Short answer: Sign in with the Google Account linked to your Business Profile and open the profile on Google Search or in the Google Maps app. Select Edit profile, change the business name and select Save. Google reviews the edit before it goes live, usually within 10 minutes, sometimes up to 30 days.
That works for a minor change to the name, or for a business with several locations that changes its name, and your reviews stay on the profile. Any other rename counts as a new business, and Google wants the old profile closed and a new one created: see the steps for a new business.
An edit or a new profile
For Google, a new name is either a rebrand of the same business or a new business:
- A rebrand you can edit. Google defines rebranding as “an eligible name change without creating a new Business Profile”. It covers a minor change, where the proper nouns and the services in the name stay the same and the business category doesn’t change. A business with several locations that changes its name can also qualify.
- A new business. A name change that doesn’t meet those criteria counts as a new business. You mark the existing profile as closed and create a new profile under the new name.
Google’s policies back this up. To keep Search and Maps accurate, Google may reject some edits, “such as significant changes to the business name or category”. And when a different business now occupies the location, or the business has changed significantly, the old one “should be marked as permanently closed and not renamed”.
If you run into problems with a rebrand, Google’s guidelines tell you to contact its support team.
Sources, all from Google Business Profile Help: “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”. “Overview of Google Business Profile policies”. Read October 23, 2026.
Google’s rule for the name
The name on your profile should be your business’s “real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers”. Details such as the address, the hours and the category go in their own fields, not in the name.
Google’s guidelines list what a business name must not include:
- Marketing taglines and store codes.
- Trademark or registered signs, and words written all in capitals (Google’s examples accept acronyms such as KFC).
- Opening hours, or whether the business is open or closed.
- Phone numbers or website addresses.
- Special characters and legal terms such as LLC or Inc., unless real-world proof shows them as part of the name every time.
- Information about services, products or the location.
- The name of a business it operates inside: “Chase ATM”, not “Chase ATM (in Duane Reade)”.
- The same name repeated in more than one language or script, even when the sign on the storefront shows it that way.
Extra words in the name can get the profile suspended: our guide on what to do when your Google Business Profile is suspended covers keywords in the name and the appeal.
A rename also affects your sign and, in a chain, every location. A business that shows its address on Google should keep a permanent sign with its name at that address. Every location of a chain in the same country uses the same name, with exceptions such as locations that consistently use another one on their storefront, website or stationery.
RememberPut up the new sign and update your website before you edit the profile. If your website still shows the old name, Google may publish a user’s edit that brings it back.
Sources, all from Google Business Profile Help: “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”. “Understand Google updates on your Business Profile”. Read October 23, 2026.
How to change the name
Sign in with the Google Account linked to the profile. Owners and managers can both change the business name.
On a computer
- Open your profile. On Google Search, search for my business, or for your business name and city.
- Edit it. Select Edit profile.
- Change the name and select Save.
On a phone
- Open the Google Maps app. Tap Business at the bottom right.
- Edit it. Tap Edit profile.
- Change the name and tap Save.
Google reviews every edit before it shows on the profile. The review usually takes up to 10 minutes, but sometimes it takes up to 30 days.
Wait if a verification postcard is on its way: editing the name, address or category makes the code Google mailed stop working. And if the profile isn’t verified yet, verify it before you rename it. Google may reject content added to unverified profiles, and some businesses might need to verify before they can change anything.
Sources, all from Google Business Profile Help: “Edit your Business Profile”. “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers”. “Understand what happens to your Business Profile edits”. “Verify your business on Google”. “Overview of Google Business Profile policies”. Read October 23, 2026.
After you save the new name
Your edit can then show up as:
- Accepted. The new name is on your profile.
- Pending. Google is still reviewing it, and the profile marks the change as a pending edit.
- Not approved. Google may not approve a change it can’t confirm. You might be able to appeal.
If Google asks you to verify again
Changing the name of a verified profile might mean verifying the business again. Google may ask for more details, likely because your business details were recently updated.
The Get verified button may also come back on your profile, which means Google couldn’t completely verify the business. In both cases, select Get verified and verify again. Our guide on how to verify your Google Business Profile covers each method.
If Google doesn’t approve the new name
In the US, as anywhere outside the UK and the European Economic Area, you appeal a rejected name through Google’s contact form:
- Open the form. Sign in and contact Google from the Business Profile help center.
- Choose the issue closest to yours.
- Fill out the form and submit it.
If the first reply doesn’t solve it, answer that email.
Google’s appeal page lists evidence that can help: an official business registration, a business license, tax certificates and utility bills. Appeals can take up to 5 business days. Don’t send another appeal for the same issue until you get a decision, and don’t create a second profile for the same business.
If the new name is a big change, the rejection may be Google’s rule working as intended: see the steps for a new business.
If the name changes back
Google also updates profiles with information from other sources, such as user reports and licensed content. In the profile editor, information Google changed shows in blue, and a notification appears at the top of the page.
Some suggested edits from users reach you before they’re published, by email or as a notification. From then on you have 4 days to accept or reject them.
If you don’t answer, Google may publish the update anyway when other public information, such as your business website, supports it. Google can also apply user edits without asking first when they’re needed to meet its policies.
So reject a suggestion that brings back the old name, put the new name on your website and fix the profile with Edit profile whenever it’s wrong. You can always update your profile yourself.
