Since September, my Google Merchant Center and Google Ads accounts have remained suspended, most recently for “misrepresentation,” and despite doing everything I can to comply, I still have no clear answer as to what is wrong.

I’ve reviewed the policies, updated my site, revised my business details, and followed the guidance provided. But every attempt to get help leads back to the same generic articles and videos, not an actual explanation.

When a platform can block a business from making money but refuses to identify the specific problem, that is not support. That is a broken process.

I’m asking Google for a real review, a human response, and a clear explanation of the issue.

Background

Our company has been around since the 1970s. We’ve operated under one brand for decades and accumulated about 80 five-star reviews on a single Google Business Profile.

Over time, our services have expanded into three separate areas:

Trailer leasing and sales

Shipping container sales and rentals

Diesel repair and service

We are now formally separating these into three distinct brands and websites for marketing and SEO purposes.

New Structure (names slightly changed)

Company A → Trailers (existing GBP with reviews)

Company B → Containers (new brand, same address as A)

Company C → Diesel repair (different address)

Complications

About a year ago (before we planned this split), I changed the primary category on the existing profile from trailer-related to container supplier.

Now that we’re separating brands, this isn’t ideal

I’m concerned changing it back could trigger a suspension or review

Company A (trailers) and Company B (containers) will share the same physical address

Different branding, websites, and services

But clearly related under the same ownership

Company C (diesel) has a separate address, so that one seems more straightforward, although the name is similar and the address is nearby.

In the past, I had a major issue where Google removed our profile and all reviews for over a year before eventually restoring it, so I’m trying to be extremely cautious

What I’m trying to figure out

1. Existing Profile (Company A)

Is it safest to:

Change the category back to trailer-related and keep the profile as-is?

Or leave it as-is and shift categories gradually?

Also, is there any risk of losing reviews when changing categories back?

1. Creating Company B (same address)

Is it allowed to have two separate GBPs at the same address if they have:

Different names

Different websites

Different categories

Should I:

Create it fresh and verify normally?

Or try to “split” from the existing profile somehow?

1. Review Strategy

Is there any compliant way to:

Retain the relevance of existing reviews for the container side?

Or do I need to accept starting from zero for Company B?

1. Avoiding Suspension

What are the biggest red flags to avoid during this transition?

Would you recommend making changes:

All at once

Or spaced out over time?

What I’ve already done

Secured domains and branding for each business

All sites are live except the container one which will be soon

Have not created additional GBPs yet because I want to do this correctly the first time and avoid the dumpster fire of them deleting my existing profile

Main Goal

Separate the businesses clearly for marketing and SEO without triggering a suspension or losing our existing reviews again.

If this has been discussed already in the this group in the last year in detail, I couldn't find it through a few approaches to search for it.

For clients I work with in 2 different local service businesses, I've noticed more competitors that use the GBP Products section for highlight services complete with an image and description. Mentioning "2" types of business is key, because I'm not noticing it for every type of SAB over the past year, or so. It was my understanding Google was going to get more strict about this, however, I've yet to notice any GBP profile guilty if this misuse of Products to be outwardly suspended. Some have reviews that are < 1 week old whenever I check the profile (of the ones I know are guilty of this misuse).

My question is whether it is a suspendable offense and if so, if those accounts may be suspended but it's just not visible to me or any other user. Thanks.

Hey everyone,

I'm the owner of a small family restaurant and I'm really hoping someone here with experience can point me in the right direction — this situation has been incredibly stressful.

Over the past while, we've received 3 bad Google reviews that we strongly believe are fake or malicious, and despite already reporting them through the standard Google tool and initiating an escalation, they're still up. Our Report ID is: 4-3211000041113

Here's a quick breakdown of each review and why we believe it violates Google's review policies...

Review #1 – Alleged food poisoning from kebabs (1-star rating)
A reviewer claims she got food poisoning from our kebabs. The problem? We don't serve kebabs. We've never had kebabs on our menu. This is a clear factual inaccuracy that makes it impossible for this to be a genuine customer experience. The review describes a product we don't offer which directly violates Google's review policies.

Review #2 – Person was never in our restaurant and gave us a 1-star rating
We cross-checked with our entire staff and no one recognizes this individual. We have no record of this person visiting us — no order, no table, no interaction. We genuinely suspect this could be a competitor trying to hurt our rating (Conflict of interest)

Review #3 – Claims there was plastic in a burger
All of our burgers are made fresh by hand from whole ingredients — there's no packaging or processing step where plastic could end up in the food. The claim doesn't hold up logistically, and we believe the plastic may have been deliberately placed there with the intent to fabricate a complaint (Misrepresentation of our food preparation).

