Google Re-Verification

I was just made aware of something today, and overall I see as a good thing, but could also be a hassle for small businesses. Small business owners are some of the hardest working people I know. And ultimately most just want to do what they know how to do best, do what they love and hopefully grow their business from just being a sustainable income that allows them to control more of their time to being able to provide more for their families and expand and grow to the point that they can work ON the business vs IN the business.

But then you have all the people out there that often seem to have nothing better to do than hack your accounts, take over your social accounts, scam your customers out of information or money and simply wreak havoc when your time is already limited and you don’t need the slow down and disruption.

Below is info I received today that is worth sharing with you in the event you find yourself needing to do re-verification.

Google Business Profiles (GBP)

Important Update: Google Business Profile Re-Verification & Suspension Activity Increasing

Google has recently increased the frequency of profile re-verifications and suspensions as part of ongoing efforts to improve the integrity of local search. While these updates are inevitable and can be inconvenient, they are ultimately designed to protect your advertiser’s business from fraud, spam, and misuse.

What You Need to Know:

1. Re-Verification Requests: If Google requires re-verification, a profile may have limited functionality until the process is complete.
2. Suspensions: Less common but more restrictive, suspensions typically require more documentation to appeal and reinstate a profile.
3. Common Triggers:
   1. Inconsistent business information
   2. Address changes or issues
   3. Business detail updates
   4. Policy violations
   5. Video verification problems
   6. Duplicate listings
   7. Technical or content-related violations
4. Affected Industries:
   1. While these have been seen across many industries, there are some that are consistently hit harder:
      1. Service Area Businesses (SABs)
      2. Legal
      3. Auto

What should I do?

Make sure your information is accurate to avoid the triggers noted above. What should you do if you receive a re-verification or suspension notice from Google? Reach out to Google to take action and communicate back consistently until the GBP is reinstated, which is generally within 5 business days.

Google is becoming increasingly proactive in monitoring business profiles. Staying ahead of these changes helps ensure a profile remains live, accurate, and trusted.