Google Business Profile Suspended?

A Google Business Profile suspended for breaking Google's guidelines can be reinstated by fixing the problem first and then appealing in Google's appeals tool. Bring the profile in line with the guidelines, get documents ready that show its business name and address, submit the appeal, then add the documents as evidence. Those steps apply to a UK business on Google Maps as of October 2026.

Don't create a new profile. While an appeal is under review, don't create a new Google Business Profile for the same business.

Is it the profile or your Google Account?

Your own account restricted. If your own Google Account is restricted, the Google Business Profiles you manage are suspended and you can't create or claim other profiles.
The account's appeal. A restricted Google Account is appealed on the "My accounts page", which also shows the status of that appeal.
The profile's appeal. A Google Business Profile suspended because of an account restriction is appealed once the account restriction is lifted, not before.
Where the notice arrives. The notification of a Google Business Profile suspension arrives in the Google Account used to manage the profile.

Suspended, disabled or restricted.

Two words, one tool. A Google Business Profile that breaks Google's guidelines can be disabled or suspended, and either one is appealed in the same appeals tool.
Disabled for a missing business. A Google Business Profile is disabled if Google decides the business doesn't exist at the location the profile claims.
Restricted for an account. A Google Account that breaks Google's policy can be restricted, so an account restriction and a profile suspension can be two separate problems with two separate appeals.
No soft or hard suspension. As of October 2026, none of six Google help pages on suspensions, appeals, edits and the guidelines describes a soft or a hard suspension of a Google Business Profile.

What gets a Google Business Profile suspended?

Breaking Google's guidelines can get a Google Business Profile suspended, for example adding extra words to the business name or using a PO box address. Edits to a verified profile are reviewed against the same guidelines, and Google may reject major changes to the business name or category. Google treats an edit that significantly changes the nature of a business as a possible sign of fraud or of a listing that should be removed. If the suspension came soon after a change to the profile, that change is the first thing to check.

Extra words in the business name: Unnecessary information in a business name, such as a marketing tagline or a phone number, breaks Google's guidelines for business names. The name should be the one used on your shopfront, website and stationery.
A PO box address: A Google Business Profile with its address set at a PO box will be suspended. A suite or mailbox number can go in "Address Line 2", under the real physical address in "Address Line 1".
A virtual office or an unstaffed co-working space: A rented postal address that the business doesn't operate from isn't eligible for a Google Business Profile. A co-working office is eligible if it has clear signage and your own staff are there to receive customers during opening hours.
A service-area business showing its address: A service-area business should hide its address, as a plumber working from home would. A hybrid business that is staffed and receives customers at its address can show the address and set a service area too.
Details that don't match the real world: A Google Business Profile should show the business as it's "consistently represented and recognised in the real world across signage, stationery and other branding".
More than one profile for one business: One business should have one Google Business Profile and no more than one page for each location, in one account or across several. Public-facing individual practitioners, such as dentists, and some departments may have separate pages.
A restricted Google Account: A pattern of breaking the Google Business Profile policies can get your own Google Account restricted, which suspends every profile linked to that account.
A business that isn't eligible: A business qualifies for a Google Business Profile only if it makes in-person contact with customers during its stated hours, at its premises or by travelling to them. Online-only businesses and lead generation companies, for example, are not eligible for a Google Business Profile.

Not every change to a profile is yours. Anyone can suggest edits to your Google profile, and Google sometimes accepts them. If Google gets reports that a profile's details aren't accurate, it may update the profile, and you get a notification when it does. Before you appeal, check what changed and who changed it.

Every paid Local Rank Tracker plan includes profile watch, which checks your Google profile every day and emails you if the name, category, phone, website, hours or address changes. That way, a change to any of those six fields has a date.

How do you appeal a suspension in the appeals tool?

You appeal a Google Business Profile suspension in the appeals tool once the profile follows Google's guidelines, signed in to the Google Account that manages it. The appeals tool shows the reason for the suspension and a link to the policy the profile broke. Select "Submit Appeal" at the bottom right, then select "Add evidence" to open the evidence form. Once that form is open, you have 60 minutes to submit it, or the evidence isn't attached to the appeal. Have every file ready before you submit the appeal.

Fix the profile first. Change whatever broke the guidelines before you go near the tool. Google's page on fixing suspended or disabled profiles puts that fix before the appeal, not after it.
Get the documents ready. Prepare them before you submit the appeal. The next section covers which documents to choose.
Open the appeals tool and sign in. Go to the Google Business Profile appeals tool. If it shows the Google Account that manages the profile, select "Confirm". If it shows a different account, select "Switch account" and sign in to the right one.
Select the profile. If the account manages more than one Google Business Profile, pick the one that's suspended.
Read what the tool shows. The reason and the policy link on this screen say why the profile was suspended. If the reason doesn't match what you changed in step 1, fix the profile before you appeal.
Submit the appeal. The "Submit Appeal" button is at the bottom right of the same screen. It sends the appeal on its own, and the evidence follows as a separate step.
Add evidence when the files are to hand. "Add evidence" opens the evidence form, and its time limit starts as soon as the form is open. Check your business details, then select "Choose file" in the "Upload documents" section.
Say what you fixed. In the evidence form's note on why the profile should be reinstated, name the reason the tool gave and say what you changed to meet the policy.

