Google Business Profile Suspended? - FIX IT FAST in two steps (2025 edition)

if your Google business profile has been suspended you've probably received an email like this and seen a warning message like this when you try to access your profile take a deep breath and don't worry because in today's video I'll walk you through the steps to get your profile back to its former glory this process has changed quite a bit in the last few months and this is the most upto-date version for those of you who don't know me I'm Luke Duran founder of ranking Academy a channel dedicated to local marketing that has helped thousands of

small business owners overcome their online challenges and improve their online visibility if you want to join our community of over 260,000 strong don't forget to subscribe to the channel and I've said having your Google business profile suspended means that your listing can no longer be found on Google Maps and Google search results or that you can't make any changes to it anymore in either case it's not good news and my first piece of advice is this don't be tempted to claim another listing at the same address it violates Google's guidelines and will likely be suspended

too instead you need to appeal Google's decision but before you can start the appeal process you'll need to find out why your listing was suspended and fix it if you're not sure why Google should have given you a hint in the email you received usually the suspension happens because you knowingly or unknowingly did something that looks spammy goes against Google Google's guidelines or violated Google's terms and conditions given that Google's hence can be vague I'll go through the most common issues that cause listings to be suspended this should address 90% of all suspension cases which

should help you fix your listing before you submit your appeal step one fix your listing the list I'm about to share will help you figure out why your listing might have been suspended check each point and fix any problem you find this will improve your chances of getting your listing back quickly number one you've added keywords to your business name if you've added extra keywords to your business name such as your city name or a keyword you are trying to rank for remove them this goes against Google's guidelines you should use the business name as

specified on your business license number two your address is violating the guidelines if you're using a PO Box address a UPS box address or a virtual office address this is likely why your listing was suspended as these aren't allowed you can use a co-working space if you can prove you rent a dedicated office that no one else shares where customers can visit and it has permanent signage showing your business details this is not easy to do bottom line is get yourself a real address if that's why your listing was suspended number three you're displaying an

address on your listing but you're a service area business if you visit customers at their homes you're a service area business and according to Google's guidelines you shouldn't display an address on your listing instead specify the areas you serve to fix this delete the address and add the neighborhoods you operate in number four you've made too many changes to your listing at once changing important information on your Google business profile like your name address phone number or business categories and and too often can get your account suspended businesses don't change these things regularly so Google

gets suspicious when they do if this happened to you there isn't much you can do at this stage go through the appeal process covered in step two next time be sure to give enough time between edits to avoid getting suspended again number five your business operates exclusively online the number one requirement to be eligible for a Google business profile is to have physical contact with customers if your business operates exclusively online you are not eligible for a listing if you manage to get a listing anyway and it has been suspended don't bother appealing your appeal

will be declined number six you say you're open 24 hours but you're not if you claim your business is open 24 hours but it's not Google might suspend your listing make sure to display your correct opening hours number seven website link violation if the website link on your listing redirects to a site that isn't your business website or points to a social media page change it to your actual website if you don't have one leave it blank number eight you're considered a high-risk business type businesses like locksmiths plumbers lawyers and agback services are considered high-risk

categories because they often break Google's rules as a result they are constantly monitored by Google to prevent spam this means even genuine listings can get suspended even if they follow all the rules if your listing complies with Google's guidelines you can start the appeal process number nine switching between a storefront and a service area business changing your listing from a service area business to a storefront or vice versa can trigger a suspension if this happened right after you made the switch review this list to ensure your listing complies with the guidelines if it does start

the appeal process number 10 multiple listings for the business creating multiple listings to be found in different areas on Google Maps is common for service area businesses however you need to prove that each listing is for separate service areas with no overlap each one doesn't extend more than a 2-hour drive and they are managed by different staff if you don't follow these rules all your listings might get suspended if you can't prove some of your listings are legitimate remove them from your Google business profile dashboard and keep the legitimate ones try deleting them on Google

