If your Google Business Profile has been suspended or disabled, start by reading the reason Google gives in its appeals tool and checking the policy it links to. Then correct anything that genuinely breaks the guidelines, prepare evidence that your business is real and eligible, and submit one appeal through Google’s appeals tool.

Google makes the decision, and reinstatement isn’t guaranteed. The steps below are about giving your appeal the best footing, without making things worse.

Checked against Google’s Business Profile help pages on 20 October 2026.

Step 1: Save the suspension notice and profile details

Before changing anything, record what you have:

The email or notice from Google, with the date.
What the appeals tool shows. Open the Google Business Profile appeals tool, signed in with the account that manages the profile. Google says it shows the date of the decision, the reason, a link to the policy concerned, whether the decision can be appealed, and its current status (Google).
Your Business Profile ID. If you can still open the profile, it’s under More, then Business Profile settings, then Advanced settings (Google).
Any recent changes, such as a new name, address, category, owner or manager, with dates.

Our recommendation is to keep this as a short private note. Don’t post documents or account details in public forums.

Some guides talk about "soft" and "hard" suspensions. Those aren’t Google’s terms. Rely on what Google tells you about your case.

Step 2: Identify the restriction before choosing an appeal route

Different problems have different routes. Google’s help pages distinguish these situations:

What you’re seeing	What it usually means	Where to start
The profile is suspended or disabled	The profile itself has been restricted	The appeals tool
Every profile you manage is suspended, and you can’t create or claim others	Your Google account may be restricted	Your Google account’s restrictions page first (see below)
An edit, photo or post was rejected	A content decision, not a suspension	For UK businesses, Google lists the appeals tool for rejected edits and media (Google)
"Get verified" has reappeared, or Google asks for more information	A verification issue, not a suspension	Our setup guide’s verification steps
The profile looks fine to you but customers can’t find it	Possibly a visibility issue, not a restriction	Our guide to not showing on Google Maps

The table is a starting point, not a diagnosis. For a decision about the profile itself, the appeals tool shows what applies. An account restriction is shown on your Google account’s restrictions page instead.

If your Google account is restricted

Google says that if an account is restricted, "the Business Profiles that you manage are suspended" and you can’t create or claim other profiles (Google). The order matters:

Appeal the account restriction on your Google account’s restrictions page. You can track that appeal there too.
Once the account restriction is lifted, appeal the profile suspension in the appeals tool.

Google’s policy overview adds that if a profile was created through an account linked to another Google product, a restriction on that other account can also suspend the profile. That account must be reinstated first (Google).

Step 3: Correct genuine Business Profile guideline problems

Google asks you to make sure the profile "follows all the guidelines" before appealing (Google). Start with the policy the appeals tool links to, then check the areas below against Google’s guidelines for representing your business.

These are checks, not explanations. A change made shortly before a suspension doesn’t prove it caused the suspension.

Business name. Google asks for your real-world name, as used on signage, stationery and your website. Remove taglines, towns or service keywords that aren’t part of that name.
Eligibility. Google requires in-person contact with customers during your stated hours (Google). Online-only businesses aren’t eligible.
Address. Google says virtual offices and PO boxes aren’t eligible. A co-working office qualifies only if it has clear signage, receives customers there and is staffed by your own staff during opening hours.
Business type. If customers don’t visit you, Google says to hide the address and use a service area. A shopfront needs staffed premises and permanent signage.
Duplicates. Google allows one profile per business. Check you haven’t got a second profile for the same business or location, in any account.
Consistency. Check the phone number, website, hours and category are accurate and match what customers find elsewhere.
Who has access. Remove any owners or managers you don’t recognise or no longer use.

Our setup guide covers each of these rules in more detail.

Our recommendation is to change only what is actually wrong. Making lots of unrelated edits while suspended won’t help, and changing your public name just to match one document can create a new inconsistency.

Step 4: Prepare your appeal evidence

Google says evidence is optional but can strengthen an appeal. Its examples are an official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates, and utility bills for the business, such as electricity, phone, water or internet (Google).

Google’s main tip is that the business name and address on each document should match the profile you’re appealing.

The UK examples in the table are our suggestions for what fits Google’s categories, not a list Google guarantees to accept.