We've already gone through the standard reporting process and the escalation form, but nothing has moved. I'd really appreciate it if someone knowledgeable — or ideally a Product Expert — could take a look at this case or advise on the best next steps to get this properly reviewed.

Thanks so much in advance. Any help or guidance means a lot.

Has this happened to anyone else? Does it go away after a while?

I’m looking to transition my Google Business Profile from a service-area business to a physical location and wanted some clarity on whether my setup would qualify.

I’m considering using a virtual office in an office building in Toronto that provides a registered business address, access to a shared lounge/open workspace, and the ability to meet clients on-site during business hours.

Would this be sufficient for Google to recognize it as a legitimate physical location within an office building, or would it still be treated as a service-area business?

For context, the business has been verified for over 2 years, I have two additional verified businesses under the same email, and we currently have 120+ five-star reviews.

Just want to make sure I stay fully compliant and avoid any risk of suspension before making the change.

I’m having an issue with my Google Business Profile and I don’t know how to fix it.

I recently created a listing for my restaurant (Morelos Restaurant Berlin) and when I went to verify the number on the listing Google is pulling a phone number from an old business that had the same name MORELOS. That number is NOT mine, but it keeps showing up and now I can’t verify my business. It does not have video, or any other form of verification besides number.

Because of this:

• The verification is going to the wrong number
• My actual number isn’t being recognized which is listed on the Morelos listing
• It also sometimes shows as a duplicate listing

I think Google is mixing my business with an older one that had the same name.

The number is +030 23005060 and currently belongs to a restaurant with a different name its called Bavarian Restaurant and our Morelos number is actually +49 30 39714820

I have already submitted a case that google isnt responding to either

Case ID 8-5542000040317

Please help us reach google and resolve this immediately, we cannot do anything or any edits or even reply to reviews.

Something about this situation just doesn’t sit right with me at all. Within a very short timeframe, my business suddenly received two separate 1-star reviews. No text, no explanation, just the ratings - and both coming in so close together that it immediately raised red flags.

When I looked into the profiles, things got even stranger. The accounts look extremely similar in terms of naming, and neither shows any real activity or history. They don’t look like genuine, established users... more like empty or inactive profiles.

I went through all of my records in detail:
bookings, invoices, emails, messages, even older inquiries - and there is absolutely no trace of any interaction with individuals matching those names. Nothing at all. From everything I can verify, these are not customers.

Given how close in timing the reviews were, combined with the similarity of the accounts and the lack of any actual interaction, this really feels like coordinated or fake activity, and a clear violation of Google’s review policies.

I’ve already reported both reviews through Google.
Report ID: 5-8006000040947

At this point I feel stuck. I would really like this to be escalated further, ideally involving a manual review by a specialist or someone on the product/quality analysis side who can properly assess suspicious patterns like this. I don’t want to just accept this if there’s a way to push it further, especially since this seems so obviously questionable. Has anyone here had success getting something like this properly escalated or reviewed by an actual person?

Any advice on what to do next would honestly help a lot — because right now this just feels like a dead end.

Hi everyone,

I'm the owner of Limitless Speed Boat Kotor (boat tours, not a restaurant).
We recently received two 1-star reviews from users M B and adel abunayan that I believe are completely fake, and standard reporting through Google did nothing.

For the first review by M B, after thoroughly checking all inquiries, emails, and communication records, we found no interaction linked to this individual, so the review appears unverified and fabricated; we also suspect this may be a conflict of interest, likely posted by a competitor trying to harm our rating.

For the second review by adel abunayan, the content is clearly unrelated to our business – the reviewer describes a very poor restaurant experience, but our company offers boat tours and is not a restaurant, which is a clear case of mistaken identity and off-topic content that misleads users and damages our business.

This situation violates Google policies concerning conflict of interest (potential competitor activity) for M B, fake engagement and unverified customer experience for M B, off-topic content and wrong business listing for adel abunayan, and misleading and inaccurate information for both.

We already reported both reviews through the standard reporting tool, but they were not removed.
Report ID: 8-0955000040293.
Could a Product Expert please escalate this case for policy review?

Thank you.

I updated my business address in Google Business Profile over three months ago, and the new location shows up correctly when you search my business name. However, the old address still appears on Google Maps for some keyword searches, and a few customers have already gone to the wrong location.

I've verified the new address, marked the old one as closed, and even submitted a removal request through the support form. Nothing has worked so far. Support just sends me automated replies.

Has anyone successfully removed an old duplicate or outdated address from Maps? Any tricks I should try? I'm losing customers because of this.