Sources, all from Google Business Profile Help: “Understand what happens to your Business Profile edits”. “Edit your Business Profile”. “Verify your business on Google”. “Appeal Business Profile content & profile restrictions”. “Understand Google updates on your Business Profile”. Read October 23, 2026.
When the new name is a new business
If your name change doesn’t meet the rebranding criteria, the old profile closes and the new name gets a profile of its own.
- Close the old profile. Select Edit profile, then Hours. Next to “Hours”, select Edit, choose Permanently closed and select Save.
- Add the new business. On Google Search, select More, then Add a new Business Profile, and create it with the new name.
- Verify the new profile. Google requires it.
The closed profile may still appear on Search and Maps for people who search for it, clearly marked as closed. Don’t reopen it later: for a business marked permanently closed because of a name or location change, Google’s instruction is to add a new business instead.
After a minor name change, or a name change across a business with multiple locations, the reviews remain. A permanently closed profile keeps its reviews too, but customers can’t leave new ones there.
To have the reviews moved to the new profile, contact Google for help. Not every business change qualifies to move reviews, and after significant changes Google might remove reviews that are no longer relevant.
If your profile has a short name, a g.page address, it keeps working but no longer shows on the profile. Google doesn’t let you create or edit short names anymore, and once you delete yours, you can’t create it again.
Sources, all from Google Business Profile Help: “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”. “Mark your business as closed”. “Mark your business as reopened”. “Move your reviews across Business Profiles”. “Manage your business short name & URL”. Read October 23, 2026.
Use the new name everywhere
Google compiles profiles from several sources: content it crawls on the web, such as your official website, licensed data from third parties and what users contribute. The old name left on other sites can feed those sources and, through them, Google’s updates to your profile.
- Your sign. The permanent sign at your address shows the new name.
- Your website. The header, the footer, the contact page and the page titles.
- Apple Business (formerly Apple Business Connect). A minor change to the brand name is an edit. For a major one you add a new brand name, and Apple Maps keeps both names for a short time. Apple has to approve either change, which can take up to 5 business days to show.
- Bing Places for Business. Bing doesn’t recommend editing a listing whose business changed its name. It suggests a new listing with the new name and the old one marked as closed.
- Yelp. When only the name changes and the customer experience stays the same, Yelp generally updates the existing page. A new owner, or big changes to the business, can mean a new page. Its moderators typically look for confirmation such as a notice on your website or Facebook page.
- Your social profiles. The page name and bio on each network, and a post that announces the new name.
- Your paperwork. Invoices, business cards and the rest of your stationery.
For the rest of what helps you show up on the map, our Google Maps checklist has the steps.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help, “Understand how Google sources & uses info in Business Profiles & local search results”. From the same Help, “Understand Google updates on your Business Profile” and “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”. Apple Support, “Apple Business Connect is now Apple Business” and “Edit a brand in Apple Business”. Bing Places for Business help, “Manage your listing”. Yelp for Business Support Center, “What are the guidelines for substantial business changes?”. Read October 23, 2026.
Quick answers about the name
My sign shows the name in English and Spanish. Which one goes on Google?
Only one of them. Google’s guidelines don’t allow the same business name repeated in more than one language or script, even when the storefront sign shows both. Its accepted examples keep a single version. Choose the name your customers use most and write it the same way on your website and your listings.
Should my profile use my legal name with LLC or Inc.?
Use the name your customers know. Google asks for your real-world name, the one on your storefront, website and stationery. Legal terms such as LLC or Inc. are on its list of things a name must not include, unless real-world proof, like your signs or invoices, consistently shows them as part of the name.
Can a manager or my agency change the business name?
Yes. Editing the name is on Google’s list of tasks that both owners and managers can do, so anyone you added as a manager, an agency included, can change it. Google checks the new name before it shows on the profile, whoever saved it.
I bought the business. Can I rename its profile?
First the profile has to be yours: Google says the previous owner needs to add you as an owner and transfer ownership to you. Then the usual rule applies: a rename that meets the rebranding criteria is an edit, and any other is a new business with its own profile. Our guide on adding a manager has the transfer steps.
Can I change the name while my profile is suspended?
You can edit it, but a new name may not go live yet. Google says owners and managers of a suspended profile can still make edits, and it wants the profile to follow its guidelines before you appeal. Content sent to a suspended profile may be rejected until it’s reinstated. Our guide on suspended profiles explains the appeal.
Want us to handle the change?
Our local SEO service keeps your name, address and phone the same on your profile and every directory listing, and fixes up to 4 pages of your website a month. If your business is in Miami, see local SEO in Miami.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Overview of Google Business Profile policies”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Edit your Business Profile”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Understand what happens to your Business Profile edits”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Verify your business on Google”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Appeal Business Profile content & profile restrictions”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Understand Google updates on your Business Profile”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Mark your business as closed”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Mark your business as reopened”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Move your reviews across Business Profiles”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Manage your business short name & URL”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Understand your Business Profile status for bulk uploads”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Fix suspended or disabled profiles”, read October 23, 2026.
- Google Business Profile Help, “Understand how Google sources & uses info in Business Profiles & local search results”, read October 23, 2026.
- Apple Support, “Apple Business Connect is now Apple Business”, read October 23, 2026.
- Apple Support, “Edit a brand in Apple Business”, read October 23, 2026.
- Bing Places for Business help, “Manage your listing”, read October 23, 2026.
- Yelp for Business Support Center, “What are the guidelines for substantial business changes?”, read October 23, 2026.