The process to remove your Google Business Profile isn’t entirely straightforward.

Marking your business as “Permanently Closed” only takes a few minutes. However, the process to fully remove your Google Business Profile so it stops appearing in Maps and Search isn’t spelled out for business owners and marketers.

Fortunately, RYNO Strategic Solutions has developed a process with a high success rate to delete Google Business Profiles once and for all.

Reasons Why You Would Delete Your Google Business Profile

Maintaining an up-to-date Google Business Profile is an essential part of search engine optimization for your business. However, there are a few good reasons you might want to delete your Google Business Profile so that it’s no longer visible in Maps or Search:

  • The most common reason is that your business has permanently closed or will be closing soon.
  • The listing shows a business that doesn’t exist at all.
  • The listing is a duplicate, and you want to remove it so that there’s only one instance. You can also merge listings if there are reviews on both versions that you want to retain.
  • You’re moving to an online-only model and are abandoning your physical location.
  • Your business is changing completely. For example, if you’re merging with or being acquired by another company, completely changing industries, or making drastic changes to your business model (this doesn’t apply if you’re just rebranding).

Reasons NOT To Remove Your Google Business Profile (And What To Do Instead)

There are some common reasons business owners decide they want to get rid of their Google Business Profile, but some should be avoided. For example, deleting to circumvent a suspension can lead to further penalties from Google. Read on to learn what to do instead.

Don’t try deleting your Google Business Profile to:

  • Bypass a suspension. Instead, ensure your profile is accurate and complies with all of Google’s guidelines, then use their formal appeal process.
  • Purge negative reviews. Instead, respond to as many of the negative reviewers as you can. Always make your replies receptive, professional, grateful, and eager to make the situation right. Never become defensive or attack the reviewer.
  • Make ownership or access changes. Instead, use the internal settings to transfer ownership or change access.
  • Prevent a Google Business Profile Scam. If you think your profile has been infiltrated, change your passwords right away and report the incident to Google. Then, be sure to officially claim your profile.

What Happens When You Delete a GBP Profile?

Before deleting your profile permanently, make sure you understand what will be removed. The content can’t be recovered, so tread carefully!

Here’s what gets deleted when you remove a Google Business Profile:

  • All profile content and posts
  • All pictures and videos
  • Your website, if it was created using Google Sites
  • Both positive and negative reviews, though some historical data may remain visible

How To Remove a Google Business Profile: Step-by-Step Instructions

First, a quick disclaimer:

This process is not 100% guaranteed to remove your listing from Search and Maps, but it’s the most proven process we have come across after years of hands-on experience and experimentation.

First, you must have Manager or Owner access to the Google Business Profile listing you want to delete. Without that access, you won’t be able to complete this process.

Once logged into the Google account with Owner or Manager access to your company’s Google Business Profile, search your company name on Google to view the Google Business Profile dashboard.

Accessing a Google Business Profile on search

Step 1: Mark Your Business as Permanently Closed

Once you have confirmed the listing you want to remove, navigate to its business dashboard while signed in to the correct Google Account.

Click “Edit Profile”

How to edit your Google Business Profile on search

Click “Hours”

How to change your GBP business hours step 1

Hover inside the “Business Hours” section, and click the “Edit” icon (the pencil)

How to change your GBP business hours step 2

Select “Permanently closed” to remove your Google Business Profile from Maps and Search, then click “Save”

How to mark your Google Business Profile permanently closed

Caution: Customers will see a red “Permanently Closed” marker on your listing after this step is completed.

Step 2: Suggest Edit That Your Business Doesn’t Exist

This is the crucial trick we discovered to remove your GBP listing from Search and Maps results quickly.

As we mentioned earlier, even after marking your business as closed, the profile will still exist and will appear in results — it will just display a red “Permanently Closed” notice when users find it.

To fully delete it, first log into a personal Google Account. Then, you and your colleagues need to find your business profile that you’d like to remove by searching for it in Google Maps. Once you’ve found your business in Maps, click “Suggest edit,” then “Place is closed or not here,” then choose “Doesn’t exist here.” After you’ve completed this step, click “Submit.”

You should receive a confirmation email from Google that it’s reviewing your suggestion to remove your Google Business Profile from Maps. Remember, you have to be logged into a Google Account to complete this step!

Step 3: Wait at Least 24 Hours

Google advises waiting at least 24 hours after doing this to allow Google to review your suggestion and take action to remove the listing. Be patient! In some cases, you may have to wait a little longer.

Once the listing is removed, you should receive a confirmation email that your suggestion was published. This means that the listing was deleted. Keep in mind that the profile still may show up for a while due to cached data and other quirks. If you still see it, try clearing your browser data and starting fresh. The listing should be gone at this point.

Congratulations, you’ve successfully deleted the Google Business Profile!

Have duplicate Google Business Profiles, but one has information that you want to keep? Next, we’ll show you how to merge multiple listings.

How To Merge Duplicate GBP Profiles

If you have duplicate Google Business Profiles and one of them has content (like customer reviews) that you want to carry over, you can merge them instead of deleting the duplicate one.

Follow these steps to merge duplicate listings for your business:

  • Ensure accuracy and verify. Ensure the profiles are accurate and there aren’t any discrepancies between them. That includes even the smallest details, like using “Rd.” versus “Road” in the address.
  • Verify the primary profile. You can’t merge two verified profiles. Contact Google to verify the primary profile that you want to keep.
  • Contact Google. Using the GBP help contact form, request that the two profiles be merged. Ensure you’re clear about which profile you want to keep, and include links for verification.

That’s it! Now you know how to merge and delete your Google Business Profile. The right choice for you depends on your particular situation, but this guide shows you everything you need to know. Keep reading for more resources on GBP and SEO to get the most out of Google for your business.

Need More Help With Google or Local SEO?

Need more help with navigating the Google Business Profile dashboard or want to level up your business’s local SEO? Check out our latest RYNO blogs or contact us online and talk to someone on our team today!