Why your vet clinic's Google profile links to the wrong siteWhy your vet clinic's Google profile links to the wrong site

If the Website button on your clinic's Google listing opens a page you have never seen, it is almost always for one of two reasons: nobody at the clinic has claimed the profile, or somebody claimed it years ago and nobody has looked at it since. Google accepts suggested edits from the public, so an unwatched listing can end up pointing anywhere. You can check yours in two minutes and, in most cases, fix it the same day.

What we found when we looked

In November 2026 we went through the public Google listings of 39 veterinary clinics in central and north-central Nebraska, from small towns to Grand Island, Kearney and Norfolk. We only looked at what any pet owner or rancher can see from a phone.

Three of those 39 listings had a Website button that opened a generic third-party page, on a domain that had nothing to do with the clinic. The pages looked like they were built to collect clicks: a clinic name, a stock layout, and no real way to reach the practice. Two of those three clinics had more than ninety Google reviews each, so plenty of people see that listing.

We have no way of knowing how each link got there, and we are not naming anyone. The point is simpler: the people who run those clinics almost certainly do not know.

Why this happens

A Google Business Profile is not like a page on your own website. Three things are true at once:

• Anyone can suggest an edit. There is a "Suggest an edit" option on every listing. Google reviews suggestions, and some get approved.
• Google fills in gaps by itself. If a field is empty, Google may use information it finds elsewhere on the web.
• The owner only finds out if there is an owner. A claimed and verified profile lets you see and reject changes. An unclaimed one has nobody to tell.

Add a front desk that is busy all day, a clinic that has not changed its phone number in twenty years, and a website that was last touched when someone's nephew built it, and you get a listing that quietly drifts.

The two-minute check

Do this from a phone, because that is how most people will find you.

1. Open a private or incognito window, or borrow a phone that is not signed in to the clinic's Google account.
2. Search for your clinic's name and town.
3. Tap Website. Read the address bar. Is that your domain?
4. Tap Call. Does the number that comes up ring at your front desk?
5. Look at the hours. Are they this year's hours, including the days you close early?
6. If there is a Book or Appointments link, tap it. Does it go somewhere you recognize?

Then look for a line that says "Own this business?" or "Claim this business." If you see it, nobody has claimed the profile, and that is the first thing to fix.

How to fix it

If the profile is already yours

Sign in to the Google account that manages the clinic, search for the clinic's name, and Google shows you the editing tools right in the search results. Open Edit profile, go to the contact section and replace the website with your own address. Save. Changes are usually reviewed quickly, but some take a few days to show.

While you are there, check the appointment link too. It is a separate field, and it is the one that most often points somewhere odd.

If nobody has claimed it

Tap "Own this business?" and follow the steps. Google will ask you to verify that you really run the clinic. Depending on the listing, that can be a phone call or text to the clinic's number, an email, a short video of the location, or a postcard in the mail. Once you are verified, you can correct the link yourself and you will be told when someone suggests a change.

If someone else claimed it

This happens when a former employee or a past marketing vendor set it up with their own account. Google has a process to request ownership: when you try to claim the profile, it tells you another account manages it and lets you send a request. The current owner has a few days to respond. If it was someone who used to work with you, a phone call is usually faster.

What the Website button should open

Fixing the link raises the next question: what should it point to?

• Your own domain. Not a Facebook page, not a directory listing. A domain is the one thing on the internet that you control.
• A page that loads fast on a phone with two bars of signal. Many of your clients are calling from a pickup or a barn.
• The answers people actually want: phone number they can tap, hours, where you are, whether you see large animals, and what to do after hours.
• One clear way to book or ask for an appointment. If the button says "Schedule," it should schedule. More on that in online booking for rural vet clinics.

If the clinic has no website today, leave the field empty for now. An empty field is better than a link you do not control.

Keep it from drifting again

Put a reminder on the calendar for the first Monday of each quarter. Repeat the two-minute check, and update holiday hours before every holiday. The rest of the profile matters as well, and we wrote a longer Google Business Profile checklist for small-town businesses for that.

If you would rather hand it off, this is exactly what our smallest plan covers: a professional website on subscription with no upfront cost, Google Business Profile setup and ongoing profile management, for $149 a month on a 12-month term. See the plans and pricing.

We are ELROI Labs, a bilingual team based in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico.

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