Your Google Business Profile has two kinds of space, and Google now treats them differently. The listing, with your name and description, is for who the business is: Google's Maps content policy now says merchants may not put time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls to action there. Sales and news belong in posts, which the same policy still allows. In posts, Google may remove unverified phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles, so let the Call now button carry your number.
Here is what the rules say, which message goes where, how to check your profile in ten minutes and what to do when a post is rejected.
What did Google change?
The advertising and solicitation section of Google's Maps content policy now opens with one idea: "Contributions to Google Maps should reflect genuine experiences or define a business's permanent identity." It then lists, for merchants, what is not allowed:
- In the listing: promotional or commercial content with time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls to action.
- In posts: email addresses, phone numbers, social media links or links to other websites that are not related to your business.
The same section adds that offers and updates that may be seen as promotional "are otherwise permitted in posts." Google's posts content policy points the same way on contact details, and its guide to posts warns that a post with a phone number in its description "might get rejected" if Google cannot verify that the number belongs to the business.
What counts as the listing, and what counts as a post?
The listing is the part that describes the business itself: the name, the categories, the description, the address or service area, the hours and the contact details. It changes when the business changes.
Posts are the short updates you publish on the profile. Google's guide to posts names three kinds: Updates, Offers and Events. They change with the season, the week or the job.
Think of the listing as the sign over your door and posts as the chalkboard beside it. Nobody repaints the sign for a weekend sale. The chalkboard is there for exactly that.
What should come out of your listing?
Start with the two places where promotions creep in most often: the name and the description.
- The name: Google's guidelines for representing your business ask for your real-world name, as used on your storefront, website and stationery. They add that unnecessary information in the name "could result in the suspension" of the profile. Taglines, city names and service words stay out.
- The description: the same guidelines say it must not focus on special promotions, prices or sales, and that "No links of any type are allowed."
- Calls to action: lines such as "call today", "book now" or "this week only" read as promotion. The buttons on your profile already do that job.
A good description says what you do, for whom, where you work and what makes working with you different, such as who answers the phone and the languages you speak. Write it once, carefully, and change it when the business changes.
How do you write posts Google will keep?
Pick the post type that matches the message, so the details have a place to go:
- Offer: for a sale or a deal. Google requires a title, dates and times, and adds a View Offer button. You can add a coupon code, a link and terms.
- Event: for something happening at your business, with a start and end.
- Update: for news, a recent job or a change in hours, with one action button and a link.
Keep contact details out of the text. The posts content policy suggests attaching a Call now button instead, which uses the verified number on your profile. Link only to your own pages, such as the booking page or the page for that service. One photo, a few plain sentences and one button is enough.
How do you check your profile in ten minutes?
Open your profile and go through it in this order:
- Read the business name aloud. If it carries anything that is not on your sign, take it out.
- Read the description. Remove any sale, discount, price, deadline, link or "call now" line, and move the offer into an Offer post.
- Open your recent posts. Remove phone numbers, email addresses and social handles from the text, and add a Call now or Book button instead.
- Check every link in a post. Each one should open a page of your own business.
- Confirm the phone number on the profile is the one you want customers to call, since that is the number the button uses.
Put the same check on the monthly calendar, next to the hours and the review replies.
What if Google rejects one of your posts?
A rejected post is usually a quick fix. Look for the details the rules name: a phone number, an email address, a social handle or a link to another site. Take them out, use a button for the contact, and post it again.
If customers need a second number, such as a line for a separate department, add it to the profile itself instead of writing it in a post. The guide to posts points to profile edits for exactly this. Once the number is part of the verified profile, the business owns the details and Google can confirm them.
How Banana Blueprint keeps your profile in line
Banana Blueprint is a business design and engineering firm in Northeast Ohio. We work in person with owner-led businesses in Kent, Akron and Cleveland, and by video with owners across the U.S. Our marketing and branding work includes the Google Business Profile: we write the description, keep the details true, and plan posts that follow Google's rules and still give people a reason to call.
For the full setup, part by part, read our Google Business Profile checklist. The profile works best next to a website that tells the same story, and our small business website checklist covers that side. For a quick read on the rest of your setup, take the 60-second check.
When you are ready, start the conversation by phone or video, in English or Español.
Filed under Identity & Brand
Written by Adolfo Polanco for owners who want their business to run with less chasing and more clarity. We design brands and websites that say clearly who you serve and why you are the right call.