ReferenceBusiness Profile suspension
Phone number or website not allowed
Google's guidelines require the profile's phone number to be under the business's direct control and to connect to its location. Numbers and URLs that redirect or refer people to landing pages are not allowed, premium numbers are not acceptable, and a local number is preferred over a central call-center helpline. Check the phone and the link, then replace either with the business's own local number and page.
At a glance
- Where it shows
- The profile's phone and website fields.
- What stops
- The field the rule covers, until it is corrected.
- How serious
- Set by the review of the field. The page does not give a penalty per field.
What it means
The rule covers the contact details a customer dials or clicks from the profile. The number has to be the business's own, and the website link has to take a customer to the business's page rather than through a redirect.
Two checks cover the main cases: the phone has to reach the business directly, and the link has to land on the business's own page.
What actually triggers it
A tracking number on the profile
Not on Google's help page
Google's page requires a number under the business's direct control that connects to its location, and does not mention tracking numbers. In real accounts, a number shown only to ad visitors went quiet while ads were paused, so the same number printed on the profile should be one set aside for the profile, not shared with ad traffic.
A central call-center helpline
A national helpline in place of a local number. The page says to use a local phone number instead of a central call-center helpline whenever possible. Premium numbers are not acceptable at any rate charged to the caller.
A link that redirects or refers to a landing page
A website field that sends visitors through a redirect or to a landing page. The page says not to provide URLs that redirect or refer users to landing pages, including pages created on social media sites.
Fix it in this order
- Call the number on the profile and confirm that it reaches the business directly.
- Replace a central helpline or a premium-rate number with the business's local number.
- Open the website link and check whether it redirects visitors to another page first. Replace it with the business's own page, using a plain link with tags rather than a redirecting tracking address.
- If a tracking number stays on the profile, make sure it is one the business controls, that it rings the location, and that it is not also the number shown only to ad visitors.
Often confused with
A Google Ads call asset whose number Google has not verified yet. That is an ads problem. The profile rule covers the number on the Business Profile itself.