Google Business Profile suspended? A dental practice's fix guide

If your Google Business Profile is suspended, the public cannot see it and nobody at the practice can manage it. Google's own description is that "the public can't go to the profile" and "the owner and managers can't act on the profile". The fix is the same almost every time: find the guideline the profile breaks, correct it, then appeal through Google's appeals tool with evidence that your practice is real and at the address shown. This guide walks a dental practice through each step, using Google's page on suspended or disabled profiles as the starting point.

What a suspended profile means

Google says it may suspend or disable Business Profiles that do not follow its guidelines. Not every restriction is a full suspension, though, and the right response depends on which one you have.

Google explains that if an account shows a pattern of violating its policies, access can be restricted, and that when an account is restricted "all Business Profiles associated with that account will be suspended". Review restrictions apply to businesses that break the fake engagement policy, and Google lists them on its page on restrictions for policy violations.

Why Google suspends dental practice profiles

Google does not always say exactly what triggered a suspension, but the appeals tool shows the violation reason and links to the policy. Start by checking your profile against Google's guidelines for representing your business. These are the points to check first for a practice.

• The practice name. Treatments, towns or taglines added to the name, such as "Implants and Emergency Dentist", break the naming rules. The name should match your sign.
• The address. Google requires a real location with permanent signage. Virtual offices and PO boxes are not eligible.
• Duplicates. Google allows one profile per location. An old listing someone else created, or a second profile for the same site, is a problem.
• Dentists' own profiles. Google treats dentists as individual practitioners and has specific naming rules for their profiles. A practitioner profile named like the practice can look like a duplicate.
• Phone number and website. Google asks for a number under the practice's direct control that connects to that location, and no numbers or links that redirect patients somewhere else.
• Reviews. Offering anything in return for reviews, asking only happy patients, or staff reviewing the practice all break Google's fake engagement policy.
• Who claimed it. Only owners or authorised representatives may manage a profile, and Google can revoke ownership or suspend profiles when those rules are broken.

Suspended after changing address or name

If the suspension came straight after an edit, look at that edit first. Google says that if you change your business name after it is verified, you might need to verify again, and a move to new premises can bring the same check. A practice that relocates should be ready to verify again, and should make sure the new premises have permanent signage before it does.

How to fix a suspended Google Business Profile

1. Do not create a new profile. Google says plainly not to create a new profile for the same business while an appeal is under review.
2. Read the reason. Open the Google Business Profile appeals tool, sign in with the account that owns the profile and select it. Note the violation reason and the policy it links to.
3. Fix the cause in the real world. Google's advice is to make sure the profile follows all the guidelines before you appeal. Where the issue is outside the profile, fix that too: put up permanent signage, make the name on your website match your sign, and remove any duplicate listing you control.
4. Gather evidence. Google lists official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates and utility bills such as electricity, phone, water or internet. The business name and address on each document must match the profile. For a practice in England, your CQC registration showing the location address is a natural document to include alongside a utility bill.
5. Submit the appeal. Select Submit appeal. If you add evidence, Google says you must submit it within 60 minutes of opening the evidence form or it will not be attached, so have the files ready first.
6. Wait for the decision by email. Google says appeal reviews and decisions can take up to five working days, and asks you not to submit multiple appeals for the same issue before you hear back.

How long does a Google Business Profile suspension last?

Google does not give a fixed length. A suspension lasts until a successful appeal, and Google says appeal decisions can take up to five working days. The appeals tool shows the status as Submitted, Approved, Not approved, Can't be appealed or Eligible for appeal, so check there rather than resubmitting.

Google business appeal not approved: what next

If the appeal is refused, Google offers a route to request an additional review of a denied request, with new evidence. Before you use it, be honest about why the first appeal failed.

• Did the name and address on your documents match the profile exactly?
• Is the underlying problem still there, such as a keyword-filled name on your website or signage that does not match the profile?
• Is the location eligible at all? A room you rent without signage or staff present during opening hours may not be.

If the status says Can't be appealed, a further appeal will not change it. That is the point at which to look at whether the account itself is restricted.

How do you unsuspend your Google account?

If every profile in your account was suspended at once, or you cannot add anything at all, the account may be restricted rather than the profile. Google's suspended profiles page directs you to appeal account restrictions from the restrictions page in your Google account. Google also says a restricted account or profile must be reinstated before you can appeal decisions about individual content.

Why does my Google business page keep getting suspended?

If suspensions keep coming back, the likeliest explanation is that the cause was never fixed. Look for an agency or team member re-adding keywords to the name, a duplicate profile that keeps reappearing, or a review request process that offers an incentive or filters out unhappy patients. Remember that Google treats a pattern of violations more seriously than a single one, and can restrict the whole account.

Why is my Google Business Profile gone?

Suspension is one reason, but not the only one. Check these before you appeal:

• You are signed in to the wrong account. The profile still exists but your account no longer has access. See who holds People and access.
• It was marked closed. A profile marked temporarily or permanently closed behaves differently in search. Google says temporarily closed businesses can rank after open ones for broad searches.
• Someone suggested an edit. Google can publish suggested edits if you do not respond within four days and other public information supports them, as its page on Google updates to your profile explains.
• It has been merged. Duplicate profiles for the same business can be merged.

Keep patients finding you while you wait

A suspension does not touch your website or your other listings. While the appeal runs:

• Check your website ranks for your practice name and shows your phone number at the top of every page.
• Make sure your NHS website listing, Bing Places and Apple Maps details are correct, because some patients will find you there instead.
• Tell reception, so they can reassure patients who say they could not find you on Google.

Our guide to local SEO for dentists covers the wider set of signals that keep a practice visible.

Prevent the next suspension

1. Keep the profile name identical to your sign and website.
2. Keep one profile per location and remove duplicates you control.
3. Make the practice the primary owner and give agencies manager access only.
4. Ask every patient for a review in the same way, with no incentive, and set a target from what pack holders in your town have.
5. Before relocating or renaming, plan for re-verification and have signage up first.
6. Check the profile monthly for edits you did not make.

Suspensions feel arbitrary, but most trace back to something in Google's guidelines. Fix that thing properly and the appeal has something solid to stand on.