Google Maps is extremely reliable as a navigation tool and infrastructure platform. The core mapping data, routing algorithms, and satellite imagery are maintained to enterprise standards with minimal downtime. For driving directions in urban Canadian cities like Ottawa, Toronto, or Montreal, accuracy is consistently above 95% in our experience running local campaigns since 2014. The reliability problem surfaces with business information. Store hours, phone numbers, services offered, and even whether a business is still operating depend on Google Business Profile owners keeping data current and users flagging errors. We routinely see 15-25% of local business listings in any given sector with at least one inaccurate detail—wrong hours, disconnected phone numbers, closed locations still showing as open. For local SEO purposes, this creates both risk and opportunity. You cannot passively trust your own Google Business Profile to stay accurate. Competitors can suggest edits, Google's algorithm sometimes reverts correct information, and photos get added by users that misrepresent your business. Weekly monitoring is standard practice for any serious local operation. The mapping infrastructure itself rarely fails, but you'll encounter issues in newer subdivisions where street data lags 6-12 months behind actual construction, and in rural areas where road conditions or seasonal closures aren't reflected. Indoor maps for malls and airports are hit-or-miss depending on whether the property owner has uploaded floor plans. For our 500+ domain portfolio, we treat Google Maps as the authoritative platform for local discovery but verify every client listing monthly and immediately after any Google Business Profile update. The platform's reliability for users finding your business is near-perfect. The reliability of what they find when they get there depends entirely on your own data hygiene. Don't assume Google has it right—log in, check your profile, and fix what's broken before a customer sees outdated information.