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Introduction
Local businesses across India are facing growing frustration in achieving visibility on search engines, particularly Google. Despite consistent efforts in search engine optimization (SEO), many startups and SMEs still struggle with ranking issues, low organic traffic, and poor representation in Google AI-generated overviews. A significant factor contributing to this situation is the increasing influence of listing platforms like Justdial, which dominate search engine result pages (SERPs) through paid placement strategies. This article dives deep into the SEO dynamics of 2025, exposes unethical practices by platforms like Justdial, and provides actionable tips for business owners seeking authentic digital growth.
The Real SEO Challenges for Local Businesses in 2025
1. Limited SEO Expertise and Resources
Many local businesses lack access to skilled SEO professionals or the budget for ongoing optimization. SEO is now a complex field requiring technical know-how, content strategy, structured data, user experience, and Core Web Vitals compliance.
- Keyword cannibalization, poorly optimized meta data, and non-optimized mobile experiences are common problems.
- SEO success is no longer driven just by content quantity or backlinks but by semantic relevance, EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness), and user intent satisfaction.
2. Justdial’s Influence on Local SEO Results
Justdial has become a powerful intermediary between businesses and their customers. While listing your business on Justdial is free, the catch lies in their aggressive upselling tactics:
- They push for premium packages priced between ₹10,000 and ₹25,000/month for high-volume keywords such as “website design in Bhopal“
- Even after payment, the leads generated are often non-genuine, recycled, or shared with multiple businesses.
- Justdial reportedly sells user-initiated leads when a customer specifically contacts your profile to competing businesses.
- They create and rank profiles on your brand keywords, hijacking direct traffic intended for your website.
This practice is deceptive, manipulative, and borders on digital extortion.
This behavior contradicts search engine principles, especially Google’s guidelines, which value transparency, authenticity, and original sources.
Why Your Website Isn’t Ranking, Even With Regular Blog Posts
3. AI-Generated Content Without Human Value
While maintaining a blog is good SEO hygiene, content that lacks originality and user intent alignment won’t rank in 2025.
- Google’s Helpful Content System prioritizes genuinely useful, human-written content.
- AI-generated content without editing or fact-checking gets filtered out of Google’s AI Overview or featured snippets.
- Content uniqueness, proper topical authority structure, and interlinking strategy matter more than ever.
Pro Tip: Focus on experience-driven content, unique local insights, and structured FAQ sections. Use schema markup to help Google understand the context.
4. You’re Ranking but Not Visible in AI Overviews
Ranking in organic results doesn’t guarantee inclusion in Google’s AI-generated Overview or Search Generative Experience (SGE).
- AI Overviews favor topical experts, first-party data, and content with structured metadata.
- Platforms like Justdial scrape business data and then appear in AI-generated summaries ahead of original business websites.
How Justdial Undermines SEO With Shady Practices
5. Lead Manipulation and Review Fraud
Justdial reportedly engages in several unethical practices:
- Selling your verified leads to competitors.
- Adding fake positive reviews to profiles.
- Allowing fake reviews to push users into buying reputation management.
- Optimizing your Justdial profile for your own brand name, diverting high-intent traffic.
This not only dilutes your brand trust but also contradicts Google’s spam policies. Still, the platform ranks because of its domain authority and aggressive SEO tactics.
It’s unclear why regulatory authorities and Google haven’t cracked down on such behavior yet.
Declining Organic Traffic Is a Global Trend
6. Even Big Brands Face SEO Traffic Losses
From 2023 to 2025, even well-funded SaaS and e-commerce brands have seen drops in organic traffic due to:
- Search engine algorithm updates prioritizing AI-generated overviews.
- More real estate given to ads, videos, and third-party listings (like Justdial).
- The rise of zero-click searches where users get answers without clicking.
Pro Tip: Diversify your traffic sources. Use email marketing, local ads, Google Business Profile optimization, also consider Google Ads and direct outreach.
SEO Tips for Local Businesses in 2025
Focus on Google Business Profile (GBP)
- Complete your profile with photos, products, Q&A, and regular posts.
- Encourage authentic reviews and respond promptly.
Own Your Keywords
- Optimize for branded and service-based keywords.
- Use long-tail queries and build topic clusters around them.
Write Human-Centric Content
- Avoid copy-pasting from AI tools.
- Showcase your experience, local case studies, testimonials, and FAQs.
Use Technical SEO Best Practices
- Implement schema.org structured data.
- Improve page speed and mobile responsiveness.
- Set up local business schema with NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency.
Audit Your Online Presence
- Check if Justdial or similar platforms are outranking your brand name.
- Set up Google Alerts for brand mentions.
FAQs
If you choose to list your business on Justdial, stick to the free listing option. Avoid paid packages unless you can reliably verify the source and quality of every lead they provide. For a similar budget, Google Ads may offer more measurable results and scalable growth opportunities.
If your content is not original, lacks structure, or is AI-generated without editing, Google may exclude it from summaries.
Focus on technical SEO, GBP optimization, and creating useful, hyperlocal content.
Conclusion
As a business owner, you are now aware of how listing platforms like Justdial can undermine your SEO efforts through questionable practices that exploit brand equity and manipulate customer leads. Google, on the other hand, values transparent and user-focused content. While SEO in 2025 is more complex, it is still one of the most sustainable ways to build long-term digital equity.
The choice is yours : Do you want to invest in real digital visibility through ethical SEO or rely on listing platforms that may compromise your brand’s integrity?
Your next move could define the future of your business.
More Details About Reality of JustDial Business Model > https://www.mamits.com/justdial-business-model-justdial-clone-website/
