Steps to Take if Your Google Business Profile Gets Suspended

Having an optimized Google Business Profile (GBP) is paramount for successful local SEO campaigns, so it’s definitely a cause for concern if your listing gets suspended. Why is an active GBP listing so important? It is because, according to research, 64% of consumers will use your GBP listing to find your phone number instead of using your official website.  Also, check out this graph from Bright Local: They found that a significant portion of search users rely on GBP listings for:

• Navigating to your website (56%)
• Finding your contact information (24%)
• Getting directions to your business (20%)

This means if your GBP listing vanishes from the search results, you’ll miss out on a ton of leads, calls, and foot traffic.  The good news? You can submit an appeal to get your GBP profile reinstated.  Suspensions happen for a variety of reasons, and most of the time, it’s possible to undo them if you take the right steps – which is what we’re going to show you how to do today.  Stick around to learn all the ways you can appeal a GBP suspension. 

Ensure Compliance with Google’s Guidelines 

If your account was suspended, it’s because you violated one of Google’s policies for representing your business through their platform.  There are quite a few guidelines for GBP listings, so be sure to study this entire list very carefully.  For quick reference, here’s an overview of the basic guidelines:

• Stick to how your brand is represented in the real world across all branded materials (like signage). 
• Provide an accurate and up-to-date address (make sure it’s consistently represented online and in-person). 
• List all your service areas. 
• Only include one GBP listing for each business. 
• Select the fewest number of categories it takes to describe your core business. 

Note that there are also content guidelines, and special guidelines for chains, departments, and individual practitioners.  These policies exist because Google doesn’t want to confuse or mislead its users with inconsistent business information like incorrect addresses or outdated phone numbers. Google also doesn’t want to display distracting, inappropriate, or spammy content in GBP posts and business descriptions.  Ensuring compliance with these guidelines while creating your GBP is the best way to avoid getting a suspension.  However, if you’ve received a suspension, complying with Google’s policies will qualify you to request reinstatement. 

How to Submit an Appeal to Remove the Suspension 

Once you ensure full compliance with Google’s policies, you can begin the appeal process.  If you’re successful, Google will reinstate your GBP listing, and you’ll have full control over it again.  To submit an appeal for approval, you can use the Google Business Profile appeals tool, or you can hit the ‘Submit an appeal’ button provided on the support page.  Since submitting an appeal provides no guarantee of approval, you may need to provide supporting evidence. Sometimes, proving that you’ve complied with Google’s guidelines is all it takes.  Other times, it helps to include supplemental evidence like:

• A business license or registration 
• Tax certificates 
• Business utility bills (electricity, phone, water, internet, etc.)  

These documents will prove that you own and operate a legitimate business, so try to include them if you can. 

Important note: If you do include evidence with your appeal, you’ll have to attach it within 60 minutes from the time you open the evidence form for it to count.

What to Do if Your Account is Restricted 

Violating Google’s policies can also lead to your account getting restricted, which means you won’t be able to log in.  This complicates things because you’ll have to take an extra step to lift the restriction before you can submit an appeal to get rid of the suspension.  First, head to the My Accounts page to submit an appeal for the restriction. Be sure to let Google know that you’ve resolved the policy violation that caused your account to get restricted.  You can also revisit this page to track the status of your appeal.  Once the restriction is lifted, you’ll be able to log in again, but there’s still the matter of dealing with the account suspension. That means you’ll have to submit yet another appeal to get your GBP listing reinstated. 

The Two Different Types of GBP Account Suspensions 

There are two ways your GBP listing can get suspended, and they have different impacts on your brand’s visibility.  Hard suspensions are the most severe, as they remove your GBP listing from the public. As a result, you won’t appear in Google Maps searches or the Local Pack, and no GBP listing will appear whenever someone searches for your brand name directly.  Submitting an appeal and getting it approved will remove a hard suspension.  Soft suspensions are less impactful on your visibility but are still cumbersome. For a soft suspension, your GBP listing is still public, but you won’t have control over it. Google has removed you as the admin, and they will operate your listing until you submit an appeal that’s approved.  While it’s nice that your GBP doesn’t disappear, soft suspensions are still bad because you won’t be able to optimize your listing. That means you won’t be able to upload photos of your business, post about upcoming events, or update your contact information at will.  So, regardless if you have a hard or a soft suspension, you should always resolve the issue and submit an appeal. 

Best Practices for Avoiding Suspensions 

Lastly, here are some optimization tips that will help you avoid getting suspended in the first place:

• Do NOT use virtual locations for your business (Google does not allow this). 
• Study Google’s guidelines and remain in compliance with them. 
• Ensure NAP (name, address, and phone number) consistency across all platforms (social media, etc.). Our citation cleanup service is great for this if you have inaccurate, outdated business information floating around online.  
• Upload high-resolution photos of your business, team, and facilities. 
• Keep your business hours updated. 
• Use the actual name for your business (i.e., using The Home Depot instead of The Home Depot at Barton Creek). 
• Only include business categories that truly apply to what you do. 

Following these best practices will keep your GBP optimized and in good standing with Google.  Do you not have time to manage your GBP listing? Our GBP Optimization Service will ensure compliance, accuracy, and high visibility, so don’t wait to sign up!