How To Delete a Google Business Profile (GBP)

Google Business Profile (GBP) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their presence across Google Search and Maps. GBP allows businesses to create a list of essential details like work hours, address, reviews, and services. It serves as a digital storefront, helping people to directly connect with the business by providing details, photos, reviews, etc.

No doubt Google Business Profile is vital for SEO, but what if you no longer want your business on Google? Whether you are closing the business permanently, rebranding it under a new name, or dealing with a duplicate Google profile, there is a proper procedure to remove business from Google Maps. However, deleting a listing is not just a matter of minutes; it’s essential to understand how to delete a Google Business Profile properly without making any mistakes or confusing customers.

So, in this write-up, we will try to understand how to delete a business profile on Google. You will also learn a step-by-step process to delete a Google Business Profile in the right way.

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Why You Might Need To Delete A Google Business Profile

Before learning how to delete a Google Business Profile, it’s essential to identify the most common reasons you decided to remove your business from Google Maps. Deleting a Google Business is not like deactivating a social media account; it takes time to permanently delete your profile. Some of the main reasons can include:

• Permanently closing the business: You can either opt for removing the listing from Google or marking it as “Permanently Closed” rather than deleting its knowledge panel. Permanently Closed listing may still appear in search results, but you cannot edit it or reclaim the listing.
• The listing is a duplicate:  multiple businesses have the same profile. It impacts the overall visibility.
• You are switching your business to an online service model. Google only permits a Business profile for companies that serve customers at physical stores within a designated area or location.
• Your business is entirely changing: You are merging with another company or rebranding completely with a new name and location.

Step-by-Step Guide to Delete a Google Business Profile

Before deleting the Google profile, make sure you have access (logged in) to the primary account linked to your Business profile. Once you are logged in, search for your company name on Google and enter the Google Business Profile dashboard.

Mark Your Business As “Permanently Closed”

Once you have decided on the listings you want to remove, navigate to the business dashboard from your signed account:

• Click on edit profile.
• Go to the hours tab and click the edit panel.

• Click on “Permanently Closed” to remove business from Google Maps and then enter Save.

Note: Your business may still appear in search results because of the old listings. However, users will now see that your business is permanently closed.

How To Remove Your Google Business From Google Maps

You can remove business from Google Maps if it is not eligible, if the listing was created by mistake, or if it shows up as a duplicate. Here is what you need to do:

• Navigate to Google Maps listings that you permanently want to remove.
• Enter “Suggest an edit” under the contact information of the business’s knowledge panel.
• Choose “Close” or “Remove”, and you will see a set of instructions. Google might take a few hours or days to complete this process.

How To Remove Multiple Business Listings From Google

To remove multiple business profiles, you need to:

• Sign in to your business profile manager account.
• Look for all unwanted and duplicate listings you want to remove from the homepage.
• Click on the “Action Button” located on the right side of the screen.
• Choose “Remove Businesses” and then click “Remove”

If it shows an error in removing the profile, you still have the option to remove content and managers for each of the profiles individually.

How To Remove Content and Managers From An Individual Business Listing

Deleting content and managers from a Google Business Profile is a serious step. Therefore, it is essential to know what this means for the business before proceeding.

• Only the primary owner of the profile has the authority to remove/delete it.

Remember: Deleting content and managers from the business profile is permanent. Everybody related to the profile, including owners and managers, will be affected. If you want to access the profile to manage it again, you need to re-verify it.

• All posts, photos, videos, or other content uploaded by owners or managers will be permanently deleted. If you created a website from Google Business Profile, that will also be deleted.
• You can also choose to remove yourself if you do not wish to manage the business. Any new owners or managers will need to wait a minimum of 7 days prior to deleting content and/or managers.

Here is how you can remove content and managers from individual listings:

• Go to your Google Business Profile
• Click on more, select the option “Business Profile Settings”
• Choose “Remove Business Profile”, then click on “Remove profile content and managers”.
• Select continue to confirm your decision, and click Remove.

How To Merge or Delete Duplicate Listings

Duplicate listings are a big challenge for businesses, especially with multiple locations. The most effective way to deal with duplicate listings is to merge them with the original and create a single listing. There is a high chance that it will save all the Google reviews and data from both listings.

Here it is important to note that you can only merge the listings if they have the same business information like location, name or phone number. If listings share similar details, you need to contact Google support and ask them to merge the listings. On the other hand, if details are not same and you want ownership of both, edit them and then contact Google support.

So, here are the steps to merge duplicate listings:

• Search for Duplicate listings on Google Maps.
• Click on “suggest an edit” in the knowledge panel.
• Click Close or Remove.
• Select “Duplicate of another place” from a list of options.
• It may ask, if you know the right location, choose the correct address
• Click on submit. It may take a few days to appear.

Note: If you are merging the company and are now co-branding or operating under a new name, you have to create a new listing. Do not merge two separate Business Profiles unless they were the same business at the start.

How To Mark Your Business As Temporarily Closed

Whether you are taking a break for some time or want to try a hand in other businesses, Google also gives you the option to temporarily close your business profile. However, it’s important to let people know what’s happening. You can mark “Temporarily Closed”, which means set your operating hours and give customers a heads-up before they visit your business in person.

Here are simple steps to mark your business Temporarily Closed:

• Navigate to your Google Business Profile.
• Go to Edit Profile and then select Business Information.
• Select the hours tab from the top.
• Select Temporarily Closed.
• Click Save, and you are done.

Even when you temporarily close the business profile, it will still be listed but after that businesses are currently operating.

Common Challenges When Deleting A Google Business Profile

Now you know how to delete a Google business account or profile, but sometimes Google doesn’t work as smoothly as it should. Here are some of the common challenges business owner fails when deleting a google business profile.

1. Google Doesn’t Allow You to Fully Delete Your Profile

There are very few instances in which Google will let you delete your business completely, especially if the listing is indexed. Once the location exists on Google Maps, it remains in the directory even if you close the business.

• For closed businesses, it’s better to put a mark “Permanently Closed” on the listing.
• If the profile was made in error (for example: for a non-eligible online-only business), you may request Google Support to review and remove it.

2. Someone else/ Third Party Created The Profile

If the GBP was originally set up by someone else, like an ex-employee, you may not be able to access it. In such cases, you need to ask Google to make you the owner of the account.

• Visit the listings on Google Maps.
• Select the option” Own the business” or claim the business.
• Follow verification steps to request access and claim ownership.

3. Reviews Don’t Go Away When Closed

After a profile is marked closed, or after you have removed yourself as the owner, reviews will still remain on Google. It considers reviews a part of that Business’s permanent history.

• If the reviews are legitimate, it will remain linked to the listing.
• The only exception is if the review is flagged by Google for violating its own policies (i.e. spam, abusive content, irrelevant content). If this is the case, you can flag the review for Google to review it.
• Otherwise, there is no official way to remove past reviews specifically from the Business listing itself, even if the business is no longer in operation.

Conclusion

So, understanding how to delete a Google Business Profile is important for business owners who don’t want their business to appear online. However, when thinking of removing a business from Google Maps, you need to be very sure whether you are temporarily closing or marking it Permanently Closed. There is an option for everything that has its own impact on how your business appears to customers and on Google Maps. You just need to adapt the right approach because it’s not just about closing the business; it’s about closing on a positive note without confusing or misleading the customers.

Are you still confused whether to remove, merge, or fix your Google Business Profile? Contact ResultFirst for expert guidance. As a part of our local SEO services, ResultFirst helps you create an optimized Google Business profile, manage listings, and improve local search rankings. Partner with ResultFirst and conquer local search with more qualified traffic for your business.

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