Recovering Google Business Profile Listing After Suspension

Recovering Google Business Profile Listing After Suspension

You went online and tried searching for your business listing on Google, but upon entering, you cannot find it when it should be there. What should you do? Do not fret yet; various things you can do to recover your suspended GBP Listing will be discussed here, along with the basics. 

What is Google Business Profile (GBP)?

 Google Business Profile is a simple tool for organizations and businesses to control their digital presence throughout Google platforms. They can authenticate their business and modify their company information to assist customers in finding them. GBP enables businesses to manage the information that Google users discover when searching for businesses or the products and services they provide. When people use Google Maps and Search to find businesses, they can find information such as business hours, websites, and street addresses. Businesses can check and react to customer reviews. Organizations and businesses can also share pictures that showcase their work. They can also gather insights into how consumers search for businesses and where they come from.

 What is Google Business Profile (GBP) Listing?

Google My Business listing directs searchers to business locations and directions. A Google Business Profile can also help businesses in their local SEO. A Google Business Profile listing for a local business or organization is more likely to be found when individuals look for nearby businesses or organizations through Google Maps.

What is Google Business Profile (GBP) Listing Suspension?

Google’s local algorithm is becoming more attentive to terms of service violations to detect phishing, counterfeit listings, and deception. When Google recognizes your listing for disobeying one or more of its terms of service, it will suspend your listing. GMB listings will be surveilled more carefully. When a listing is suspended, it is taken down from local search engine results, thereby making it difficult for searchers to locate the business. Google does not notify you when your listings are suspended; you should constantly monitor your listings. When your GBP listing disappears from Google Search and Google Maps, you’ll know you’ve been suspended. Even if a business does not violate Google’s guidelines on purpose, its listing may still be suspended. Suspension can result in a significant loss of leads, particularly for businesses with limited resources that depend exclusively on their listings for calls and generating leads.

Furthermore, making several edits to your listing at a time can cause suspension. Google can compare your listing information to other publicly available information on the internet. If this information does not match, you are prone to suspension, so check your listing and ensure it corresponds to the other information on the internet. If you run an online business with no physical location, you may face suspension. Online-only businesses are not required to have a GMB listing unless they have a physical storefront or office. You are only permitted to have one listing per business and location. You can have multiple listings if you have multiple locations, but you cannot have multiple listings for each person in the office. Otherwise, your listing will be suspended. 

Different Types of Google Business Profile (GBP) Listing Suspension

• Soft Suspension 

A soft suspension on your GBP listing disables your capability to modify your business listing. It also alters your business standing to unverified. Clients or consumers can still see your unverified listing, but you cannot write modifications or reply to feedback. The danger of leaving soft GBP listing suspension is that the listing becomes vulnerable to others suggesting changes or claiming your profile. This jeopardizes your listing. Your competitors may suggest inaccurate edits or even claim ownership of your listing, so it is important always to monitor your listings and then fix them if necessary. Changes in the business name and other integral information like contact and address may cause your GBP listing to be soft suspended. 

• Hard Suspension 

A hard suspension hides your Google Business Profile and Google Maps listing totally, even if a user searches for your company directly. In most cases, your GBP listing hard suspension is the result of a violation of Google’s Terms of Service. If customers rely on your GBP listing to find you, this can have a profound consequence on your business. Receiving a hard suspension will result in a significant drop or total loss of clients, website traffic, and store visitors and the potential removal of all earned reviews. This will have a significant impact on your local business. 

Hard suspension is a more serious suspension that is more difficult to resolve. If not addressed, it can have a negative impact on the company’s ability to earn and grow. To recover your listing after a hard suspension, see and check if you can figure out why your GBP listing was suspended. Next, modify the necessary information and make any necessary changes before proceeding. Then, reread and comprehend the Google Business Profile Terms of Service to see if you accidentally violated any of them. The last step would be to follow Google’s protocol and then file an appeal for recovery.

• Owner Account Suspension 

Hard and soft suspensions remove business listings, while business account suspensions mark the people who own the listings. If an owner account is suspended, all Business Profiles and reviews associated with a single owner account are taken down. It would be best if you exercise caution when using your Google accounts. If Google suspects potential deception or any dubious activity, an owner account may be suspended. The said activity includes activity that isn’t necessarily related to the Business Profile listing at hand.

• Manager Account Suspension

They will only suspend the manager account on the listing if the manager account is suspended. The listings will remain unaffected. A suspension of a manager account removes a user’s ability to edit listings and may be accompanied by a soft or hard suspension of the business account. If the manager account is reinstated, they will regain managerial rights on all listings where they were previously suspended. You can retrieve access to the account once the manager is removed from the listing. 

• Permanent Suspension 

The last type of suspension is perhaps the most severe. Permanent suspensions are not reversible or appealable. As mentioned above, you will not be notified if your GBP listing is suspended. In that case, you must count your blessing. You do want to receive suspension notification because that would entail permanent and non-recoverable suspension. If your GBP account is permanently suspended, you will receive a notification through email informing you that your listing or account cannot be restored.

Businesses Under the High-Risk category 

Suspensions are more likely if you fall into a high-risk category. These categories have more counterfeit and spam listings in general, and they are known to be more prone to suspensions, which is why they are monitored more closely by Google.  

• Garage Door Contractors
• Plumbers
• Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC)
• Locksmiths
• Pest Management Service Providers
• Rehabilitation facilities
• Lawyers

GMB Listing is Suspended: What to do?

You will need to submit proof that you are a legitimate business. Contact Google and appeal for reinstatement. 

For you to be able to prove legitimacy, you can submit photos of the following:

• Business signage outside your store or office 
• Store or office inside and outside
• Your store or office from the street
• Street view of the street where your business is situated
• Company License
• Insurance records
• Company logo on vehicles 

In addition, you can also submit PDFs, videos, and document files. After submitting all of the necessary documentation to prove your company’s legitimacy, Google may contact you to request additional documents. If you really want to recover your listing, make sure to pass what is required. Generally, you should receive a response about your reinstatement status within two weeks, but it may take longer in some cases. Nonetheless, filing numerous reinstatement requests will only lengthen the process, so make sure to avoid repeating your request. Your reviews and local search rankings may be lost even if your GBP listing is reinstated. It may take up to a month for your reviews to appear after reinstatement. If you haven’t seen them after one month, you can contact Google Business Profile’s support team.