When the map doesn't know your building yet

Why this happens near Burquitlam and Lougheed

New buildings cluster around the stations. Coquitlam's Schedule J neighbourhood plans describe the Burquitlam and Lougheed neighbourhood centres as hubs for shops, services and jobs, and note that 2023/24 provincial legislation created Transit Oriented Areas within 800 metres of SkyTrain stations. That combination means many new commercial units, many of them at the base of residential towers.

Three things then go wrong:

• One building, several addresses. A tower can have a residential address, separate addresses for ground-floor commercial units and a parkade entrance on another street.
• Map data lags construction. Mapping services update over time. A building that opened recently may be mapped as a construction site, an empty lot or a single shape.
• Entrances aren't obvious. A commercial unit may face a side street, a plaza or an interior walkway, not the main road named in the address.

Around Lougheed Town Centre station there's an added twist. According to the station's Wikipedia entry, it's one of three Expo–Millennium transfer points and sits beside the City of Lougheed shopping centre, with entrances on Austin Road and Gatineau Place. Customers often describe locations relative to the station or the mall, not the street address, which makes clear directions matter even more.

Step 1: confirm your exact commercial address

Before you touch any listing, find the one address that is officially yours.

1. Read your lease. It should state the civic address and unit.
2. Compare it with your business licence application. Use the same format on both.
3. Check whether Canada Post delivers to it in that form. If mail to that address reaches you, it's real.
4. Ask the property manager whether commercial units use a different civic number from the residential lobby. Often they do.
5. Write the final version down, including the unit, and use it character for character everywhere.

If the lease says "Unit 105" and the sign maker writes "Suite 105", pick one and tell everyone.

Step 2: enter it the way Google's guidelines ask

Google's guidelines for representing your business set out a few rules that matter in new buildings:

• Use a precise, accurate address for the real-world location.
• Put the physical street address on line one and the suite or unit on line two.
• Add cross-streets or landmarks only where the official address doesn't pinpoint the location.
• Virtual offices and mailboxes aren't eligible. A co-working desk only qualifies if it has signage, receives customers during business hours and is staffed by your business.
• One profile per location. Don't create a second one if the first misbehaves.
• The business name should match your signage, without added keywords such as the neighbourhood or service.

Keep the address format identical on your launch website and in each directory you list with.

Step 3: place the pin by hand

The pin is where Maps sends people. An automatic pin in a new building is often wrong.

1. Open the profile editor and find the map pin setting.
2. Zoom in to the building and place the pin at the door customers use, not the building's centre or its parkade.
3. Check it against street-level imagery if it's available, and against the real entrance on site.
4. Ask a friend who has never visited to follow Maps from the nearest station. Watch where they end up.
5. If the pin keeps snapping back, note it and try again after verification. Don't create a duplicate listing to get around it.

Step 4: write directions that a phone user can follow

Your website should carry a short directions note on every page. Good notes answer four questions:

• Which entrance? "Our door faces [Street], to the left of the residential lobby."
• Which floor or level? Especially for second-floor offices.
• Nearest station and walking time? Only if you've walked it yourself.
• Parking? Visitor parking, street parking or none.

Use placeholders like these until you've confirmed the details. Directions that turn out to be wrong do more harm than none at all.

Step 5: verify when the location is real

Verification proves to Google that you operate where you say. In a new building, plan for the possibility that Google asks for evidence of the location, such as visible signage, the interior or business documents. That's why our pre-opening plan schedules verification after the sign goes up rather than months ahead.

If verification is delayed:

• Keep the website live and accurate. It still helps people find you.
• Make sure directories show the same address and phone.
• Avoid repeated edits to the name or address while verification is pending.

Step 6: watch the first reviews for location complaints

Early reviews tell you whether customers can find you. Comments like "hard to find" or "went to the wrong building" mean the pin or directions need work. Fix the problem, then reply briefly to say so. Future customers read those replies.

A checklist to keep

• Official address confirmed against lease, licence and mail.
• Unit on line two, same format everywhere.
• Name on profile matches the sign exactly.
• Pin at the customer door, tested by a first-time visitor.
• Directions note on every website page.
• Verification scheduled for after signage.
• One profile per location, no duplicates.
• Early reviews checked for location problems.

Where we fit

Our new-location profile service carries out these steps for you and checks them after opening. If you are moving an existing business into a new tower, read about relocation marketing as well, because the order of changes protects your reviews. To talk it through, contact us by call, text or email.

We set up listings and directions only. We are not a contractor and don't install signs or fit out units.