Should You Create a New Google Business Profile After Suspension?
When your Google Business Profile gets suspended, the frustration and urgency to get back online can lead to a tempting shortcut: creating a new profile. This seems like a simple solution—just start fresh with a new listing and avoid the hassle of appealing. However, this approach almost always fails and can make your situation significantly worse.
Why Creating a New Profile Usually Fails
Google's Detection Systems
Google uses sophisticated systems to detect when businesses try to circumvent suspensions by creating new profiles. These systems analyze multiple factors:
Address matching: If you create a new profile at the same address as your suspended profile, Google's systems flag it immediately. Even slight variations (adding "Suite A" when you didn't have it before, or writing "Street" instead of "St.") won't fool the system.
Business name similarity: Changing your business name slightly ("Joe's Plumbing" to "Joe Plumbing Services") doesn't prevent detection. Google's algorithms recognize business name variations.
Phone number tracking: Using the same phone number or a phone number from the same carrier and geographic area raises flags.
IP address and device fingerprinting: Creating a new profile from the same computer, location, or Google account you used for the suspended profile can trigger automatic detection.
Website and online presence: If you link the same website or have the same NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across other directories, Google connects the dots.
Business category and description patterns: Similar business descriptions, categories, and service offerings help Google identify related profiles.
The Result
When Google detects you're trying to circumvent a suspension, one of several things happens:
Immediate automatic suspension: Your new profile gets suspended automatically, often within hours or days of creation.
Permanent ban: Google may escalate from a temporary suspension to a permanent ban on your business, address, or even your personal Google account.
Flagging for manual review: Your new profile gets flagged for human review, during which it remains unverified and largely invisible in search results.
Loss of historical data: You lose all your reviews, photos, posts, and historical search performance from your original profile.
When Creating a New Profile Might Work (Rare Cases)
There are very limited circumstances where creating a new profile is appropriate:
1. Your Business Has Genuinely Changed
If your business has undergone fundamental changes, a new profile may be legitimate:
- New legal entity: You closed your old business and formed a new legal entity (new LLC, new business registration, new tax ID)
- New location: You permanently closed at your old address and opened at a completely different address
- New business type: You're operating a fundamentally different type of business now (you were a restaurant, now you're an accounting firm)
- New ownership: Someone else bought your business and it operates under new ownership with different management
Requirements for this to be legitimate:
- Close your old profile as "Permanently Closed"
- Use the new legal business name and registration
- Update all business documentation (licenses, registrations, etc.)
- Have legitimate documentation proving the business change
- Wait a reasonable period (at least 30 days) between closing the old profile and creating the new one
2. You Were Operating Illegitimately Before
In rare cases, if your original business was operating in violation of Google's guidelines or even illegally, and you've since reformed your business to operate legitimately, a new profile may be appropriate.
Example: You were operating from a virtual office and got suspended. You've now leased a legitimate office space, obtained proper licenses, and restructured your business legally.
Requirements:
- Address the core reason you were suspended
- Have documentation proving your business now operates legitimately
- Be prepared to explain the changes in detail if questioned
- Consider professional help to navigate this complex situation
What You Should Do Instead
Step 1: Appeal Your Suspension
Appealing your original profile is almost always the right approach:
Why appealing works better:
- You keep your review history
- You maintain your search ranking signals
- Google is more likely to reinstate a compliant original profile than approve a circumvention attempt
- You avoid the risk of permanent bans
How to appeal effectively:
- Identify the specific violation that caused your suspension
- Fix the violation completely before appealing
- Gather documentation proving your business is legitimate
- Write a clear, professional appeal explaining what happened and how you've fixed it
- Submit your appeal through proper channels
Step 2: Fix the Underlying Issues
Most suspensions occur because of specific violations. Fix these before doing anything else:
Common violations to address:
- Remove keywords from your business name
- Hide your address if you're a Service Area Business
- Close duplicate listings
- Update your business location if you're at a virtual office or ineligible location
- Ensure your information is consistent across all online directories
- Verify your business is an eligible business type for GBP
Step 3: Gather Strong Documentation
Google wants proof that your business is legitimate and compliant:
Essential documentation:
- Business license and registration documents
- Proof of physical location (utility bills, lease agreement, property deed)
- Photos of your business location (exterior with signage, interior showing operations)
- Professional licenses (if applicable for your industry)
- Business insurance documentation
- Examples of customer transactions (invoices, receipts—with customer info redacted)
Step 4: Submit a Thorough Appeal
Your appeal should include:
- A clear explanation of what violation occurred
- How you've corrected the issue
- Documentation proving your business is legitimate
- A professional tone—avoid anger or frustration
- Specific evidence for each point you make
Step 5: Be Patient and Persistent
Google typically responds to appeals within 3-5 business days, but it can take up to two weeks. If you don't hear back:
- Follow up after 14 days
- Resubmit your appeal if necessary
- Consider escalating through different support channels
The Risks of Creating a New Profile
1. Immediate Re-Suspension
Most attempts to create new profiles after suspension result in immediate re-suspension once Google's systems detect the connection.
Impact: You've wasted time and effort, and you're back where you started—but now with a pattern of trying to circumvent suspensions.
2. Permanent Account Bans
Repeated attempts to circumvent suspensions can lead to permanent bans that are much harder to resolve.
Impact: You may lose the ability to manage any Google Business Profiles, even for legitimate new businesses you start in the future.
3. Loss of Review History
Your original profile contains valuable reviews from customers. Creating a new profile means starting from zero reviews.
Impact: New businesses with no reviews perform poorly in local search and lose customer trust signals.
4. Confusion for Customers
If you somehow get a new profile live briefly before it's suspended again, you may have two profiles showing up in search—one suspended, one new—confusing customers about which is real.
Impact: Customer confusion, lost business, and damaged reputation.
5. Wasted Time and Resources
Creating and trying to verify a new profile, only to have it suspended again, wastes valuable time you could have spent appealing your original profile.
Impact: Delayed reinstatement and lost business during the time you're offline.
Red Flags That Will Get You Caught
If you're tempted to create a new profile despite the risks, Google will likely catch you if:
- You use the same address
- You use the same or similar business name
- You use the same phone number
- You link the same website
- You create it from the same computer or internet connection
- Your NAP information elsewhere online matches the suspended profile
- You verify the new profile using the same personal Google account
- Your business category and description are identical or very similar
Simply put: Google's detection systems are sophisticated enough that minor variations won't prevent detection.
When to Seek Professional Help
If you're considering creating a new profile because:
- Your appeals have been repeatedly denied
- You don't understand what violation occurred
- You're not sure how to fix the issues
- You're facing urgent business pressure to get back online
Professional help is a better investment than attempting to circumvent the suspension. Experienced professionals understand Google's systems, can identify violations you might miss, and can appeal effectively.
The Bottom Line
Creating a new Google Business Profile after suspension is almost never the right solution. It usually results in immediate re-suspension, can lead to permanent bans, and wastes time that could be spent on effective appeals.
The right approach:
- Identify what caused your suspension
- Fix all violations completely
- Gather thorough documentation
- Submit a professional appeal
- Be patient and persistent
If you're struggling with a suspension or considering creating a new profile, our team can help you navigate the proper reinstatement process and avoid the pitfalls of circumvention attempts.