UK businesses: Appeals work differently for businesses in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA). A profile suspension goes through the appeals tool wherever the business is. For a UK business, the same tool also takes appeals against rejected edits to the business information (name, category, address, phone, website) and against restricted media. A business outside the UK and EEA sends those through "Contact us" instead. With your Google Account or Google Business Profile restricted, those appeals wait until it's reinstated.

More than 10 profiles: To appeal more than 10 Google Business Profiles, select one of them in the tool and submit the appeal for it. When the tool asks whether the appeal is for more than 10 profiles, answer Yes and attach a spreadsheet with the evidence and the Google Business Profile ID for each profile.

What proof should you send with a suspension appeal?

Proof for a Google Business Profile appeal is paperwork showing the profile's exact business name and address, such as a business registration, licence, tax certificate or utility bill. Adding that evidence is optional, but it can help strengthen the appeal. Those documents are examples, not a checklist, and which ones fit depends on the context of the appeal. They go in the "Upload documents" section of the evidence form, which also has room for a note on what you fixed and why the profile should be reinstated.

Companies House registration: A UK limited company's Companies House registration is the same kind of document as an official business registration.
A utility bill for the business: A utility bill for the business, such as electricity, phone or internet, should be in the business name at the profile's address.

A record of your own isn't proof, but it makes the note on the evidence form quick to write. Keep these together:

Copies of the documents: Copies of the appeal documents belong in one folder, each checked against the profile's exact business name and address.
Dates of changes: The date of every change to the profile, whether you made it or Google did, shows what changed before the suspension.
What you fixed: A note of what you fixed, and the date you fixed it, is the detail you'll need when you write the appeal.
Screenshots of the profile: Screenshots of the Google Business Profile taken before you change anything keep a copy of its details as they were.

Photos aren't one of the listed documents, but signage is part of Google's guidelines. A business that shows its address should have permanent fixed signage of its business name there. A name with legal terms or special characters needs real-world proof, such as signage, business cards or invoices. Both are rules for the profile, not a request for photos in the appeal.

Profile watch is a Local Rank Tracker feature on every paid plan. It dates changes to six fields on your Google profile and nothing else: the name, category, phone, website, hours and address. A profile watch email isn't one of the listed documents, so use its dates in your note and let the documents do the proving.

In Local Rank Tracker, Scan again repeats a scan's searches over the same spots, so a later map compares fairly with an earlier one. That only works if there's an earlier map of your Google Maps rankings, scanned before anything went wrong.

How long does a Google Business Profile appeal take?

A Google Business Profile appeal can take up to five working days to review and decide, and the decision comes by email. While you wait, the appeals tool shows a status for the appeal, such as "Submitted", "Approved" or "Not approved". Don't send more than one appeal for the same issue before the decision arrives. If the appeal is denied, an additional review may be possible, with evidence that wasn't sent the first time.

The five statuses. Once you select a Google Business Profile in the appeals tool, its appeal's status shows on the right as one of five: "Submitted", "Approved", "Not approved", "Can't be appealed" or "Eligible for appeal".
After a denial. The additional review goes through a Google Business Profile reinstatement form, "Request additional review of a denied appeal", which won't take a request until an appeal in the appeals tool has been denied.
No second profile. However long the wait, a new Google Business Profile for the same business is off limits while the appeal is under review.
What an approval brings back. An approved appeal means Google Business Profile reinstatement: the profile comes back together with its owner and managers, who can act on it again.
Problems once it's back. If a reinstated profile still has issues, contact Google Business Profile Help about them.
More than 10 profiles. An appeal for more than 10 profiles changes the status only for the profile selected in the appeals tool, and one email carries the decision for that profile.

What happens to your Google Maps rankings during a suspension?

Your business has no Google Maps rankings during a suspension, because Google doesn't show a suspended Google Business Profile to other people until the issue is resolved. Once the profile is reinstated, a Local Rank Tracker free scan maps where your business ranks from up to 81 spots across your town, village or postcode district. Anyone signed up gets one free scan a month, with no card needed. The free scan is for a map from before a suspension or after reinstatement, not for checking a profile while it's suspended. With no scan from before the suspension, the first scan after reinstatement is a starting point, not a before and after. Scan again runs the same search over the same spots, so before and after compare fairly.

An approved appeal tells you the profile is back. It doesn't tell you where the profile ranks, or from which parts of your area customers can see it.

Searching for your own business won't tell you either. Google ranks map results partly by where the person searching is, and it knows what you've searched before. That's why a search for yourself shows something different from what customers see. From your own premises you can look near the top while a customer two miles away doesn't see you.

A fair check runs the same searches over the same spots every time. Keep the searches to the ones your customers type, and keep the same town, village or postcode district. Change either and the two maps measure different things.

Local Rank Tracker's paid plans include the weekly check and "did it work?" results, which put your top 3 share before and after each change next to any edits Google made to your profile in between. Top 3 share is the share of spots across your town where you're in Google's top 3, the results that get most of the calls. A change you made yourself can be added to the report with the day you made it. Rankings also move for reasons nobody controls, so look for a pattern over a few scans, not a single result.

If the profile is reinstated and still hard to find, work through the other reasons a business is not showing on Google Maps.