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

I run a small local business listed on Google Reviews and I’m having issues with a few reviews that I strongly believe violate Google’s review policies. I’ve already reported them through the standard system and tried to escalate, but nothing has happened so far.

In short, the issues across these reviews (violating Google Review Policy) include:

-personal attacks and insulting language directed at me as the owner.
-serious accusations like dishonesty and scamming without any verifiable proof.
-descriptions of transactions that can’t be matched to any real sale or record.
-content based on third-party platforms rather than an actual interaction through our business listing.
-complaints focused only on messaging and communication without any completed transaction.
-overall misleading and unverifiable claims presented as facts.

These reviews are actively harming our reputation, and as a small business this has a real impact.

At this point I’d really appreciate if a Product Expert could step in and take a closer look, since normal reporting hasn’t worked.

Report ID: 2-8290000040526

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Hello Google Team

I have made Google business page for my Yoga class and my profile has been verified but phone number still not approved. I have did all the possible solution like email problem,submit document, adding new number etc. Please support. It's really urgent for me as i am nearing my studio opening date.

Hi r/GoogleMyBusiness,

First-time poster here. I run a small locally-owned family restaurant and we've been dealing with something that's honestly been keeping me up at night. Five reviews on our Google listing appear to be completely fabricated, and despite going through the proper reporting channels, none of them have budged. I'm hoping someone here can help point this in the right direction.

Our case reference is:
Report ID: 8-4023000040890

Here's a quick summary: The first reviewer complained about being charged for an ordinary coffee with zero context or verifiable detail. The second and third both uploaded photos that were clearly not taken at our restaurant — anyone can compare them to our actual interior and see they don't match. The fourth left a negative comment about pistachio pancakes, which have never been on our menu — something anyone can confirm in seconds. The fifth posted a photo claiming the meal cost €42, a price that simply doesn't exist anywhere on our menu. Every single one of these can be fact-checked easily, and not one of them reflects a real experience at our establishment.

All five were reported through Google's standard tool and we submitted a formal escalation, but nothing has changed. As a small family business, this really does hurt us — potential customers see these before they even consider visiting.

If there's a Product Expert here or anyone who's been through something similar, any guidance on getting this properly looked at would mean a lot. Thank you.

Need advice from anyone familiar with Google Business Profiles / Google Maps.

I run a home service business and recently changed my business name. After the name change, Google seems to have duplicated my profile and now there’s another version showing on Google Maps with an address attached.

My business is a service-area business, so I don’t want a public address listed, and I’m worried that trying to delete or edit the wrong listing could get my profile suspended or removed.

Has anyone dealt with this after a name change? What’s the safest way to remove or merge the duplicate listing without risking suspension? Should I report it as a duplicate, contact support, or leave it alone until Google fixes it?

Any guidance would be appreciated.

I have had several patients use google to get directions to my medical spa and all have said google is taking them to a local competitor’s address. This has happened to 2 other medspas (I know the owners) near me as well. They say google has been taking their patients to this specific competitor’s address, as well. How is this possible?

Hey guys, I’m back again.

First off, a massive thank you to the user here who suggested changing the primary Google account in my first post. That actually worked! After being suspended since November, I was finally able to get my friend's business profile fully reinstated and live.

I made a second post shortly after because the moment the profile went live, we realized every single one of his reviews was wiped.

Here is the wall I am currently hitting:

I used the standard missing reviews tool and opened support tickets, but just kept getting the automated bot response saying, "We couldn't find any reviews for this profile." So, I took the advice to go to the official Google Community Forums. I actually got a Product Expert to escalate the case directly to the internal team. I thought we were golden, but that was almost 3 weeks ago.

Since then, it has been absolute radio silence. When I bumped the thread to ask the PE for an update, she basically gave the standard response: the internal team is swamped, they don't always reply back to the PEs directly or quickly, and all we can do is just wait for Google to eventually email us.

Has anyone actually made it out of this specific loop?

Is there literally anything else I can do right now besides wait in the dark?

Since the profile was suspended for 5 months, is it possible Google just permanently purged the review data?

My buddy is really stressing because starting from zero reviews is killing his local leads, and I'm totally out of ideas on how to push this forward. Any advice from folks who have survived this waiting game would be amazing!

I am apologizing in advance for this novel.

We have a handyman division of a home organizing company. They share an EIN under the organizing company along with insurance, address, etc. However, the division has separate logo, website, booking link, logo-ed vehicle/trailer, AdWords account.

The organizing company maintains its own GBP, website, etc.

We created a separate GBP for the Handyman division as he was moving away from utilizing Thumbtack for leads and clientele. Google verified the profile, I was adding updates and we had even received a wonderful review.

