Review the actual conversation
Record an anonymous inquiry ID, the business the caller believed they reached, the source they describe and the public contact information they saw if known. Avoid retaining unnecessary personal details. Compare your own listings, ad wording and number mapping. Repeated caller confusion is evidence to investigate, not proof that a particular competitor or platform caused it.
A worked example
Fictional pattern: three callers ask about vehicles held by a different business. Two mention a directory page with the wrong phone number; one does not know the source. The evidence supports correcting that directory and leaving one source unknown. It does not justify assigning all three calls to advertising or counting them as missed tow revenue.
Choose the next action
Identify the business accurately and clarify the mismatch. Do not impersonate the intended provider or make promises about its services. Correct inaccurate information you control and use legitimate correction channels for other listings. Keep a dated record of the public fact and the requested change so the pattern can be checked later.
Check whether it worked
Review the next comparable period for confirmed wrong-business inquiries, preserving unknown sources. Verify the correction publicly. If confusion continues through a different source, add it to the inventory rather than repeating the same fix. Exclude misdirected requests from suitable-demand counts while retaining their cost and handling impact where known.
Put it to work
A record you can use
- Intended business as stated
- Observed source or unknown
- Public mismatch evidence
- Correction owner and date
- Later wrong-business inquiry count
Plain text. No email required. Store completed records in your approved business systems.
Next useful step
Need help applying this to your marketing? A strategy call starts with your business and the evidence you have.
Talk through your next step →For a general editorial question, email Chris. Please leave out customer details. Questions are private, and no response time is promised.