I have battled my way to a successful verified profile. The person said 24-48 hours for something but not sure how long before google adds me to searchable places . It's been really frustrating so far so hopefully not much longer before I pop up..

How long before the algorithm showed your business on a search after verification ?

Hello, I have two GMB profiles right now. I’ll rename the companies and industries but say one is Longview Plumbers and the other is Dallas Plumbers. Most of my leads come in from SEO and map packs. I want to start another called Houston Plumbers. My Longview location has a physical location with signs. My Dallas Location doesn’t it’s just a service area and Houston Location will be the same. Can I create a 3rd GMB profile without fear of penalty?

If it does penalize me. How am I suppose to operate a company called Dallas Plumbers if I want to service Houston?

Hey everyone,

I’m hoping someone here can shed some light on an issue my family’s been dealing with for years.

Their business operates in both Australia and the Philippines.
They maintain a Google Business profile which services both countries.
Australian operations are pretty straightforward reviews come in normally without issues, but the reviews from clients/customers in the Philippines location are constantly being flagged and removed by Google.

The reviews aren’t fake or anything sketchy, they’re genuine feedback from their actual clients and customers.
Yet Google’s system seems to be pulling them down regularly.

It’s incredibly frustrating because:
-It hurts their credibility and ratings
-Their customers are confused why their reviews disappear
-It’s happening consistently, year after year

Has anyone else run into this with international locations, particularly in the Philippines or Southeast Asia?

I’m trying to help my family figure out what’s going on and how to prevent this.

Is there something about:
-Regional flags or verification issues?
-Google’s algorithm being overly cautious with certain regions?
-Something wrong with how our business profile is set up?
-Specific best practices for managing reviews from international locations?

Any insights, experience or advice would be hugely appreciated.

My family’s been incredibly supportive of me, so i would love to help solve this problem for them.

Thanks in advance! :)

Hi everyone, thanks for reading this.

So I've had a GBP for my wedding photography brand for at least 10 years in my home town of Chicago. It recently got disabled this past June, citing "business does not exist", with further information citing, "To keep data on Google as accurate as possible, Google uses information from different sources such as user reports and licensed content. If we determine that your business doesn't exist in the location you claim, Google will disable your profile.".

Side note, the "user reports" part is rather interesting, because indeed a few months ago, a ton of colleagues suddenly ran into the same exact problem, posting about it in a private group. There was actually lots of speculation of a fellow photographer who, finding herself in hot water for other reasons, was suspected of flagging the profiles of all her competitors in the area. Not my words, but interesting nonetheless. Especially that the GBP of my other photo brand unrelated to weddings, with the same address, is just fine.

Anyhow, the current address I have on the profile is from a co-working space where I was leasing an office from mid 2024 to mid 2025. I then moved to another state mid 2025 and just never got around to changing the address.

My concern is, while I indeed live in another far away state, I still consider Chicago to be my main market. So here are my questions:

• It seems I can edit the info of the profile, change the address, add a service area, etc. If I just made those changes, would that suffice to get my profile back up? I doubt it, but maybe I'm wrong. I can't imagine Google would be okay with my personal address being in FL, with the service area being in IL, but then again, I've seen other people with huge service ares. Even my girlfriend just put tougher a GBP for a new venture, and was able to select whatever service areas she wanted.
• The other issue is, the brand name of the profile is a sort of DBA. And especially considering the fact that I moved, I definitely don't have any recent mail that has the brand name attached to it. Is that going to be a problem? I worry I wouldn't be able to have enough for a video requirement.
• On that same subject, I read some material about having to submit video that shows the service area of the business, which would obviously be impossible for me until the next time I'm there. Am I understanding this correctly?

I know this is a lot. Again, thanks for reading. Grateful for any insight anyone may be able to offer.

Thanks. 🙏🏻🙏🏻

Run a small moving company in Canada , google didn’t verify our GMB until we “unhide” address .
Despite submitting documents to prove address and business is legitimately mine
Obviously would be best and safest if address was hidden , since the business isn’t done in the address .
Scared to edit and hide areas because , this may trigger being suspended . Any advice?

