Google Business Profile suspended? Why it happens and how to get it back

A suspended Business Profile can vanish from Google Maps with little warning, and for a business that lives on local customers, that hurts. Google suspends a profile when it thinks you've broken one of its rules, so do things in the right order: find out which rule, fix it, and only then appeal with evidence. An appeal on a profile that still breaks the rules is likely to fail.

Why profiles are suspended

Google's help on suspended or disabled profiles says only that it may suspend or disable a Business Profile that doesn't follow its guidelines. The appeals tool is more helpful, because it shows you the reason for the action and links to the policy involved. Start there: it's the most reliable way to find out what went wrong.

These are the rules to check first, all taken from Google's guidelines for representing your business:

Before you appeal: fix the cause

Google says to make sure the profile follows every guideline before you appeal, so work through this list first:

• Read the reason in the appeals tool, and the policy it links to.
  What good looks like

  You have written down the reason the appeals tool gives and read the policy page it links to, so you know which rule Google thinks was broken.

  Takes fifteen minutes. Covered in full above.

• Check the business name matches your real-world name exactly, as on your signage and paperwork, with no added town names, services or keywords.
  What good looks like

  The profile name matches your signage, letters and invoices exactly, with no town, service or keyword added.

  Takes five minutes. Covered in Local SEO for UK businesses: the complete checklist.

• Check the address. A virtual office, a PO box or a co-working space that doesn't meet Google's conditions can't be used. If customers don't come to you, set the profile up as a service-area business and hide the address.
  What good looks like

  The address is a real place where you meet customers or run the business and meets Google's conditions. If customers do not come to you, the profile is set as a service-area business with the address hidden.

  Takes fifteen minutes. Covered in Google Business Profile: how to set one up properly, in the right order.

• Check the service area is realistic and within about two hours' drive of your base.
  What good looks like

  The areas listed are ones you actually serve, and none is more than about two hours' drive from your base.

  Takes ten minutes. Covered in Local SEO for UK businesses: the complete checklist.

• Look for duplicate profiles for the same location, including any created years ago, or by a previous supplier.
  What good looks like

  Searching Google Maps for your name, phone number and address shows only one profile for this location, and any old or duplicate profiles have been reported or removed.

  Takes twenty minutes. Covered in full above.

• Check the category describes what the business is.
  What good looks like

  The primary category completes the sentence "This business IS a", and describes what the business is rather than what it offers.

  Takes five minutes. Covered in Local SEO for UK businesses: the complete checklist.

• Check the phone number and website are yours and work.
  What good looks like

  The phone number rings at your business, the website link loads and is yours, and both match your other listings.

  Takes five minutes. Covered in full above.

• Remove anything in the description that the guidelines exclude, such as special offers, prices or links.
  What good looks like

  The description says what the business does, for whom and its history, with no offers, prices or links.

  Takes ten minutes. Covered in Local SEO for UK businesses: the complete checklist.

How to appeal

Google's help on appealing Business Profile restrictions sets out the steps:

1. Open the Google Business Profile appeals tool.
2. Sign in with the Google account linked to your profile.
3. Select the profile.
4. Review the restriction details.
5. Select the decision you want to appeal.
6. Click Submit appeal.
7. Add evidence, if you have it.

Evidence, gathered before you open the form

Google lists the kinds of evidence it accepts: an official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates, and utility bills for the business such as electricity, phone or internet. It also says that once you open the evidence form, you have 60 minutes to submit it, or nothing you've added will be attached to your appeal. So gather everything before you open the form:

• Your business registration. For a UK limited company, the public Companies House record; for a sole trader, a document that ties your name to the business name and address.
  What good looks like

  You have a copy of the Companies House record, or for a sole trader a document tying your name to the business name and address, saved and ready to upload.

  Takes fifteen minutes. Covered in full above.

• A recent utility bill for the business address, in the business name.
  What good looks like

  A utility bill from the last few months, in the business name and at the profile's address, is saved and ready to upload.

  Takes ten minutes to find. Covered in full above.

• A business licence, if your trade requires one.
  What good looks like

  If your trade needs a licence, a current copy showing the same name and address is saved. If it does not, you have confirmed that.

  Takes ten minutes. Covered in full above.

• Clear photos of your premises, including permanent signage with the business name, if customers visit you.
  What good looks like

  If customers visit you, you have clear photos of the outside, including permanent signage showing the business name, taken recently.

  Takes twenty minutes. Covered in full above.

• A short, factual note of what you've corrected, if the suspension was about something you've now fixed.
  What good looks like

  A few plain sentences say what was wrong and what you changed, without argument or emotion, ready to paste into the form.

  Takes twenty minutes. Covered in full above.

Every document should show the same business name and address as the profile, because a mismatch can sink an otherwise good appeal.

How long it takes

Google says appeal reviews and decisions can take up to five working days. If your Google Account itself is restricted, though, Google says the account has to be reinstated before you can appeal anything about content.

While you wait

Don't create a new profile. Google says plainly not to create a new Business Profile for the same business while your appeal is under review, and its guidelines forbid more than one profile for a location in any case.

If the appeal is turned down

Read the reason carefully, fix anything you missed, and gather stronger evidence, particularly documents that tie the business name to the address. Then check Google's help pages for the current options for a further review. Be wary of anyone who promises guaranteed reinstatement for a fee: Google makes the decision, and nobody else can guarantee what it will be.

How to avoid it happening again

• Keep the name clean. Never add keywords, towns or services to it, however tempting. The name, category and address rules are all in our Google Business Profile guide, in the order you'll meet them.
• Use a real address you operate from, or run as a service-area business.
• Keep one profile per location, and remove any duplicates.
• Control who has access. A Business Profile can have several owners but only one primary owner, and a manager can edit most of it. Make sure your own business is the primary owner and that you know who else can make changes, which is part of the wider question of who owns your marketing accounts.
• Keep evidence ready: your registration, a recent utility bill and photos of your signage.

Keep the rest of your local presence healthy

A suspension is a reminder not to rest everything on one listing. List the business on Bing Places and on Apple Maps through Apple Business as well, with the same details, and have a website that ranks in its own right, all of which you'll find on our local SEO checklist.

Getting your profile set up properly from the start is part of our SEO audit and first fixes, which costs a fixed £2,500.