The Google Business Profile Suspension Bug: Here’s What We Know  

If you’ve heard about the recent bugs related to Google Business Profile (GBP) suspensions or even experienced it yourself, you’re not alone. Google Business Profiles have been a long-standing essential part of local search engine optimization for business owners. And while occasional bugs and suspensions are par for the course, a more significant, widespread issue has emerged and it’s creating challenges for businesses of all kinds.

Google Business Profiles across numerous industries are currently facing a bug that sends verifications into a seemingly endless loop between suspension state and verification pending state. When a verification is triggered due to a profile edit, this bug prevents you from successfully reverifying your profile and instead, places you in a suspended state. Even simple edits that wouldn’t normally cause an issue are now resulting in unexpected verifications and suspensions. And with the surge in suspension appeal cases, Google’s support queue has become severely backlogged, causing significant delays in resolution.

Here’s everything we know about the situation and what we recommend doing to protect your profile during this challenging time.

What is Triggering GBP Suspensions? 

Any update in Google Business Profile activity can trigger a suspension, including the typical reasons, such as:  

• Spam 

• Misrepresentation 

• Policy violations 

• Quality issues 

However, simple edits that used to be made every day without issue are now also triggering the verification/suspension loop, such as:  

• Adding additional managers to a profile 

• Verifying a profile (both video verifications and email code verification) 

• Updating primary business information such as name, address, phone number 

• Making changes to business categories 

Navigating the Unclear GBP Appeal Process 

Unfortunately, the appeal process offers little clarity at the moment. Some suspended profiles have been waiting for resolution for three months, while others have been reinstated more quickly, offering no consistency in timeline to rely on.  

Adding to the challenge, Google no longer provides case IDs, meaning there’s no direct way to request updates or escalate issues. Follow-up emails only generate automated replies, leaving businesses without a clear path forward. Even straightforward cases that could typically be resolved within a few days are now stuck in limbo.  

How to Avoid Having Your Google Business Profile Suspended 

Our current recommendation is to proceed with caution when making changes to your profile until the current issues subside. Right now, even small adjustments could lead to unexpected suspensions, with no timeline of when the suspension would be reviewed.

What Our Team is Doing to Help 

If our team manages your profile optimizations, we are proceeding with increased caution. Our Search Engine Optimization Strategists are actively assessing potential risks, such as actions that may trigger video verification, before making any changes. 

Reach out to us—we’re happy to advise if certain profile edits come with a higher risk before you make them. And if a change is requested that we feel may trigger a reverification and potential suspension, we’ll advise you of the risk before making the change. 

We will continue to keep you updated as we hear more information. This is a fluid situation, and our recommendations may evolve as more information becomes available. 

Navigating the Google Business Profile Suspension Surge 

In the face of these widespread issues, what’s clear is that no businesses are being singled out. The recent bug surrounding Google Business Profile suspensions has left many companies in a challenging position, with delayed resolutions and an unclear path forward. As we wait for Google to address these problems, it’s critical for businesses to refrain from panicking, maintain stability and avoid unnecessary profile changes. By exercising caution, you can minimize the risk of suspension and be better prepared when the system finally returns to normal.