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Google Doesn't Rank My Site for My Own Brand Name

45 points hypeaccount | 3 comments | 10 Sep 25 18:15 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source

I run a small business in Canada. Oddly, if you search my brand name, my own site doesn’t show up at all on the first page. Instead, Facebook, Instagram, and random sites that link to me outrank me.

I’ve submitted my sitemap to GSC, checked indexing, and built branded backlinks—but Google still ignores my homepage. It’s bad because people looking for me are funneled into other platforms where I lose control of the user journey.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is this Google punishing small/new sites, or do I need to approach brand SEO differently? At this point it feels like Google wants me to buy ads just to show up for my own name.

1. crowcroft ◴[10 Sep 25 19:05 UTC] No.45202240[source]▶
How generic is your brand name, and are there other brands that sound similar?

Two reasons this usually happens.

1. You’re trying to jump on a generic term that is already established and make it your brand. Ie don’t try claim ‘superfood’ as your brand name and sell fruits and nuts.

2. A much bigger brand exists with the same/similar name. If I make a newsletter platform called chimpmail, aside from being sued Google might think my entity is the same as Mailchimp and not bother adding me to the index.

replies(1): >>45202306 #
2. hypeaccount ◴[10 Sep 25 19:13 UTC] No.45202306[source]▶
All pages that rank are for my own business, but all are above me.
replies(1): >>45203034 #
3. crowcroft ◴[10 Sep 25 20:18 UTC] No.45203034[source]▶
How new is your site? The domain might just need to mature a little bit.

Other than that I would add some organization schema to your site to help confirm that your site is the canonical 'home' for you business, possibly a Google MyBusiness profile as well.

https://schema.org/Organization