does not belong to this business."

Step 2: Screenshot everything. The photo, the contributor's name, the date, the fake number, and your real number beside it. You need it for the support case.

Step 3: Open a Business Profile support case. In the Google Business Profile help centre, choose Contact us, describe it as a third-party photo containing a fraudulent phone number, and attach the screenshots. Keep the case number.

Step 4: Do not try to bury it. Uploading twenty new photos does not reliably push a customer image down. It did not work for the roofer.

Step 5: Escalate after 48 hours. Post in the Google Business Profile Help Community with the case number, or ask a local search consultant to flag it. The roofer's photo came down within a day of going public. Not how it should work, but how it works today.

Make your real number the one that wins

Removal is defence. The other half is making a fake number look obviously wrong next to yours.

• One number everywhere. Profile, website header, Google Ads, truck doors, invoices. When a homeowner in Surrey sees the same number in four places and a different one on a strange photo, the photo loses.

• Own the top of your profile. A real cover photo, a real logo, fresh job photos every week. Current owner content gives Google less reason to feature a stranger's upload.

• Put your number in your own photos. A clean shot of the truck with the real number on the door makes a fake one easy to spot.

• Watch call volume. If Google calls drop for a week with no change in the weather, check the photos tab first.

Frequently asked questions

How do I remove a fake photo from my Google Business Profile in BC?

Report the photo on Google Maps, then open a Business Profile support case with screenshots of the image, the contributor and your real phone number. A report alone can take days. A support case with evidence, and a public help community post if it stalls, is what gets it pulled.

Can someone add a photo to my Google listing without my permission?

Yes. Any Google account can upload a photo to any business listing, and it appears under "By customers" without your approval. You can report it but you cannot delete it yourself, which is why the weekly check matters.

Why is there a phone number on a photo on my Google listing that is not mine?

It is almost certainly a scam designed to redirect your calls. Contributors have been uploading AI-generated images showing a business's name with a fraudulent number so customers dial the scammer instead. Report it the same day.

How often should a contractor in the Fraser Valley check their Google Business Profile photos?

Once a week, on a fixed day, for every profile you own. Five minutes on Monday morning catches an image before it costs you a week of storm calls in Chilliwack or a month of furnace calls in Abbotsford.

The bottom line

Your Google Business Profile is the front door for most of the homeowners who will ever hire you, and the photos tab is a door anyone can walk through. Google's support desk is not your alarm system. A weekly check, a same-day report and one real number everywhere are. That is a system, not a hope, and it is what Built Tough builds into every web presence we manage for trades businesses in BC. If nobody has looked at your listing since the day it was verified, start with our web design and local SEO work and we will put a set of eyes on it.