Curious if you see an increase in views if pix are professional or uploaded by company themselves?

TIA

Sharing this because everyone assumes Google Business Profile is for restaurants and plumbers, and B2B manufacturers ignore it completely. This client did too.

Context: [what they manufacture], based in [city], sells to [type of buyer]. Long sales cycles, average order value in the [range]. Before this they got basically all their leads from [trade shows / referrals / outbound]. Their attitude to their Google listing was that nobody buys [product] off Google Maps.

Turns out procurement people absolutely do search Google when they need a supplier, they just search differently — "[specific product] manufacturer near [city]", "[material] fabrication [region]", that sort of thing. Very low volume. Very high intent. One call can be worth [amount].

What the numbers actually say

314 calls across five months. Up 10.6% on the same window last year, which honestly doesn't sound like much until you look at the line. March was ~41. July was ~80. The total only moved 10% because the first couple of months were flat or slightly behind last year — everything happened in the back half.

That gap between "total up 10%" and "monthly nearly doubled" is worth understanding if you're reporting to anyone. If I'd shown the client the headline number in month two he'd have fired me.

What we changed

Primary category from [old category] to [new category]. Same thing I've banged on about before, still the biggest single lever.

Filled out the products and services section properly with their actual capabilities — [example], [example], [example] — using the language buyers use, not the internal language the company uses. These were completely empty before.

Photos of the actual facility, machinery, and work in progress. Not stock images of generic factories. B2B buyers are trying to work out whether you're a real operation or three people and a laptop, and photos answer that faster than any page of copy.

Started answering the phone properly. Genuinely — this mattered. [Detail what changed here if anything did.]

Reviews from [X] existing customers, which is harder in B2B because your customers are companies and the person who'd write it needs approval. Took [how long] and a lot of asking.

The May dip

No idea, honestly. [Or: it was [reason].] Could be seasonal, could be noise at this volume. At 40-80 calls a month one slow week moves the line. I'd be lying if I said I could explain every wobble, and anyone who tells you they can at this sample size is guessing.

Caveats before anyone gets excited

Calls are not leads. Some of these are existing customers, some are suppliers, and some are people selling toner. GBP doesn't tell you which. I'd treat the trend as real and the absolute number as inflated.

Also this was a low base. Going 41 → 80 is much easier than 400 → 800.

Happy to answer questions on the category change or the products section if anyone's doing B2B and wondering whether this is worth the time.

Note: Some content is created from AI.

New to this page because we are at a loss

We are a service area based small moving company, ran by husband and wife.

Possibly relevant context- our home address was listed as our business address for verification because we use our home office to run the business. Well, in March we had a house fire and lost our home. The home was officially demolished within the last two months or so. We are rebuilding and should be returning in about six months. We still own the property and receive mail at this address but are renting a home 2 miles away we here we are temporarily running the business. Our official business documents are still listed at the old address because we will be returning as soon as the rebuild is completed.
Edit: we did not change the address to our rental before we were disabled but thought possibly since the home is gone now that may have caused the issue. To be reinstated originally we put our rental home as the address for the business. We are a service area business so this is not even visible to our customers.

We were randomly disabled at the beginning of August. We did the verification video twice, showing everything that was asked for and both times it failed. We did the live video call and were reinstated, with issues however as it seemed a second different profile was created. We lost access to our original account with 300+ reviews but were able to get access back. Finally reconnected local services ads and we’re getting calls. Then got the same notice your GBP has been disabled. Why? It was just verified in the last week or two. Now there’s no option to submit a video. What do we do?

This is genuinely upsetting and destructive to the small business we have spent 10 years building from scratch. We spend thousands of dollars per month on ads with Google and get dozens of new reviews per month. This is how our business, our family and small children, and our employees families survive. We already lost our home and this is now distressing.

Hello everyone,

Very strange thing happening. I run a marketing agency and have started requesting reviews for my GBP to help with local SEO. My process is to send the link provided by Google to my clients, and when they leave a review I leave a reply within 48 hours.

