How to Delete a Google Business Profile (and What Happens to Your Reviews)

Table of contents

• How do you delete a Google Business Profile?
• Delete, close or remove yourself: which option fits?
• What happens when you delete your profile?
• How do I mark my business as permanently closed?
• Temporary closure and reopening
• How do I remove someone, or myself, from a profile?
• Does deleting your Google account delete the profile?
• Removing a listing created by someone else
• What to do with a duplicate profile
• Moving or rebranding: should you delete?
• How long does profile removal take?
• FAQ
• Before you press Remove

To delete a Google Business Profile, the primary owner opens Business Profile settings, selects Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers, and confirms; the public listing on Google Maps and Google Search can still remain visible.

That gap is where most businesses get stuck: they shut a shop or sell a company, press Remove, and the business still shows up on Google Maps a week later.

Google Business Profile (GBP), formerly Google My Business (GMB), offers five actions that people call "deleting": removing the profile, marking the business permanently closed, marking it temporarily closed, leaving as a manager, and deleting your Google account. Each leaves a different trace on local search. This guide gives the official menus step by step, a decision table showing what happens to reviews, and the right method for duplicates, relocations and listings someone else created.

How do you delete a Google Business Profile?

You delete a Google Business Profile from Business Profile settings: select Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers. Only the primary owner can do it. The process wipes owner content and every manager, but it does not guarantee the listing leaves Google Maps.

Steps to remove one profile

1. Log in to the Google business account linked to the profile and open business.google.com.
2. Open the More menu, then select Business Profile settings.
3. Select Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
4. Optionally turn on Mark your business as permanently closed.
5. Select Continue, Remove, then Done.

That optional switch matters. Without it, customers may still see an open business with no owner.

Shutting down or moving also affects what sits on your counter. A tap-to-review plate that opens the old profile's review form keeps sending customers to a dead listing, so update it or replace it with one that opens the new profile's review link first.

Remove multiple profiles at once

In the Business Profile Manager, select every profile, open Actions, then select Remove businesses and Remove. If the bulk method fails, Google's solution is to remove each profile one at a time. Chains should first check how bulk location management works.

Delete, close or remove yourself: which option fits?

The right option to delete, close or leave a Google Business Profile depends on what you want the public to see afterward. Removing the profile clears owner content, marking it shut informs visitors, and leaving ends only your own access while management continues.

No owner step deletes a single customer review. Only Google takes them down, for policy violations or when it drops a listing that never existed or isn't eligible.

What happens when you delete your Google Business Profile?

When you delete your Google Business Profile, Google permanently erases the posts, photos, videos and replies added by owners and managers, drops every manager, and keeps user-generated content and customer ratings. The business itself might still show up on Search and Maps.

In practice, profile removal strips everything you control and keeps everything customers wrote. Customer photos stay, and so does negative feedback, now with no answer under it. As reputation management, deletion backfires: negative feedback without a reply hurts your online reputation more than one with a calm answer.

Removed data can't be recovered. To manage the business again, you must pass verification from scratch, so owners who may come back should plan the verification step first. If ratings later vanish for other reasons, see how to track removed reviews.

Visibility is the other surprise: unless Google considers it ineligible, a real shop at a real address usually stays on the map, unmanaged, its online presence living on without you.

That is why a closure status often beats deletion: nobody drives to a locked door.

How do I mark my business as permanently closed on Google?

To mark the business as permanently closed on Google, open your Business Profile, select Edit profile, then Hours, pick Permanently closed and save. The listing can remain visible in Search and Maps results but clearly tells customers the business is gone.

1. Open your profile on business.google.com.
2. Select Edit profile, then Hours.
3. Next to Hours, select Edit and pick Permanently closed.
4. Select Save.

For multiple locations, select them in the Business Profile Manager, click Actions, use Mark as permanently closed and confirm. Marking a business this way is not instant: the listing slowly fades from search results, then disappears.

How do I mark my business temporarily closed, or open it again?

To mark a business temporarily closed on Google, go to Edit profile, then Hours, and choose Temporarily closed. To reopen, return to the same menu and select Open with main hours. The temporary status leaves Maps and Search as soon as you switch back.

Google sets a clear threshold. Its page on how to mark your business as closed recommends Temporarily closed for a break of more than 7 days, the off-season or an indefinite pause, and Special hours for anything of 7 days or less.

