Many people overlook smaller, lesser-known features on Google Maps, but these can make a big difference for your contributions and help your profile stand out:
Add Missing Entrances
Use the “Add a missing place” feature to mark entrances to buildings, parking lots, or trails. Many users struggle to find the correct way into a location—your addition could save them time and frustration.
Example: “Main entrance for XYZ Mall is on the east side, with direct parking access.”
Contribute Niche Details
Focus on hyper-local information like restroom cleanliness, stroller-friendly paths, or pet-friendly seating areas. These specifics rarely appear in reviews but are valuable to niche audiences.
Example: “This café has a quiet outdoor area perfect for working with a laptop.”
Review Accessibility Features Beyond Basics
Share details like the slope of ramps, availability of braille signage, or sensory-friendly spaces for neurodiverse individuals.
Example: “This park has a sensory play area designed for kids with autism.”
Local Language Insights
If you’re in a multilingual area, review places in your local language and English. This increases the reach of your reviews and makes them accessible to diverse users.
Seasonal or Time-Based Tips
Share insights tied to specific seasons, events, or times of the day:
“Best time to visit this lake is during sunset for stunning views.”
“Avoid weekends here—it gets crowded; weekdays are more peaceful.”
Places evolve, and keeping your reviews updated with changes makes your profile more valuable.
Example: “This restaurant has a new chef, and the menu now includes vegan options. The ambiance remains cozy, but service has become faster!”
You can also revisit old photos and add a “Then vs. Now” post.
2. Geotag Hidden Gems
Share details of features that might not appear on the map, like:
Scenic overlooks on a hiking trail
Free public Wi-Fi spots
Street art walls or public installations
Use specific location tags to guide users directly to these spots.
3. Test Unusual Features
Review less-commonly rated aspects, such as:
Noise levels (great for work-friendly cafes)
Air conditioning strength in hot climates
Charging station availability for devices or EVs
Kid-friendly play areas in malls or restaurants
4. Create “Pro Tips” Lists
Offer a list of specific “hacks” for visiting a location:
“Top 3 tips for visiting this theme park: 1) Arrive by 9 AM for short lines, 2) Buy tickets online to skip queues, 3) Try the churros at the west food court—they’re the best!”
These are incredibly engaging for readers and build trust in your recommendations.
5. Add Unique Photo Angles
Most people take standard front-facing pictures of places. Experiment with unique perspectives, such as:
Macro shots of signature dishes
Aerial views (if accessible)
Capturing ambiance (e.g., lighting, decor, live music setups)
Bonus: Use editing tools to annotate your photos with helpful markers like “Entrance” or “Best Seat in the House.”
6. Review Hidden Costs or Perks
Share financial insights others often miss:
“There’s a 10% service charge added to the bill here.”
“Free dessert when you show your student ID on weekdays!”
These tips resonate deeply with budget-conscious users.
Thanks a lot for the great list of tips, @manishsinghon!
One thing I would like to add to
Many tourist attractions, but also some companies, change their opening hours based on the seasons. Unfortunately, this cannot be handled perfectly by Google Maps since there is only one set of opening hours. This could be worth mentioning in a review or update by customers.
Welcome to Connect, @manishsinghon .
Indeed I nice series of tips.
Do you use them too?
Why I’m asking? Because when I found a masters, I always want to learn by his experience, his way of contributing. This can help me to improve too.
However, looks like what I see in your contributions doesn’t match with what you are wearing here.
I see 15 of photos, from 1 to 5 years old.
Two are not tied to a place, and six of them are posted twice.
And I see only one short review, that’s more than one year old.
I am a bit confused, that’s why I am asking if you are also following your tips, or if you just used an AI to create your two posts
Thank you for your message and for taking the time to share your thoughts!
To clarify, my account was inaccessible for quite some time, which is why some of my contributions might seem outdated. Additionally, my professional commitments have kept me quite busy, and they still do, which impacts the time I can dedicate to posting here.
That said, I believe sharing tips and ideas should be seen as a positive effort to help others, regardless of the frequency or nature of one’s contributions. Whether content is refined using AI or not shouldn’t overshadow the intent behind sharing valuable insights.
I appreciate your feedback and will consider updating my contributions when time allows. Thank you for understanding, and I look forward to meaningful exchanges with this community!
Thanks for the feedback, @manishsinghon
However, I would like to disagree a bit with what you said.
As a Local Guide (with more than a 1.5M points) my commitment is to make sure that I am the first to follow principles and policies, and my way to share them is first of all through my contributions, that should be always in line with what I write and what I declare.
I have recently read in this community a lot of tips, all AI generated, and most of them completely different from the real contributions of the writers.
Asking the AI to build a couple of posts to appear an expert it is easy. But I want to ask your opinion as a professional: would you hire someone because he is defining himself an expert, or because in his job he demonstrate high skills?
Sure, this is what everyone of us wants. But a meaningful exchange must always start from a honest first step.
Well, in Google Maps and in Connect this is not true. One of our core value is the originality, the use of our own words based on our real experience.
In addition, unfortunately the AI doesn’t know the rules if you don’t ask a specific question.
This is a quick way to get banned! There is a specific rule in Maps about the use of superimposed text. A real Local Guide would tell you: "use a caption in your photo, because this will help to better understand it and will give the possibility also to Visually Impaired people to understand your photos.
I could go on, but my first piece of advice is always this: don’t share something you don’t have real experience with. Never let your contributions be contradicted. Because you see, someone might think you’re an expert and try to imitate you.
Someone might think those six duplicate candles are the best way to contribute. And when they find themselves removed from the program, who will they have to thank?
And finally, I’m sorry you decided to hide your profile, instead of fixing the errors. This is not a good first step for a constructive conversation
Thank you for your thoughtful feedback. I appreciate your commitment to authenticity and understand the importance of aligning contributions with principles.
Regarding AI, my intent was never to replace genuine experiences but to refine language where needed. I also take your point about photo annotations and will ensure captions, not superimposed text, are used.
As for my profile, it was inaccessible for a while, but I’ll address the updates soon. I value your advice on sharing only from real experience and will be more mindful going forward.
Thanks again for your constructive input—it’s a great reminder to contribute responsibly.
This is quite interesting: 308 reviews and no one of them is considered “helpful”.
Checking one of your two visible reviews (that you published just a few hours ago) I was literally shocked: have you read your own post?
That kind of reviews is normally removed, it’s considered Fake engagement, because it’s not showing a real experience of the place. Everyone can select random locations on Google Maps and say “nice”.
That’s why I was so doubtful about your post: you have no idea about what you wrote.
So the first thing to do is to edit all the reviews, one by one, and to share a real experience about the place:
How was the service
How long did you have to wait
How difficult was to find the place
How is the price
Real things, that shows your experience.
Editing your reviews is the first step.
Please let me know the result when you finish that part
I don’t know why are not been able to see my reviews. It’s may be a technical issue. I can see them fine. However I will try to update them as per your suggestion.
No, it’s not a technical glitch. We don’t see your review because Google Maps made them “private” (visible only to you), @manishsinghon
This is a normal procedure when the filter finds that the reviews are not adhering to the policies.
Usually the next step is a ban from the program.
This is what is publicly visible on your profile
You can easily check what is publicly visible by opening the next link in a web browser in incognito mode.
In a previous reply you said that you used the AI only
while not you are showing us that you have no idea of what we’re talking about.
Your issue seems to be serious (99% of hidden reviews is a big warning)
