Why AI gets your phone number, address or job title wrong, and how to fix it

Why the details go wrong

These tools do not know where you work. They read pages and listings, and decide which to believe. Anything that confuses that decision can produce a wrong answer.

1. Old listings that were never updated

A directory entry you created years ago, a former employer’s page, or a practice you left still shows the old address or title. It is still on the web, still read and still quoted.

2. The same fact written in different ways

“Dr. Anna Weiss”, “Anna Weiss MD” and “A. Weiss” may be read as three people. “0117 496 0123”, “+44 117 496 0123” and “(0117) 4960123” are the same number, but a tool matching strings may not see that. “12 Park Street” and “12 Park St., Suite 2” are the same place written differently.

3. Directories copying each other

Many directories are filled from the same data suppliers or copy from one another, so one wrong entry can reappear on several sites, or return after you correct it somewhere else. This is why fixing only your website is not enough.

4. Your own page does not state the facts plainly

If your address is only in a picture, or your phone number is only a button with no visible number, or your title appears only in a logo, a machine cannot read it. It will fall back on whichever other source it can read, which may be outdated.

5. A shared name

If another professional shares your name, a tool may merge the two of you, crediting you with their qualifications or the other way round. The more distinctive your details (profession, city, specialty, registration number), the less likely a mix-up.

6. An old copy of a page

Archived or scraped copies of an old version of your site, a PDF brochure from a former year, or a social post with an old phone number can still be found and quoted.

7. The tool’s own mistakes

Sometimes the sources are right and the tool still gets it wrong, by blending details, by relying on older training data, or by making something up. You cannot fully prevent this. What you can do is make the right answer the easiest one to find, and report errors that persist. See how to check what AI says about you.

The fix: one master record, written one way

Before you correct anything, decide what is true and how you will write it. Create a short “master record” in a document, and copy from it every time.

Choices that prevent most mismatches

• Use your name as clients know it, and write it the same way everywhere. Decide whether you use a title such as Dr. and keep to it.
• Write phone numbers in international format (+44 117 496 0123). It works from anywhere and avoids local formatting variations.
• Write the address exactly as the postal service would, in the same order every time.
• Use one short description of yourself and reuse it.
• Always show the facts as plain text on the page. A tappable button is good; a visible number beside it is better.

The audit, step by step

1. Search for yourself. Look at your name, your practice name, your phone number and your address as separate searches, in a private window. Open the first three pages of results.
2. List every place you appear in a table: the website, the Google listing, other map services, directories, professional-body listings, social profiles, old employers, press, PDFs.
3. Check each against your master record and mark it correct, wrong or missing.
4. Fix the sources in order of importance: your own website, your Google listing, other map services, your professional body, the largest directories, then the rest.
5. For pages you do not control, contact the site and ask for a correction or removal. Most directories have a “claim” or “report an error” link.
6. If an old listing cannot be corrected or removed, make sure the correct information is at least easy to find elsewhere.
7. Record what you changed and the date.
8. Search again in two to four weeks and repeat for anything still wrong.

Where to look

• Search and map services: Google Business Profile, Apple Business Connect and Bing Places for Business.
• Your professional body’s register or directory.
• General and local business directories in your country, such as Yell in the UK, Pages Jaunes in France, Gelbe Seiten in Germany or Justdial in India.
• Social and professional profiles: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X.
• Former employers, partners or universities that list you.
• Press, award lists and event pages that mention your practice.
• Old PDFs and brochures that you or others have posted online.

When you move, rename or change your phone number

• Edit your existing Google listing rather than creating a new one. A duplicate listing splits your reviews and confuses the tools.
• Update your website first, then your listing, then everything else.
• Keep the old phone number or address on your page for a short period, labelled as the previous one, so people searching for it can find you. Then remove it.
• Tell your professional body, which often feeds other sites.
• Ask directories that show the old details to update them, and keep a list of those that have not.
• Re-run the audit after a month.

Help the tools read the right answer

Once your sources agree, make your own page the easiest source to read. State the facts as plain text near the top, include them in structured data, and link your profiles to each other. See structured data for professionals and how to get on Google Maps.

How BeVisible helps

On BeVisible, the visible page, the structured data and the plain-text summary for AI are all generated from the same details, so they cannot disagree with each other. When something changes you edit it once. You still need to update the places outside your page, such as your Google listing and directories. You can build and preview free, and publish free for 7 days with no card needed; after that one yearly plan keeps a website online, and one plan covers one website. Start from a photo or type your details.