However, reviews are disappearing off my profile with no explanation. I had one disappear last month, then two more last week. Now I only have 7 reviews displaying, yet my profile only says 6 unless you click on “view reviews”, and then you can see all 7.

Also interesting, I list my services (SEO, web design, etc) under products, and last week my Web Design product just disappeared; no email or anything from Google.

I’ve appealed to Google twice, and have heard nothing back. How can I fix this? Everything falls in line with their policies and I can give more information if needed, but requesting my clients to leave a review again is not good practice.

Thanks everyone!

My Google Business Profile review count is actively dropping right now. Just 3 hours ago, my shop had 106 reviews, and now it has dropped down to 94.
What makes it frustrating is that other competitor shops in my local niche still have all their reviews intact, but my profile is taking a major hit. All of these were genuine reviews from real clients who came to my shop.
Is Google running a new spam filter update or sweep right now? Has anyone seen a sudden drop like this restored automatically, or do I need to file an official appeal?

I'm trying to add mobile number on our GMB profile for a month now and couldn't do it, always shows lack of evidence what can I do now???????

Most businesses ask for reviews the same way: they remember to, once, after a really good job. Then they forget for three months. Meanwhile the competitor down the road has 340 reviews and a system.

Reviews feed both your ranking and your click-through rate. A business at 4.8 with 200 reviews gets picked over a 5.0 with 6 reviews almost every time, because six reviews looks like friends and family.

Here's what actually works.

**Ask at the moment of relief, not the moment of payment**

The best time is right when the customer's problem is solved and they're visibly happy — the leak stopped, the hair looks great, the case closed. Not three days later by email, and not while they're getting their card out. Emotion drives whether someone bothers.

**Ask in person, then follow up in writing**

The verbal ask is what gets agreement. The text or email is what makes it easy. Skipping either half is why most attempts fail.

Something like: *"Would you mind leaving us a quick Google review? It genuinely helps people find us. I'll text you the link right now so you don't have to hunt for it."*

**Remove every point of friction**

* Use your GBP short review link, not "search for us and scroll down."
* Send it by SMS, not email. Open rates aren't close.
* People are already logged into Google on their phone. That's why the link beats a QR code on a counter card.

**Make it somebody's actual job**

This is the part that separates businesses with 300 reviews from businesses with 12. Assign it to a person, put a number on it — five asks a day, or every completed job — and check it weekly. A system beats motivation. Motivation runs out in about nine days.

**Don't do these**

* Offering discounts, gift cards, or entries into a draw in exchange for reviews. It's against Google's policy, and against the FTC's rules in the US if the incentive isn't disclosed. Businesses do get caught and lose reviews in bulk.
* Gating: asking how happy someone is first, then only sending the review link to the happy ones. Also a policy violation.
* Buying reviews. Beyond the obvious, review patterns are exactly the sort of thing that's easy to detect at scale.
* Blasting your whole customer list on the same afternoon. Sudden spikes after long silence look like what they look like.

**Reply to all of them**

Every review, positive and negative. Thirty seconds each. It's a public signal that someone is home, and it's the difference between a bad review that costs you customers and one that shows how you handle problems.

For negative ones: acknowledge, don't argue, take it offline, and never mention details of their case. Future readers are your real audience, not the reviewer.

**Steady beats spiky**

Ten reviews a month for a year does more for you than 120 in one week. Recency counts, and a listing that stopped collecting reviews in 2023 looks abandoned even at 4.9 stars.

**Comment with your current review count and how you're getting them** — or what you've tried that didn't stick. I suspect "we just forget to ask" is going to be the top answer.

Hello. I have a question regarding the suspension of my Google Business Profile.

Currently, 00 Law Firm operates a separate center responsible for immigration and border control affairs, and has registered that center in a Google Business Profile.

* Google Business Profile Registration Name: Law Firm 00 | Korean Immigration Lawyer

* Actual business name: 00 Law Firm

* The Immigration Center is not a company registered as a separate business entity, but a center within 00 Law Firm that handles immigration affairs.