Maps but before you do make sure to grab the Google Maps URL for them and include those URLs in the appeal process to come clean number 11 multiple listings for the same businesses at the same address unless your business is located in an office building or a mall claiming multiple listings for your business at the same address like your home address might result in a suspension especially if you use the same phone number for example if you trying to claim a listing for a web desired business and another for internet marketing Services it won't work

you should add internet marketing Services as an additional category on your web design listing just like before try deleting the extra listing on Google Maps but before you do make sure to grab the Google Maps URL for it and include the URLs in the appeal process number 13 your listing was suspended because someone who manages your profile had their account suspended if you've worked with various SEO companies or Freelancers and providing them access to your listing you might have forgotten to remove their access when you stopped working with them it's a common oversight however if

any of their Google accounts were suspended your listing could be suspended to by association before starting your appeal process check who has access to your listing and remove anyone who shouldn't be listed there although these are the most common reasons why you're listing has been suspended I strongly recommend you go through the prohibited and restricted content list to make sure you leave no stone unturned once you're confident you've identified and fixed the issues with your Google business profile and not until then you can move to step two step two launch your appeal okay what I'm

going to talk about now is super important so listen up Google changed the appeal process last year and as part of the process it's now highly recommended you upload official business documents to prove your business is real when you get to that stage you only have 60 Minutes to upload them that's not much time if you're scrambling to find the right paperwork plus you only get one shot at this once the 60 minutes are up that's it to avoid this get your documents ready beforehand that way 60 Minutes will be plenty of time and you'll

have the right documents ready to go which will boost your chances of getting your list back here is what you can use your official business registration your business license your tax certificates utility bills such as electricity phone cable internet Etc make sure whatever you use clearly shows your business name and address for example if your utility bills are under your personal name they won't work they must display the same business name and address as your business license or tax certificates if your listing displays a physical address add a picture of your outside signage to strengthen

your case make sure the sign is permanent not just some handwritten sticker on a door gather as many proofs as you can and put them in a zip file to make it easier now you're ready to start the appeal process dig out the email from Google notifying you about your profile suspension and click on the appeal button this will open the appeal tool make sure the email address displayed is the one associated with the suspended listing if not switch the account click on confirm this will show all listings linked to this account select the listing

you want to appeal if you only have one listing it will be displayed by default click on continue on the next screen you will see when your business profile was suspended why it was suspended and if it's eligible for appeal unfortunately not all listings are eligible for appeal so if your listing isn't you won't be able to proceed if you are able to appeal click on next this window lets you know you can provide evidence after submitting your appeal to support your case which is something you definitely want to do you will have 60 Minutes

to submit your evidence after clicking the submit button so make sure you are ready luckily if you followed my instructions you already have all the right documents prepared so that shouldn't be a problem do not click submit unless you are 100% certain your listing complies with Google's guidelines and you have the correct evidence if ready click submit clicking the submit button sends your appeal to Google and starts the 60-minute countown to provide your evidence click on the add evidence link this opens the evidence form pre-filled with your business details such as your name address and

business profile ID use this form to upload your document proving your business is real and legitimate you can do this in two ways either upload two separate documents or if you followed my instructions a zip file that contains all your evidence which is better if you have more than two pieces I also strongly recommend you use the additional information field to support your case explain why your profile should be reinstated the steps you took to comply with the guidelines and any other relevant information you have a th000 character limit so be concise and factual complete

the rest of the form and click submit you'll be redirected to the appeal tool which should now display your profile status as submitted wait for the Google support team to review your case and decide if your listing will be reinstated this process can take a few days so be patient while waiting you can check the status of your listing regularly by visiting the appeal tool if your appeal is successful you will receive an email confirming approval and reinstatement of your listing note that once your listing has been reinstated it may take a few days for

it to rank as well as it did before the suspension if your appeal is declined because Google still fills your listing is not in compliance with the guidelines you will also receive an email to let you know if this is the case you can ask for one last review you can do this using this dedicated form go through the same process of figuring out why your Google business profile was suspended and fix it resubmit your documents and make sure they are the correct ones this is your last chance to restore your listing failing that you

won't be able to retrieve it ever that's it for today guys best of luck all the links you need are in the description below once your listing is restored make sure you optimize it as well as you can to attract as many customers as possible I've put together a list of 50 tips you can follow right here to achieve the best results watch it now