Content that violates our policies on deceptive content and behavior isn’t allowed – Google Business Profile

Violation type: Content that violates our policies on deceptive content and behavior isn’t allowed. Deceptive content intentionally misleads or deceives others.

Quoted from Google’s email by a business owner in the Business Profile Community in February 2025, in a thread titled “Your business profile has been suspended”. Google’s US spelling, “behavior”, is kept.

This is the reason Google gave for suspending the Business Profile. It points at Google’s content rules for Maps, the part that covers fake and misleading content. Google says all content added to a Business Profile must abide by those rules. The email doesn’t say which review, photo or edit it means, so the first job is to find out.

The owner who posted it in the Business Profile Community asked exactly that: why the email didn’t name the deceptive content. In our own search data, business owners look for it as “google business account suspended for deceptive content”.

Checked against Google’s help pages on 11 October 2026. Google changes them without notice, so check the linked page before relying on a detail.

At a glance

• The email doesn’t say what

  It names the violation type, not the review, photo or edit Google objected to.

• The appeals tool links the policy

  Google says it shows the reason for the action and a link to the violated policy.

• Reviews are in scope

  Fake engagement and rating manipulation sit in the same part of Google’s policy.

• Evidence must match

  Google asks that documents show the same business name and address as the profile.

• One profile per business

  Don’t create a new profile while the appeal is under review.

On this page9 sections

What “deceptive content and behavior” covers

The email’s wording isn’t the name of a section in Google’s policy. The closest is the section of Google’s Maps content policy headed “Fake and misleading content and behaviour”. The email’s second sentence echoes its Misrepresentation rules, which say Google doesn’t allow people to use Google Maps to mislead or deceive others. The section has five parts:

• Fake engagement. Content not based on a real experience, and reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind.
• Rating manipulation. Incentivised or biased reviews, including unusual volumes or patterns of review contributions, reviews based on a conflict of interest, and businesses that selectively solicit positive reviews from customers.
• Impersonation. Impersonating a person, group or organisation, or content pretending to be a verified authoritative source.
• Misinformation. Google says deceptive information can cause significant harm. This part covers harmful health, medical and civic information.
• Misrepresentation. Content giving false or misleading accounts of the description or quality of a good or service, or distorting or omitting facts to scam other users.

These rules are written for everything people add to Google Maps. Google’s Business Profile policy overview says these policies apply to all content formats, which includes reviews, photos, videos and posts.

How it relates to the other Business Profile notices

• The notice inside your profile. Many owners see “Your access has been suspended because this profile doesn’t follow the guidelines”. Our guide to that notice walks through the appeals tool screen by screen.
• Restrictions for fake reviews. For fake engagement, Google says it might place restrictions on the Business Profile as well as removing the reviews: for example, no new reviews for a set period, or a warning to let consumers know that fake reviews were removed.
• An account restriction. If a merchant shows a pattern of violating Google Business Profile policies, Google can restrict the account, and then all Business Profiles associated with that account will be suspended.
• Your Google Ads. They’re separate products with separate rules. Our guide to whether a Business Profile suspension affects Google Ads covers what we’ve seen.

What to check first

Start with Google’s appeals tool, before you write anything. Google says it shows the reason for the action and a link to the violated policy. That link tells you which rule Google means. Then go through the profile with that rule in mind:

1. Reviews. Look for reviews that weren’t a real customer’s experience: from staff, family or friends, written in return for a discount or a gift, or arriving in a sudden burst. Check how you ask for reviews, too. Asking only happy customers is something Google’s policy names.
2. Business details. Name, address, category, phone number and website. Each should describe the business as customers really meet it.
3. Photos, videos and posts. Anything that shows a different business, or makes a claim you can’t back up.
4. Who else has access. Managers, agencies or former staff who can add content to the profile.

In our experience, people sometimes appeal without fixing the underlying issue. That can be the website, or reviews that were fabricated and then picked up by Google’s systems.

If some reviews weren’t genuine

Deal with them; don’t hide them. Google says it takes fake and incentivised reviews very seriously. In our experience, if reviews were fabricated, you have to say which ones. Our advice: the honest route is to stop whatever produced them and be open with Google about it.

Google’s appeal for a review restriction is offered with the words “If you believe we incorrectly evaluated your Business Profile”. An appeal that denies what happened isn’t what that route is for.

What Google asks you to do

1. Fix the profile first.

   Google’s first step is to make sure your profile follows all the guidelines.

2. Prepare your evidence.

   Google lists official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates and utility bills, and asks you to check that the business name and address match the profile you’re appealing for.

3. Appeal in the appeals tool.

   Open the Business Profile appeals tool, select the profile, read the reason and the policy link, add your evidence and submit. Google’s UK help page says that if you open its evidence form, you must submit it within 60 minutes. The US version of the page, which is newer, has you attach files in the tool itself and says appeals can only be submitted once. So have everything ready before you press submit.

4. Wait for the decision.

   Google asks you to do not submit multiple appeals for the same issue before receiving a decision, and says it will send you an email with a decision.

If the appeal is turned down, Google says that only if your reinstatement request is denied, it may be able to do an additional review, with evidence that wasn’t in the first appeal. Our guide to the Business Profile suspension notice goes through each screen.

Can it be fixed?

It depends on what Google found. In our experience, the way forward depends on the type of suspension. If the business is real, at a real address, and the content Google objected to can be corrected or explained, an appeal with matching evidence is the route. If reviews were bought or written by people close to the business, stop it and say so.

We take Business Profile cases, and a specialist will tell you honestly whether there’s a case before you pay for anything. Only Google decides whether a profile is reinstated.

The appeal route

• Open the appeals tool and follow the policy link.
• Find and fix what that policy describes: reviews, details, photos or posts.
• Gather documents with the same business name and address as the profile.
• Appeal once, add evidence within 60 minutes, and wait for Google’s email.

Then read the full appeals walk-through, which documents help an appeal and how our own Business Profile was reinstated.

Frequently asked questions

What does “deceptive content and behavior” mean on a Business Profile?

It’s the violation type in Google’s suspension email. The closest part of Google’s Maps content policy covers fake engagement, rating manipulation, impersonation, misinformation and misrepresentation, and Google says those rules apply to everything added to a Business Profile.

Why doesn’t Google say what the deceptive content was?

The email names the violation type only. Google says its appeals tool shows the reason for the moderation action and a link to the violated policy, so start there.

Can fake reviews get a Business Profile suspended?

Fake engagement is in the same section of Google’s policy. For fake reviews, Google says it might place restrictions on a profile as well as removing the reviews. It also says a pattern of policy violations can get an account restricted, which suspends every profile on it.

How long does a Business Profile appeal take?

Google says appeal reviews and decisions can take up to five working days, and asks you not to submit multiple appeals for the same issue before you get a decision.

Should I create a new Business Profile?

No. Google says not to create a new Business Profile for the same business while your appeal is under review, and its guidelines say there should only be one profile per business.

Does this affect my Google Ads account?

They’re separate products with separate rules. Our guide to whether a Business Profile suspension affects Google Ads explains what we’ve seen.