It is threatened by habitat loss and possibly the wild bird trade, and could potentially even be extinct due to its specialized requirements.

This specialized lifestyle may be what led to such a dramatic decline in the species' population despite its relatively large former range, with the mass deforestation of the Atlantic forest in the late 20th century triggering an Allee effect akin to its extinct relative the passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius), which also depended on masting events of nut-producing trees.

[2] There have been no verifiable observations of the species since 1985,[3] and it could very well be extinct, although numerous unverified records have been made since then, the most recent being a 2017 sighting of an individual in Argentina in a patch of G. trinii.

[2] The species can be easily confused with the blue ground dove (Claravis pretiosa) which it occurs in sympatry with, in poor observation conditions, contributing to the disputed legitimacy of more recent observations.The violaceous quail-dove (Geotrygon violacea), another sympatric species with similar habitat requirements, has still been recorded in the region since the 1980s, raising further doubts over the survival of P. geoffroyi; mist netting efforts in the area have regularly captured G. violacea, but no P. geoffroyi.

However, new regulations on bird breeding imposed by IBAMA in the 1970s and 1980s led to the disbanding of most dove-breeding groups, with captive individuals being sent to IBAMA-authorized breeders who had little knowledge of how to take care of the birds, compounded by the lack of knowledge of the species' true endangerment in the wild at the time, and the last captive individuals are thought to have died out by the mid-1990s without producing any offspring, marking the end of one of the best chances to save the species from extinction.