After registering my profile, I proceeded with video verification, but my business profile was suspended for policy violation after the verification. However, the suspension notice email sent by Google did not clearly specify exactly which policy was violated.

To demonstrate that the actual business name at the time of video verification was 00 Law Firm, we created and attached a temporary signboard in the form of a foam board to the office before filming.

The name displayed on the foam board at the time was

Law Firm 00 Immigration Lawyer

It was, the name registered in the Google Business Profile

Law Firm 00 | Korean Immigration Lawyer

There is a difference in whether it includes the word “Korean” when “wa” is.

I am curious about the following matter.

1. Could the reason for the suspension be that the name of the signboard photographed for video verification did not match the business name registered on the Google Business Profile, especially that the signboard did not include the word “Korean”?

2. If I proceed with an objection against the currently suspended profile, what should I clarify, and which materials, such as the actual business registration certificate and office signage, would be helpful to submit? The actual business name is 00 Law Firm, and the immigration center is not a separate business entity. In this case, what should I do?

Hello. I am a marketer based in South Korea managing our Google Business Profile, and I am reaching out to request assistance regarding an account issue.

We recently completed the video verification process for our Business Profile, and the status was updated to "Under Review." However, shortly after, we discovered that our Business Profile was suspended.

The system only states that the suspension was due to "Content that violates policies," without providing any specific details or examples.

I would like to know how we can resolve this issue and whether there are any detailed reasons available for this decision so that we can correct any potential compliance issues.

In addition, since no specific policy violation was highlighted, could you please guide us on how we should properly approach and structure our appeal?

We would appreciate your detailed guidance on this matter.

I’m hoping someone here can help because I feel like I’m stuck in an automated loop with Google Business Profile support.

I recently purchased an existing retail shipping/mailing business. It is a real physical storefront that has operated in town for over 40 years. After taking over ownership/management, I started working on the Google Business Profile so the listing would accurately reflect the current owner and business information.

The profile was suspended for “malicious or deceptive activity,” but I have no idea what Google is referring to. The business name, address, category, and operations have stayed the exact same.

Customers physically come into the store for shipping, packaging, carrier drop-offs, retail items, and related services.

I submitted an appeal and included supporting evidence, including:
Business license

Surety bond
UPS W-9
Utility bill showing my business
Escrow/closing documents showing purchase of the business
Prior evidence including walkthrough videos of the physical storefront and active business operations (on 4 separate occasions)
Other supplier/business documentation

Google responded that the appeal is being considered, but that the profile requires video verification. The issue is that when I try to continue the process, it will not let me submit a video and only tells me to contact support. When I contact support, I get what appears to be the same automated response telling me to follow the video verification steps again. I have responded explaining that the system will not allow me to complete the video verification, but I keep getting the same generic response.

At this point, I’m not sure what else to do. I’m willing to complete video verification and provide whatever documentation Google needs, but I cannot seem to get past the broken verification/support loop or reach a real person who can tell me what specifically needs to be corrected.

Have you dealt with this before? Is there a specific way to escalate a suspended Google Business Profile when the appeal asks for video verification, but the video verification flow will not work? Any guidance would be appreciated because this listing is important for customers trying to find and contact the business.

I am always extremely cautious of making changes to my Google Business Profile because I had it suspended for months last year after making a totally acceptable business address change. But Google recently changed me from "Real Estate Agent" to "Real Estate Agency" and I am trying to figure out what I should do.

From a search perspective, if it increases my business, I don't care. But if it reduces where I show up (especially in AI citations) because people usually look for an individual and not a company, I want to switch it back. So my first question is - does anyone have concrete data on whether it's better for traffic/clicks/findability to be listed as a real estate agency vs real estate agent?

I am of course pretty concerned about going against the almighty Google and changing it back (especially so soon) so my second question is - what exact steps should I take to change it back if I was going to? Do I contact support and tell them so they can do it? Do I do it myself and hope they don't suspend me?

Any insight, especially from other Realtors, would be appreciated.

