Google Business Profile suspended? A guide for law firms

Why law firm profiles get suspended

Google’s Business Profile guidelines are strict, and some common law firm habits break them:

• Keywords in the name. “Smith Law – Car Accident Lawyer Los Angeles.” Google says “including unnecessary information in your business name isn’t permitted.”
• A virtual office. If you rent an address but don’t work there, Google says “that location isn’t eligible for a Business Profile.”
• A coworking or executive suite without your staff. Allowed only if the office has clear signage, receives clients and is staffed by your people during business hours.
• A P.O. box or mailbox store. Google’s policy says profiles with a P.O. box address will be suspended.
• Wrong address or pin. An address that doesn’t match where you really are, or a suite number that doesn’t exist.
• One profile per practice area. “Smith Law – Car Accidents” and “Smith Law – Dog Bites” at the same office. Google says a practitioner “shouldn’t have multiple Business Profiles to cover all of their specializations.”
• Lead-gen and fake listings. Google lists lead generation agents as not eligible for a profile. Listings set up only to collect cases and pass them on are a common target.
• Big, sudden edits. Google says edits that “significantly change the nature of a business are often fraudulent.” Changing your name, address and category all at once can trigger a review.

Do this: before anything else, read your profile like a Google reviewer would. Name, address, category and hours should match the real world exactly.

Suspended, disabled or restricted: what’s the difference

Google uses a few different words, and its help page on fixing suspended or disabled profiles covers both under the same appeal process.

• Disabled: Google’s policy overview says it will disable a profile if it decides the business “doesn’t exist in the location you claim.” The public can’t go to the profile, and you can’t manage it.
• Suspended: the profile breaks a guideline, for example a P.O. box address. You will see a notice in your profile manager.
• Account restricted: if your Google account is restricted for policy violations, all profiles you manage are suspended and you can’t create or claim new ones. You appeal the account first, then the profiles.
• Other restrictions: Google can also limit parts of a profile, for example stop new reviews for a while or show a warning that fake reviews were removed. The profile stays up.

Do this: check the email from Google and the notice in your profile manager. The exact wording tells you which problem you have.

How to appeal

Google handles suspended and disabled profiles through its Business Profile appeals tool. The steps are simple:

1. Fix the cause first. Remove keywords from the name, correct the address, delete or merge duplicate profiles.
2. Open the appeals tool and sign in with the Google account that owns the profile.
3. Pick the profile and the decision you are appealing.
4. Add your evidence and a short, honest explanation.
5. Submit and wait for Google’s email.

Two warnings from Google’s own help page. “Appeals can only be submitted once,” so send it when your evidence is ready, not before. And “do not create a new Business Profile for the same business.” If the appeal is denied, Google says it may do an additional review.

Do this: write the explanation in plain words. What the firm is, where it is, who works there, and what you changed.

Evidence to gather

Google’s appeals help page lists the kinds of documents that help, and says the name and address on them should match your profile:

• Business license or official business registration
• Tax certificates
• A utility bill for the office: electricity, phone, internet

In our experience, a few more things help explain a law office, even though Google doesn’t list them:

• Photos of your sign at the building entrance and on the office door, with the suite number visible
• Your office lease
• The attorney’s profile on the State Bar of California attorney search, showing the same address

Do this: keep these in one folder now, before you ever need them. Update it when you move.

How to avoid a suspension

• Use your real firm name, exactly as on your sign and letterhead.
• List only offices where your team really works and meets clients during the hours you show.
• One profile per office for the firm, plus one per attorney if you want them. No profiles per practice area.
• Make big changes, like a move or a new name, one at a time, and keep proof ready.
• Be careful who you give manager access to. Remove old agencies and staff who left.
• Be wary of anyone who offers extra Maps listings or addresses for a fee.

Our Google Business Profile guide for lawyers covers the basics, from categories to reviews. If you want help cleaning up a profile, that is part of our Google Business Profile work.

Do this: once a quarter, open your profile and check that nothing has changed without you knowing. Anyone can suggest edits to a public listing.

Want help with this? See Google profile & reviews.

Written by Sevag Boghossian

Sevag is the founder of araRank and a web developer with 6 years in law firm marketing and SEO. He builds every site we make, from Los Angeles.

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