Business not showing on Google Maps

First, find out which problem you have

Open a private browser window (so Google is not showing you your own account) and search Google Maps for your exact business name and town.

• You do not appear at all. Work through the checks below, in order.
• You appear by name, but not when you search for your trade. The profile is fine; it is not ranking for that search from where you are standing. Skip to ranking.
• You appear, but with the wrong address, pin or phone. Sign in and edit it. Edits can take up to 3 days to show.

The checks, in order

1. Are you signed in to the right account?

Google’s help page starts here, and so do we: many owners have two Google accounts and the profile sits under the other one. Sign in with each and search for “my business”. The account that owns the profile shows a management panel.

2. Is the profile verified?

Google says only verified businesses can show their information on Maps and Search. If you see “Get verified” at the top of your profile, finish that first. Our guide to verifying your profile covers each method.

3. Is it suspended or disabled?

If Google has suspended the profile, you get a notification in the Google account that manages it, and the profile stops showing to the public. See suspended profiles below.

4. Is it new, or did you just change something?

Edits take up to 3 days to appear. A new business can take up to a month to show in Google’s rankings. Changing your name, address or category can also send the profile back for a check.

5. Does the profile follow the guidelines?

A home address shown publicly for a business that serves customers at their place, a service area much bigger than about 2 hours of driving, a mailbox address, or keywords in the name all break Google’s guidelines, and any of them can keep a profile off the map.

6. Is there a duplicate?

An old listing at a previous address, or one a former manager made, can split your reviews and confuse Google. Search Maps for your phone number as well as your name. If a duplicate appears, suggest it as a duplicate or closed from Maps, or claim it and ask Google support to merge it.

If your profile is suspended

Google suspends or disables profiles that do not follow its guidelines. You do not get a list of reasons, only a link to the policy in the appeals tool, so start by reading your profile against the guidelines as a stranger would: name, address, service area, categories, phone, website.

1. Fix what breaks the rules first. Take the extra words out of the name, hide a home address, shrink an oversized service area, remove a virtual office address.
2. Gather evidence that matches the profile exactly: a business registration or licence, a tax certificate, a utility bill (electricity, water, phone or internet). Google asks that the name and address on each document match the profile.
3. Open the Business Profile appeals tool, sign in with the account linked to the profile, select the profile and the decision you are appealing.
4. Upload the documents and explain in a few plain sentences what the business is, where customers meet you, and what you corrected.
5. Submit and wait for the decision by email. The tool shows the status: submitted, approved, not approved.

Google says an appeal can be submitted once. If it is denied, you may be able to request one more review with new evidence, and businesses in the European Economic Area may have further options. Do not create a new profile for the same business while you wait; Google’s page says not to.

If the Google account itself is restricted, lift that restriction first, then appeal the profile.

If you show by name but not for your trade

That is ranking, not a missing profile. Google ranks the map on relevance, distance and prominence, and distance means the person searching from across town sees a different map from you at your desk. When we measured seven searches for an aircraft paint shop around Los Angeles, six showed a map of three nearby shops, and the shop we were working with was on none of them.

The fixes are the ones in our guide to optimizing your profile for Google Maps: the right main category, services and description, a steady flow of reviews with replies, photos, and a website that backs the profile up.

When to call someone

If you have been through these checks and the profile is still missing, or an appeal has been refused, it helps to have someone go through the profile line by line against the guidelines. Fixing and appealing profiles is part of our local SEO plan.