Google just tightened the rules on what a business can put in its Google Maps listing and its Business Profile posts. If your profile still carries a sale price, a limited-time deal, or a phone number tucked into a post, it may now be on the wrong side of the line.
What Changed
Google updated the Advertising and Solicitation section of its Maps and Business Profiles prohibited and restricted content policy. The stated principle is that contributions to Google Maps should reflect genuine experiences or define a business's permanent identity, not work as a marketplace.
In practice, the update calls out two places:
In listings: promotional or commercial content with time-bound promotions, pricing, or direct calls-to-action is not allowed.
In posts: email addresses, phone numbers, social media links, and links to websites unrelated to your business are not allowed, and neither is content that reads as promotional or commercial.
The policy does say offers and updates are still fine in posts as long as they are not promotional. The change was first flagged by Hiroko Imai on LinkedIn and reported by Search Engine Roundtable.
Why This Matters for Your Google Business Profile
Most owners treat their profile like a billboard: a seasonal discount here, a "Call now!" there. For a plumber in Denver, a dentist in Boulder, or a consultant in Colorado Springs, that habit is now a liability. Content that breaks policy can be removed, and a profile that keeps tripping Google's rules is not the kind of trust signal you want.
The listing itself is meant to describe what your business permanently is. Time-sensitive pitches belong on your website, in your ads, and in your email.
This is a core part of Google Business Profile optimization: the profile's job is to establish identity and credibility, and your website's job is to close the sale.
What to Do About It
Audit your business description, services, and any listing text for prices, expiration-date deals, and "call now" or "book today" language, and rewrite it to describe what you do permanently.
Review your past and scheduled posts for phone numbers, email addresses, social links, or links to anything other than your own business, and remove or replace them.
Move promotions to a dedicated page on your own site, and keep Google posts to genuine, non-promotional updates.
Keep your phone number and website in the profile's official contact fields, where they belong, rather than in post text.
Check the policy language yourself in Google's Business Profile support documentation so you are working from the source, not a summary.
The takeaway: treat your Maps listing as your permanent identity and keep the sales pitch somewhere else. A quick cleanup now is cheaper than a removed post or a profile flagged later.
Further reading: Google May Now Remove Business Profile Posts With Unverified Contact Info
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