Google Business Profile suspended

What a suspension actually is

Your profile stops appearing, and you stop being able to manage it. Google's page on fixing suspended or disabled profiles opens with the whole of its explanation:

We may suspend or disable Business Profiles that don't follow our guidelines. If you believe your profile should be reinstated, you can submit an appeal.

Notice what is not there. No reason, no category, no notice period. Google uses suspended and disabled together throughout the page and never draws a line between them.

There is a second kind, and it is worse. Google's policy overview says that if a merchant's account is restricted, all Business Profiles associated with that account will be suspended. The suspension page adds that you will not be able to create or claim other profiles either. One account problem takes down every location.

Why profiles get suspended

Not on the suspension page. The reasons are on the policy overview, and the ones it states plainly are these.

• The business is not where you say it is. Google says that if it determines your business does not exist at the location you claim, it will disable the profile.
• A P.O. Box address. Google says these are not permitted, and that merchants who use one will have the profile suspended.
• A restricted account, including an account restricted on a different Google product. Google says restriction of a non-Business Profile account may result in suspension of the Business Profile.
• Dormancy. Google says merchants who do not access their profile for long periods may have access revoked and content removed after adequate warning. It never says how long a long period is.

Google also says, in its own words, that this page is not a complete list. So a suspension can happen for something it has not named, and there is no way to find out which.

The guidelines for representing your business carry the broader rule, and the reservation of rights:

Google reserves the right to suspend access to Business Profiles on Google or other Google Services to individuals or businesses that violate these guidelines.

How the appeal works

The mechanics Google does publish are worth following exactly.

1. Do not create a new profile. Google's instruction is direct: do not create a new Business Profile for the same business while your appeal is under review. A duplicate is its own guideline problem.

2. Gather evidence before you start. Google names official business registration, a business license, tax certificates, and utility bills including electricity, phone, water and internet.

3. Watch the clock on the form. Google says that once you open the evidence form, you must submit it within 60 minutes or it will not be attached to your appeal. This is the step people lose, because they open the form and then go looking for a utility bill.

4. Read the status. Google's own list of appeal statuses is Submitted, Approved, Not Approved, Can't be appealed, and Eligible for appeal.

5. If it is denied, there may be one more look. Google says that only if your reinstatement request is denied, it may be able to do an additional review to prove your eligibility. It does not promise one, and it does not say that one is the end.

What Google does not publish

This is the part worth setting expectations on, because the silence is unusual even by Google's standards.

• No turnaround time. None. Google gives a rough figure for reporting a review, several days, and gives up to 5 business days for verification. For an appeal against a suspension it gives nothing at all.
• No reasons on the page that fixes it. You have to go to the policy overview, and that page says it is not a complete list.
• No definition of suspended against disabled.
• No cap on appeals, and no statement that the additional review is final.
• Nothing about your reviews. The only hint is on its missing reviews page, which notes that reviews might sometimes be removed after a profile is reinstated.

While you wait

Two things you can do that do not involve the profile.

Fix whatever the likely cause was, in the real world. If the address is a co-working desk or a mailbox, that is the problem, and appealing without changing it repeats the same outcome.

Then deal with the other half of your rating problem, if there is one. Reviews that break a Google content policy can be identified now and reported when the profile comes back. Our guide to reporting a Google review covers the rules, and the free audit tells you how many of yours qualify.

This matters more for a brand without a shopfront. A supplements or telehealth business runs from a warehouse and a website. That is the case Google's address rules handle worst, and the one most often suspended for it.

What not to do is buy a service that promises reinstatement. Google's own pages publish no route that a third party can take on your behalf, and no timeframe to be beaten. Our guide to spotting a review removal scam covers the shape of that offer.

Before you appeal, read the Google Business Profile support routes Google documents.

This is the work behind our Google review removal service. You pay per removal, and the three packs and their prices are public.