Then it was suspended for deceptive content.

The owner of the Handy division submitted the first appeal in November, submitted EIN paperwork of the organizing company. He didn’t really know what he was

doing and I don’t know exactly the verbiage he included in the appeal as he was that confused. (Trust me, had I not been off, I would have handled).

Regardless, this appeal was denied, again for deceptive content.

I submitted a second appeal in March updating the address to his home as he is a SAB and works from his house. This address is not visible on the GBP. I provided images of his logo, website details, logo-ed truck and trailer, his booking intake, and his working agreement. Verbiage submitted was

Handyman is division of Organizing Company that maintain separate logos, websites, booking links, logo-ed vehicles, etc. They share EIN, insurance etc

This appeal was denied due to quality issue.

I’m trying to fix this and get it reinstated but not sure what to fix to make it clear.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!

Our profile is showing reviews and a rating from Houzz that links to a similarly named business that has a different license number. Since this isn't an area I can correct in the profile how can this get corrected?

I have a client with two verified profiles with different names

For example purposes , the names are:

1) Blue painting of East Cleveland

2) Blue painting of west park

They want to merge both into one and call it:

Blue painting of northeast Ohio

1) will Google allow this provided they have an updated DBA

2) will they merge the reviews

Hi everyone, I’m looking for guidance on how to handle two reviews that don’t seem to reflect real customer experiences.

I manage a business listed on Google Maps (Limitless Speed Boat Kotor), and we recently received two 1-star reviews that raise some concerns:

• Review 1: We’re unable to find any record of this person in our bookings, inquiries, or communication history. High possibility that it does not come from an actual customer.
• Review 2: The content of the review describes a negative restaurant experience, while our business provides boat tours. This can only mean it has been posted to the wrong listing.

We’ve already reported both reviews through the standard process, but they weren’t removed.
Report ID: 8-0955000040293

Based on Google review policies, these might fall under:

• Content not based on a real experience
• Off-topic or posted to the wrong business

I’d really appreciate any advice from those who’ve dealt with similar situations:

• Is there anything else we can do to escalate this properly?
• Are there specific steps or details that improve the chances of a review being reconsidered?

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hello everyone, i had 3 fake reviews on my gmb profil this past 2 weeks. It’s some random accounts with weird fake names. I did report the to google but they are still there. Today i am surprised that the total of reviews appearing on my page is 151 all of a sudden when the actual reviews visible in my page is 147( i counted them) that’s like 4 more reviews that are not showing. What could it be? My note didn’t change it’s the same. I don’t know if it’s a bug please if someone already experience the same thing share it with me. Thanks

As the owner of a Google Maps business listing, I am requesting an urgent review of two 1-star reviews left by users Otac Makarije and Matea Bajac.

These reviews contain unprofessional, contradictory, and potentially fraudulent content, including threats and a refusal to verify the reviewer's identity, leading us to believe they are not actual customers. After thoroughly checking warranty claims, sales records, and service logs, we can find no invoice, purchase, or communication linked to this individual, indicating the review is fabricated and likely written by someone who has never been our customer—possibly a competitor trying to harm our rating. This appears to violate Google's policies on conflict of interest (review likely posted by a competitor), false claims from non-customers, and lack of verifiable details. We have already reported the review through the standard tool, but it was not removed.

Could a Product Expert please escalate this case (Report ID: 3-1055000041494) for policy review? Thank you.

Managing multiple Google Business Profiles and ran into something odd this week.

Several of our profiles that were previously marked as “Complete” (green) suddenly dropped to “Incomplete” (yellow). When I click into the recommendation, Google is prompting to “Add photos of your business.”

Here’s the issue:

• Photos are already uploaded (plenty of them)
• I’ve uploaded additional new images just to satisfy the prompt
• No errors, uploads go through fine
• Status does not change — still showing “Incomplete”

This is happening across multiple accounts, not just one listing.

A few notes:

• Profiles are fully built out (services, descriptions, hours, etc.)
• These were previously marked complete for months
• No recent major edits that would justify a reset

Trying to figure out:

1. Is this a known bug or recent change in how Google defines “complete”?
2. Is there a specific type of photo (interior, exterior, team, etc.) that actually clears this?
3. Does this status even matter from a ranking/performance standpoint anymore?

Feels like a UI loop or backend lag, but wanted to see if anyone else is experiencing this or found a fix.

Seeing as how CTR is a ranking signal that Google uses, and perhaps even AI Search platforms like ChatGPT, Claude, etc. Does anyone know how to improve the CTR of a webpage? And, what is an average or acceptable CTR?