Why Your Real Business Looks Fake Online, and How to Fix It

A real business looks fake online when a stranger has nothing to check: the photos are stock, the site never says who it serves or where, and the claims come without proof. The fix is to publish details a customer can verify, which means the people who do the work, the areas you cover, real jobs and reviews, and one name, address and phone number used everywhere your business appears.

Customers in Singapore have good reason to check. E-commerce scams were the most reported scam type here in 2025, with 6,703 cases, according to the Singapore Police Force's Annual Scam and Cybercrime Brief 2025, and the government's I can ACT against scams campaign tells people to check for scam signs and with official sources. A website that offers nothing to check gives a careful customer no way to tell your business apart from a scam.

How does Google decide whether a business can be trusted?

Google uses people called search quality raters to test its results. Their guidelines, dated 11 September 2025, ask raters to work out who is behind every site, because "every page belongs to a website, and it should be clear" who is responsible for it. Raters begin with what a site says about itself, then look for what others say in independent reviews, news articles and recommendations. When a site praises itself, they are told to "be skeptical of claims that websites make about themselves, particularly when there is a clear conflict of interest."

The guidelines say no single rating "can directly impact how a particular webpage, website, or result appears in Google Search." Google uses the ratings to measure how well its results work, and its guide to people-first content, updated on 1 October 2026, points site owners to the guidelines to judge their own pages. The same guide says that of experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness, the four parts of what Google calls E-E-A-T, "trust is most important."

Small businesses get one allowance. The rater guidelines say small websites "may have little or no reputation information," that this "is not indicative of high or low quality," and that many small local businesses "rely on word of mouth." When reputation information is missing, though, raters are told to pay extra attention to the other parts of their page quality check. For a business with little written about it elsewhere, its own pages carry most of the weight.

AI answers draw on the same material. Google's page on AI features says the SEO best practices for the rest of Search apply to AI Overviews and AI Mode, and its list of basics ends with "Checking that your Merchant Center and Business Profile information is up-to-date." OpenAI's help page on ChatGPT search says ChatGPT can answer "with current information and links to relevant sources," can draw on "nearby business listings" for local questions, and warns that results "can be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect." A wrong detail on your pages or listings can end up in what it tells a customer. Our guide on how to get your business to show up on ChatGPT covers getting into those answers in the first place.

How do you see what a stranger sees?

Run the search Google's raters are told to run. Their guidelines use IBM as the example: ibm -site:ibm.com searches for IBM while leaving out IBM's own pages, and ibm reviews -site:ibm.com does the same for reviews. Swap in your business name and domain. Whatever comes back, including nothing at all, is what a careful customer finds before they call.

Then search your homepage photos with Google Lens. Google says Lens results can include websites with the same or a similar image, so a stock photo of a smiling team can turn up on other sites using the same picture.

Last, ask ChatGPT about your business by name and compare each detail with your own records. Our guide to checking what ChatGPT says about your business covers what to look for and how to fix a wrong answer.

What should you show instead of stock photos?

Neither Google's people-first content page nor its 182-page rater guidelines mention stock photos. The people-first page does describe originality, which raters judge as "the extent to which the content offers unique, original information or perspectives that aren't already available on other websites." A stock photo is on other websites by design, so it tells a customer nothing about you.

A stock or AI-generated picture presented as your own team, shop or work is another matter. Google's people-first page names "AI-generated headshots, made-up names, or false credentials" as ways of faking who is behind content, calls that "a form of deception," and says "any form of deception makes a page untrustworthy to both users and our automated quality systems." The rater guidelines list a "fake photo, fake physical store address" as deceptive business information.

Photograph the people who do the work and name them, with what each person does. Show the premises customers visit, or the van and tools if you go to them. Show finished jobs, with the date and the area where you can. For example, a renovation contractor's photo of its own crew in a real kitchen, captioned with the estate and the month, gives a stranger three things to check.

The same photos belong on your Google Business Profile. Google's local ranking tips invite businesses to "show customers what you offer and tell the story of your business with photos and videos." If your site already looks polished and still brings few enquiries, read why a beautiful website can still bring in no customers.

Why does your website need to say who you serve and where?

A customer in Punggol, for example, wants to know whether you come to Punggol. If the site doesn't say, they have to ask, and the next result may answer it for them.

Google asks for the same detail. Its Business Profile guidelines say "Make sure your address and/or service area is accurate and precise," and its local ranking tips define relevance as "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for." For your website, Google's SEO starter guide tells owners to "think about the words that a user might search for to find a piece of your content."

So write the customers and the areas down in plain words. For example, "We fix electrical faults in HDB flats and condos in Punggol, Sengkang, Hougang and Pasir Ris" tells a customer, Google and an AI assistant who you work for and where you go. Our guide to showing up in Google AI Overviews in Singapore makes the same case for stating the service area in text.

If you work from home, that sentence matters more. Google tells service-area businesses to hide their address, with this example: "if you're a plumber and run your business from your residential address, clear the address from your Business Profile." The areas you name are then the only "where" a customer gets.

What counts as proof when you are a small business?

Claims like "Singapore's most trusted" or "the best service in town" prove nothing to a stranger. Google's rater guidelines note that "many websites are eager to tell users how great they are," flag "claims of personal experience or expertise that seem overstated or included just to impress website visitors," and base the judgment on "verifiable credentials" and what raters find elsewhere.

