You search your own business name and the map listing is gone, or your Business Profile dashboard says the profile is suspended. Google’s help page puts the consequence in one line: “If your Business Profile violates our guidelines, it becomes disabled or suspended and won’t show to other users on Google until you resolve the issue.” The same page says that if your business is suspended, “you’ll get a notification in the Google Account you use to manage your profile.”
This article is the way back: what to do first, the rules a business that goes to the customer should check, what to fix, the evidence Google asks for, and the appeal. If you are setting up a profile for the first time, start with Google Business Profile for Contractors: The Setup That Gets Calls, which covers the setup rules in full.
First: two things not to do
Do not make a new profile. It is tempting to start over under a fresh listing. Google’s guidelines say: “Do not create more than one page for each location of your business, either in a single account or multiple accounts.” A second profile for the same business is a second breach, not a fix.
Do not appeal before you have fixed the cause. Google’s page on suspended profiles says it plainly: “Appeals can only be submitted once.” Its appeals page adds: “Do not submit multiple appeals for the same issue before receiving a decision.” Your one appeal should go in after the profile follows the rules, with your evidence attached.
Is it one profile, or your whole account?
Google’s policy overview says: “If a merchant’s account is restricted, all Business Profiles associated with that account will be suspended.” If every profile you manage went dark at once, the problem may be the account, not the listing. Google’s suspension page says an account restriction is lifted by appealing it for the account itself, on your My accounts page, with the reason it should be lifted.
Six rules to check a service business against
Google’s help pages set out rules rather than a list of the most common causes. Six of those rules touch the way a service business is set up. Read your profile against each one.
1. Extra words in the business name
Google’s rule on names mentions suspension outright: “Including unnecessary information in your business name isn’t permitted, and could result in the suspension of your Business Profile.” The setup article linked above covers what the name may and may not hold. Two items on Google’s list catch owners who thought they were only being accurate: “fully capitalized words” and “irrelevant legal terms (e.g. LLC, LTD, INC).”
The fix is the name on the trucks and the paperwork, with the services, the town, the capitals and the LLC taken out. Expect a check after the change: Google says “If you change your business name after it’s verified, you might need to verify your business again.”
2. An address you do not work from
Many contractors work from home and do not want that address on the map, so they rent a mailbox or a virtual office. The guidelines rule both out: “If your business rents a physical mailing address but doesn’t operate out of that location, also known as a virtual office, that location isn’t eligible for a Business Profile.” A co-working desk counts only if the office “maintains clear signage, receives customers at the location during business hours, and is staffed during business hours by your business staff.”
The privacy problem has a lawful answer, the one the setup article describes: your real base, the house or the shop, with the address hidden and service areas listed instead. Know that this is a move in Google’s eyes: “If you move your business to a new address after it’s verified, you must verify your business again.”
3. A profile for every town
A profile for each town you serve, each with an address in that town, runs into both rules above at once: one profile per real location, and no addresses you do not operate from. Your reach into those towns belongs in the service areas of your one profile, within the limits the setup article gives. The same thinking applies to brands: “If your business location combines two or more brands, do not combine the brand names into a single Business Profile.”
4. A business Google does not list at all
Google’s eligibility rule is: “To qualify for a Business Profile, a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.” A contractor who goes to the customer’s house meets that. Some set-ups do not. The ineligible list includes “lead generation agents or companies” and “brands, organizations, artists, and other online-only businesses.” If the profile is really a referral line that passes jobs to other crews, no amount of editing will make it eligible.
5. A phone number or website that is not yours
The guidelines say “the phone number must be under the direct control of the business,” and “do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or ‘refer’ users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business.” If a lead service’s number or a landing page someone else owns is on your profile, replace it with your own number and your own site.
6. Who controls the profile
“Only business owners or authorized representatives may verify and manage their business information on a Business Profile.” If a marketing company set yours up, Google’s rules say a representative must “transfer Business Profile ownership to the business owner immediately upon request.” Google warns that failing these eligibility and ownership policies “may result in a suspension for the Business Profile and/or Google Account.” Make sure the owner of the business is the owner of the profile.
Gather the evidence before you appeal
Google’s suspension page lists the kinds of evidence that support an appeal:
For a contractor, that can mean the state contractor or trade license, the registration of the business with the state, and a utility bill at the base address. Then the check that matters: “For any documents you submit as evidence, check that the business name and address match the profile you want to make an appeal for.” If your license says one name and the profile another, fix the profile before you file.
Filing the appeal
The steps on Google’s page:
- Open the Google Business Profile appeals tool, signed in with the Google account that manages the profile.
- Select the profile you want to appeal, then Continue.
- Select the decision you want to appeal, then Continue.
- Add your evidence (you can attach more than one file) and a short explanation.
- Check the box confirming your evidence is attached, and submit.
Keep the explanation short and factual. Say what the business is, where it works, and what you changed. As an example: “Ridgeline Roofing is a licensed roofing contractor working at customers’ homes in the county. We removed the services and town from the profile name, removed a mailbox address we did not operate from, and set the profile as a service-area business with our real base hidden. Our state license and a utility bill at that address are attached.”
Google says “appeal reviews and decisions can take up to 5 business days,” and “we’ll review your appeal and send you an email with the appeal decision.” The appeals tool shows the status: Submitted, Approved, Not Approved, Can’t be appealed, or Eligible for appeal.
If the answer is no
A denial is not quite the end. Google’s page says: “Only if your reinstatement request is denied, we may be able to do an additional review to prove your eligibility.” Before you ask for one, read the guidelines against the profile again, line by line. If something still breaks a rule, a second look will not change the answer.
Keeping it from happening again
Google reviews edits: “We review your changes before we update them live on your profile.” Treat the profile like your license paperwork, not like a social media page.
While the profile is down, the people who already know your name can still find your website. That makes the site worth a look this week: The Website Pages a Contractor Needs (and the Ones Nobody Reads) covers what it should say.