Why isn't my business page showing up on Google?

Use Google's own test: search for your business's name and city, once on Google Search and once on Google Maps.¹ To see your profile as its owner, sign in to the Google Account that manages it.¹

If it shows up for your name and city, the profile is live, and your question is about ranking. That is covered below. If people find it and nobody calls, see why isn't my website getting calls or leads. If it doesn't show up, work through the next four checks in order.

Only verified businesses can show their business info on Maps and Search.¹ Verification also lets you edit your info and gain ownership of the profile.³

Google picks the method, and you can't change it. Depending on your business and region, it can be a phone call or text, an email, a live video call, a postcard in the mail, or a video recording.³ Reviews take up to 5 business days, although Google sometimes verifies a profile instantly. It says that covers website verification through Search Console and bulk verification.³

Postcards are the slow one. Google says most codes arrive within 14 days and that they expire after 30. Asking for another code cancels the one in the mail, which can lengthen the process. Live video calls only run during the business hours of your location.³ If the "Get verified" button comes back, Google says it could not completely verify your business. Verify again, or try another method.³

If a profile breaks Google's guidelines, it becomes disabled or suspended, and it stays hidden from other Google users until the issue is fixed. Google sends a notification to the Google Account that manages the profile.¹ It says an account can also be restricted for violating policy, which suspends the profiles it manages and stops you creating or claiming others.⁴

Before you appeal, make sure the profile follows all of Google's guidelines.⁴ In the appeal, add evidence if you have it: an official business registration, a business license, tax certificates or utility bills, with a business name and address that match the profile.⁴

Appeals can only be submitted once. Google says not to create a new profile for the same business. It emails you its decision and gives no timeframe.⁴

If it is your whole account that is restricted, the order matters. Google says to appeal the account first, with a reason, on its My accounts page. Once the restriction is lifted, appeal the profile to remove the suspension.⁴

A profile is for a business with a physical location that customers can visit, or one that travels to customers where they are.⁵ A P.O. box or a mailbox at a remote location is not acceptable. A virtual office is not eligible, and a co-working office can only be listed if you receive customers there during business hours.⁵

If you have no storefront and go to customers, you are allowed one service-area profile, and Google says you should hide your address.⁵ A business with a staffed location that also travels can show its storefront address.⁵ Google also says there should be one profile per business, and that you should not create more than one page for a location, in one account or several.⁵

Google says changes to your business info can take up to 3 days to appear, and that rankings for new businesses can take up to a month to show in search results.¹ It also says search results come from algorithms that weigh a wide range of factors.¹ If you created the profile or changed it this week, waiting a few days is a real answer.

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well a profile matches what someone is searching for. Distance is how far the business is from the person searching. Prominence is how well known the business is, and Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help.²

It also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Its tips are to verify your business, keep your information as complete and up to date as you can, and reply to customer reviews, which Google says shows that you value your customers' feedback.² To ask for reviews the right way, see how to get more Google reviews.

Google asks a profile to list a phone number or a website.⁵ So a website isn't required for a profile to show. It does need to agree with your profile. Our kit guide says to use exactly the same business name, public address and phone on your profile and your website, to add your website address and your hours, to finish the verification Google asks for, and not to make a duplicate profile. Whether a trade or a salon needs a website is covered in do plumbers and electricians need a website and do hair salons need a website.

If you have a website, our free website check looks at it, not at your profile. If you don't have one yet, get a free look and we'll check your Google listing instead. If your website itself is missing from Google results, see why doesn't my website show up in Google.

• Don't make a second profile. Google says there should be one profile per business, and not to create a new one for a business that was suspended.⁴⁵

• Don't pay for ranking. Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.² Be careful with anyone who says there is.

• Don't use a P.O. box or a virtual office as your address. Google says neither is acceptable.⁵

• Don't add extra information to your business name. Google says your name should reflect your real-world name and that unnecessary information in it isn't permitted.⁵

Start with Google's own help pages, linked below. We also help businesses set up and fix their Google listings, and we sell website kits so your site and your profile say the same things. A few to start with: Plumber, Hair salon, Cleaning service, Electrician, Landscaping and Auto repair. The whole list is at website kits. To talk to us about your listing, tell us about your business.

Every rule on this page comes from Google's own Business Profile help pages. They show no dates, so we list the day we read them, and Google can change them. We help businesses with Google listings and sell website kits, so we have a stake in this question. Forum posts and community guides are full of other theories about why a profile disappears. We left them out because Google doesn't confirm them.