Official Google Business Profile Guidelines 2025 · 40+ Checks · 8 Categories

Is Your Google Business Profile
Following Every Rule?

The only GBP audit tool built directly from Google's official guidelines. Enter your profile details and instantly discover every violation, warning, and compliance risk — including the tactics fake SEO experts use that will get your profile suspended.

✓ Business Name Rules ✓ Address Eligibility ✓ Category Guidelines ✓ Description Policy ✓ Phone & Website Rules ✓ Hours Policy ✓ Suspension Risk Detection ✓ Fake SEO Tactic Flags
?
GBP Score
Run audit to reveal
Audit Results
LIVE
🔍
Fill In Your GBP Details & Run The Audit
Enter your current Google Business Profile information on the left. We will check it against every official Google guideline and flag any violations, warnings, or suspension risks — with the exact Google policy reference for each finding.
🔍
Cross-referencing Google's official guidelines…
  • ⟳Analysing business name against all naming rules
  • ○Checking address eligibility and location policy
  • ○Validating phone number and website compliance
  • ○Auditing categories against Google guidelines
  • ○Reviewing description for policy violations
  • ○Generating full compliance report with official citations
Google GBP Policy Knowledge

The Rules Fake SEO Experts Hope You Never Learn.

Every violation below is pulled directly from Google's official GBP guidelines. These are the most commonly exploited tactics in the fake-SEO industry.

🏭
Business Name Rules
The #1 fake-SEO tactic: stuffing keywords into your GBP name. Google is explicit — your name must match your real-world signage and branding. Period.
  • "Joe's Plumbing — Best London Plumber 24hr"
  • "Dr Smith Family Dentistry Affordable Invisalign"
  • "Joe's Plumbing Services"
  • "Dr Smith Family Dentistry"
📍
Address Eligibility
Virtual offices, shared mailboxes, and co-working desks without proper staffing and signage are ineligible. Using these is the #2 most common fraudulent GBP practice.
  • Virtual office mailbox (you never work there)
  • Co-working desk with no signage or staffing
  • Real operating office with staff & signage
  • Home address (hidden) for service-area businesses
🏷
Category Guidelines
Categories describe what your business IS, not what it HAS. Using too many irrelevant categories as keywords is a spam signal.
  • Adding "Digital Marketing" when you're a plumber
  • Using a competitor's category to capture their searches
  • "Pizza Delivery" + "Pizza Takeout" for Papa John's
  • Most specific category first (primary)
📄
Description Policy
The description must inform, not advertise. No URLs, prices, promotions, or keyword stuffing. Many businesses unknowingly violate this every day.
  • "50% off this week! Call now. Best prices. www.site.com"
  • Links of any kind embedded in description
  • Describes services, history, mission & USP
  • Written for customers — not keyword density
📱
Phone & Website Rules
Your phone must connect directly to the business. Your website URL must go directly to your actual business site — no redirects, no social pages.
  • Premium rate phone numbers (0900, 0906)
  • Facebook/Instagram page as primary website
  • Tracking URL that redirects to real site
  • Direct local phone number + your own domain
⚠
Suspension Risks
Google can suspend profiles without warning. A suspended GBP vanishes from Maps and Search immediately — no calls, no directions, no visibility.
  • Any of the name violations listed above
  • Virtual office or ineligible address
  • Multiple profiles for same location
  • Full compliance = maximum visibility protection

Got Violations?
Zammy Zaif Fixes Them & Gets You to #1.

18+ years of Google Maps dominance. Zammy has fixed thousands of suspended, penalised, and poorly-optimised GBP profiles — and ranked them #1 in competitive markets across the UK, USA, Canada, and India. Free audit, full plan, guaranteed results.

Get Your Free GBP Expert Audit
Live Chat