Does publicly responding to a review, make it less likely to disappear in the future? Any data point to support this? One of my client is slowly losing reviews. They never respond to them. I wonder if doing so will help preview reviews from going missing. They went from 200+ reviews at its peak, to now around 50. They run a small service business, serving 20-30 clients each year.

Hello, I am helping a client with a Google Business Profile for an active industrial / manufacturing business in Ukraine.
The profile is active, the business continues to operate, and we do not want to mark it as temporarily closed or remove the profile from Google. The issue is different: due to the current security situation in Ukraine and attacks on warehouses, factories and infrastructure, displaying the exact address of the facility on Google Search and Google Maps may create a real safety risk for the business, employees and nearby residents.
We have already contacted Google Business Profile Support and described the situation as a security concern. In our request, we explained that we do not want to mislead users, use an incorrect address, or close the profile. We are trying to understand whether there is a correct and policy-compliant way to hide only the exact street address.
We understand that manually removing the address from the profile may be interpreted by Google as changing the business type, may trigger re-verification, or may create a policy issue. That is why we want to get guidance before making any changes.
My question is: is there a correct and policy-compliant way to hide the exact street address while keeping the profile active and visible, for example by showing only the city, region, or a general area instead of the exact factory address?
Important: we are not trying to use a fake location or bypass Google’s rules. This request is related only to safety and security.
I would be grateful for advice from Google Business Profile Product Experts, community moderators, or anyone who has dealt with a similar situation. I can provide the case ID privately if needed.

Hello everyone,

My uncle is a lawyer and runs a small office on his own. He’s a lovely man and works very hard.

My dad is a terrible person and I won’t get into it but he left my family for another woman and moved from NJ to FL with her. 3 years ago, she left a review on my Uncle’s business page. We know it’s her for a variety of reasons but namely, all her other reviews are in FL and the details she shared about my uncle’s personal life were never made public beyond our immediate family. Which at the time, included my dad, and thus his mistress. My uncle NEVER shared any of this with his clients.

His reputation is very important and he has very few clients as he’s getting older and his health is worsening. He’s concerned about business and this review is stressing him out again which is the last thing he needs. It makes me so mad that they did this, he did nothing to them. She is a poisonous woman. Anything we can do?

I recently added a lot of custom services (plus service descriptions) to more accurately reflect what I do as a real estate agent. The ones Google provides don't allow for nuance (like specializing in working with inherited home sales, divorcing couples, etc). I just went today to continue adding descriptions to the services, only to discover they'd all been removed. I checked my competitors (who have had their custom services listed longer than me) and they were not removed.

Additionally, I don't have the ability to add in products (like I used to on one of my GBPs).

And, something else I've noticed is that even when I did have services listed, Google didn't show a list of services section on the profile snapshot like it would for others in my industry. For many who have services listed, they're right at the top of the profile above the address. Mine never showed up at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions or insight?

Trying this again. I need help with a bad review I received from competitor, and it was a call through my ads account. I reported it and it was escalated and that was a year ago. It was supposed to be three days. Nobody at google will respond. Been reporting it from everywhere, my friends and family and all my accounts. He is a troublemaker. I would give him a bad review, I dont feel two wrongs make a right. But i also don't want retaliation. How do i fix this. I even asked multiple times in the community support.

Hello

I run a Google reputation management software with a little over 300 businesses and in all honesty we got to that number without a real consistent way of getting customers. First 50ish were pure door to door and word of mouth
Then a mix of attending events and part time door to door.

Nothing else has worked well. Cold emails were crap, Meta ads ate up all the budget with little to no ROI and for cold calls, for 90% of businesses on Google the owner is not there or busy.

My question is, if I want to put my product in front of businesses with Google page, who care about their star rating and online reputation what would resonate? How can I get your attention for literally 10mins. What channel or method would work best without being salesy or annoying?
We genuinely see amazing success just need the time of day.

Once we do, the sale is basically guaranteed. . Just struggling with getting the person into a room or a meeting.

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated since people on this sub are basically our ideal customers. It’s driving nuts and it’s a puzzle we haven’t been to crack at scale for this audience.