Evidence or information	What it supports	What to check before submitting
Business registration, such as a Companies House certificate for a limited company	That the business legally exists	Sole traders may not have one. A registered office address doesn’t prove where you operate.
Business licence, where your trade needs one, such as a council or regulator licence	That you’re authorised to trade, and sometimes where	It’s current, and in the business’s name
Tax certificate, such as a VAT registration certificate if you’re VAT-registered	The business name and its official registration	Cover or remove anything you don’t need to share
Utility bill for the business: electricity, phone, water or internet	That the business operates at the address	It’s in the business name, at the profile’s address, and recent
A document showing both names, such as an invoice or letterhead reading "Example Ltd trading as Example Plumbing"	The link between your legal name and the trading name on the profile	The trading name matches your signage and the profile
A short written explanation in the appeal’s text box	What you checked or corrected, and what each document shows	It’s factual, brief and matches the evidence

Some points for UK businesses:

Sole traders register with HMRC rather than setting up a company (GOV.UK), so they won’t have a Companies House certificate. Use the documents you genuinely have, such as a business utility bill or a licence.
Registered-office and correspondence addresses don’t on their own show an eligible place where you serve customers.
Service-area businesses keep their address hidden. A document at your base address can support where you operate without the address being shown publicly.
Trading names. If your legal name and trading name differ, explain the link with a document that shows both, rather than changing the name on your profile.

Never alter documents, use someone else’s address, put up temporary signage for the appeal, or describe premises you don’t operate from. Black out details Google doesn’t need, such as account numbers, but don’t alter the name or address.

Appeal evidence versus video verification

Appeal evidence is the files you upload with your appeal. Video verification is a separate process. That’s a video recorded live through your Business Profile on a mobile device, when Google offers it as a way to verify (Google). Don’t record a verification-style video for an appeal unless Google asks for one.

Step 5: Submit your suspension appeal

Google’s current instructions describe this process (Google):

Open the appeals tool and sign in with the account linked to the profile.
Select the profile, then the decision you’re appealing.
Check the details Google shows, including whether the decision can be appealed.
To add evidence, select "Choose file". You can attach several files.
Use the text box to explain why the profile should be reinstated.
Tick the box confirming you’re ready and that all optional supporting evidence is attached, then select "Submit appeal".

Have every file ready before you start, so nothing is missing when you tick that box.

One caution: the UK-English version of one Google help page still describes an older flow. In it, an evidence form opens after you submit, and must be completed within 60 minutes (Google). If your tool shows that form, complete it straight away.

Submit only once. Google says "appeals can only be submitted once" (Google), and not to submit multiple appeals for the same issue before receiving a decision (Google).

Don’t create a new profile. Google says not to create a new Business Profile for the same business.

Suspension appeal explanation template

Keep it factual. Only include what’s true for your business, and don’t guess at the cause.

Business: [name as it appears on signage and the profile], Business Profile ID [ID].
Decision being appealed: [decision and date shown in the appeals tool].
About the business: [Business name] is a [type of business] that serves customers [at our premises at full address / at their locations across named areas].
Corrections made: We have checked the profile against Google’s guidelines and [describe each correction and when, or state that no changes were needed].
Evidence attached: [document 1], showing [what it establishes]; [document 2], showing [what it establishes].
Request: We ask that the profile be reviewed for reinstatement.

Step 6: Save confirmation and check appeal status

Save the confirmation and any emails. Google says appeal reviews and decisions can take up to five working days (Google). Treat that as Google’s guide, not a deadline.

You can check progress in the appeals tool. Google lists these statuses: Submitted, Approved, Not approved, Can’t be appealed and Eligible for appeal (Google).

Step 7: What to do if your appeal is denied or unavailable

Not approved: Google says it may do an additional review of a denied request. You can submit one through its additional review form, with evidence you didn’t include originally.
"Can’t be appealed", or the tool says there’s nothing to appeal: Google suggests contacting Business Profile support, which can confirm whether any appeal is available (Google).
Rejected edits or media, rather than a suspension: for UK businesses, Google lists the appeals tool for rejected business information edits and restricted photos, videos or posts. Other content restrictions go through the contact form.

Google’s page mentions out-of-court dispute settlement options for businesses in the EEA. The UK isn’t in the EEA (GOV.UK), so don’t assume that route applies.

There’s no supported way around a refusal. Creating a replacement profile breaks Google’s duplicate rules and can make the situation worse.

What to check after reinstatement

If the profile comes back:

Check the public profile on Google and Maps: name, address or service area, hours, phone and website.
Keep your notes and evidence, in case you need them again. That’s our recommendation, not a Google requirement.
Make future changes carefully. Our recommendation is to change one thing at a time, and only when something genuinely changes.
Be ready to verify again. Google may ask for more information or re-verification after changes to business details (Google). That doesn’t mean every reinstated profile has to do video verification.

If something isn’t right after reinstatement, Google says to contact Business Profile Help (Google).

Help preparing a Business Profile appeal

If you’d like someone to check the profile and prepare the evidence with you, our Google Business Profile page explains how we investigate suspensions and prepare appeals, including the starting price. Google makes the final decision, so no one can promise reinstatement.

By David, founder of SEO Agency in Nottingham.