There is a ranking impact: for broad queries, temporarily closed businesses can rank below open ones. Switch the status back the day your doors open.

How do I remove someone from a Google Business Profile, or remove myself?

You remove yourself from a Google Business Profile in Business Profile settings, under People and access: select your name, then Stop managing, then Confirm. Owners remove someone else from the same screen. A primary owner must transfer primary ownership before leaving.

To transfer primary ownership, open People and access, select the future primary owner, select Edit next to Access, pick Primary owner and save. Google blocks this during anyone's first 7 days.

Does deleting your Google account delete your Business Profile?

Deleting your Google account does not delete the Business Profile listing from Google Maps. It removes you as an owner or manager, and you lose access. If you were the only owner, the listing stays public with nobody managing it.

Google's account deletion page lists lost emails, files and photos but says nothing about Business Profiles. The safe order: transfer ownership or remove the profile first, then erase the account.

How do I remove a Google Business listing created by someone else?

A Google Business listing created by someone else can be removed only if the business never existed or is not eligible. Request removal on Google Maps. If the business is yours, claim the profile or request access from the current owner instead.

Request removal of a business from Google Maps

1. Sign in to your Google account and open Google Maps.
2. Select the business, then Suggest an edit.
3. Pick Place is closed or not here.
4. Pick the option that fits, such as Doesn't exist here, then Submit.

Google may send a status email with follow-up questions, and an approved request removes the business from Search and Maps. Online-only businesses, vacation rentals and lead generation companies are ineligible, because a business must make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours.

If the owner denies the request, Google lets you appeal the decision.

What should you do with a duplicate Google Business Profile?

A duplicate Google Business Profile should be removed or merged, never left in place. Google allows one profile per business, and duplicates won't show on Search or Maps. Remove a duplicate you created, or report a merge request when two public listings describe the same place.

Before you delete a business profile duplicate, confirm which listing carries the ratings and the verified status. Deleting the wrong one erases its content for good.

If the duplicate already collected reviews, send a request through the Business Profile Help Center or post the issue in the Google Business Profile Community forum, which hosts an FAQ on ownership and duplicate profiles.

Should you delete your Google Business Profile when you move or rebrand?

You should not delete your Google Business Profile when you move or plan a rebranding. Google tells owners to change the address on the existing profile, and to rename it in place when the new name is close to the old one. A new profile is only for a business that has become a different business.

The reason is the reviews. Google's page on how to move reviews across Business Profiles states that reviews generally transfer automatically when you move and keep the same name, with exceptions for hotels, golf courses and scenic attractions. It also says: do not create a new Business Profile because of a change in physical location or ownership.

Rebranding is less forgiving. A minor rename keeps the reviews, but a name that does not meet Google's criteria is considered a new business, so the original reviews stay behind. Ask support before a full rebranding, not after.

After the move, align your website, local citations and printed review links with the new location. Consistent data supports local SEO.

How long does it take to remove a Google Business Profile?

Removing a Google Business Profile from your account takes effect when you confirm, but the business takes longer to disappear from Google Maps. A shut business fades gradually, profile changes usually show in about 10 minutes, and some take up to 30 days.

FAQ

Can I delete a Google Business Profile if I lost access to the account?

Not directly. Removal requires the Google account linked to the profile, so start with Google's Accounts troubleshooter to recover the login. If another person now controls the profile, request access from the current owner; without a reply after 3 days, a claim may become available, though Google says not always.

Can I delete a Google Business Profile from the Google Maps app?

No. Removal runs from Business Profile settings, reached at business.google.com or from the profile on Google Search. In the Google Maps app on your phone, anyone signed in can report a place as shut down or nonexistent, which only sends a request to Google rather than deleting the listing.

Is a suspended Google Business Profile the same as a deleted one?

No. A suspended or disabled profile has been moderated by Google for guideline issues and is not deleted. The owner can file one appeal per decision through the appeals tool, with documents such as a business license or utility bill. Google says appeal reviews can take up to 5 business days.

Before you press Remove

Pick the action by the result you want the public to see, not by how final it sounds. A shut shop needs the permanently closed status, a move needs a new address, a sale needs an ownership transfer, and only a profile with no future needs full removal. Reviews stay in every case where the business remains real. Next step: open People and access, write down every owner and manager on the profile, and decide who should hold the keys tomorrow. Which row of the decision table matches your situation today?