Proof is something a customer can check: a finished job with the date, the area, what was done and a photo; a number you can back up; a licence or registration number they can look up.

Reviews are proof written by other people, and the rater guidelines use them to judge reputation. They treat "a large number of detailed, trustworthy, positive user reviews" as a good sign, and also warn: "Anyone can write them, including the website owner or someone whom the store or business hires for this purpose." That is the trouble with testimonials on your own site signed with a first name and a city, such as "Jane, Singapore". Nobody can check them, so they count for little. Reviews on your Google Business Profile come from people signed in to Google accounts, and Google's local ranking tips say "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking."

Asking only your happy customers for a review breaks Google's rules. The Maps content policy says merchants may not "selectively solicit positive reviews from customers," may not offer "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in exchange for a review, and should not "request that specific content be included," so asking customers to mention your area or service breaks it too. Ask every customer and leave the words to them. Google's tips page adds that "a mix of positive and negative feedback often feels more trustworthy," and the rater guidelines call a few negative reviews "completely normal and expected."

Reviews take time to build, and a site can be cited before it has any. Our case study on how our first client got cited by ChatGPT records the citation within two months of us building the site, when it had no reviews, no press and no backlinks.

Some of this is out of your hands. Google removes reviews that its automated spam detection flags, and says "occasionally, the system may also mistakenly remove legitimate reviews." A fake review can also land on your profile, and here is what to do about a fake Google review.

Why do your name, address and phone number need to match everywhere?

Google builds its picture of your business from what it finds. Its page on establishing your business details says "Google algorithms find information, like your site's name, corporate contact information, and social profiles, that is publicly available on the web." The Business Profile guidelines ask for "your business's real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers," and say Google decides how to display your address "based on your business information and information from other sources." Getting it wrong costs visibility: "If your business info isn't accurate, your Business Profile might not show up for relevant searches in your area."

In Singapore, every registered business already has a number anyone can look up. ACRA says that when you register a business you receive a UEN, and "you use this number to identify your business when you transact with customers, partners and government agencies." Companies must also show their registration number on business letters, invoices, official notices and publications under section 144 of the Companies Act (ACRA, page updated 23 June 2026). Put your registered name and UEN in your website footer. Anyone can type either into Bizfile and see whether the business is live and where it is registered, free and without logging in.

Matching details also protect your Business Profile. If Google suspends it, the appeal page lists "official business registration" among the evidence that helps, and tells you to "check that the business name and address match the profile you want to make an appeal for." When you change a detail, change it on the website, the profile and every listing on the same day, and before you touch the profile itself, read what to do when a Google Business Profile is suspended after an edit.

If your company is registered at a corporate secretary's office, keep that address off your Business Profile unless you work there. Google says a rented mailing address you don't operate from "isn't eligible for a Business Profile," and an office in a co-working space qualifies only with signage, staff and customers during business hours.

What should your About page say?

The rater guidelines tell raters to look at the About page "as a starting point," and Google's people-first page asks whether a site gives "background about the author or the site that publishes it, such as through links to an author page or a site's About page." When little is written about your business elsewhere, this page is most of what a stranger has to go on.

Name the people who run the business, with real photos and what each person does. Give the year you started, the registered name and UEN, where you work and the areas you cover, and every way to reach you: a phone number someone answers, an email address, and the street address if customers visit. Say what you don't do, too. If you take payment online, add your payment, exchange and refund terms. The rater guidelines call contact and customer service information "extremely important for websites that handle money" and tell raters to look for "the store's policies on payment, exchanges, and returns."

Frequently asked questions

Is E-E-A-T a Google ranking factor?

No. Google's people-first content page says "E-E-A-T itself isn't a specific ranking factor," while its systems use "a mix of factors that can identify content with good E-E-A-T." Its SEO starter guide lists "Thinking E-E-A-T is a ranking factor" among the things not to focus on and answers "No, it's not." Google doesn't list those factors on that page, so treat the fixes in this article as evidence for customers first.

Do stock photos hurt SEO?

Google's people-first content page and its rater guidelines don't mention stock photos. They do value "unique, original information or perspectives that aren't already available on other websites," which a stock photo can't offer. A stock or AI-generated photo presented as your own team, shop or work is another matter, because Google's guidance treats that as deception.

Can I ask customers to leave Google reviews?

Yes, if you ask every customer and leave the rating and the words to them. Google's policy bars merchants from selectively asking for positive reviews, offering "payment, discounts, free goods and/or services" in exchange, or asking for specific content. Google suggests sharing a review link or a QR code.

Does a new business with few reviews look untrustworthy to Google?

Not by itself. Google's rater guidelines say small websites "may have little or no reputation information" and that this "is not indicative of high or low quality." Reviews still help local ranking, so ask every customer. Our first client's site had no reviews when ChatGPT cited it, within two months of us building it.

Should my website show my UEN?

Yes. ACRA describes the UEN as the number you use "to identify your business when you transact with customers," and a customer can check it on Bizfile for free, without logging in, to see that the business is live and registered. Singapore companies already have to show their registration number on business letters, invoices, official notices and publications.