Short answer: Deleting a Google Business Profile means one of three things. Removing it from your account erases your content and managers, but the listing can stay on Maps. Marking the business permanently closed keeps the listing, labeled closed. Asking Google to remove a listing works when the business never existed or isn’t eligible.
Two profiles for one business is a separate case, and the fix depends on who created the second one: see what to do with a duplicate.
Remove, close or take down
- Remove the profile from your account. Its content and managers go, and nobody manages it any more. Google warns that this doesn’t guarantee the business won’t show up on Maps and Search.
- Mark the business closed. The profile shows “Permanently closed” or “Temporarily closed” on Google Maps and Search.
- Request removal from Search and Maps. Anyone signed in to a Google Account can ask, even without owning the profile. Google can remove a business that never existed or isn’t eligible.
Match the action to what happened:
- The business shut down for good. Mark it permanently closed. If you also want to stop managing it, remove it from your account.
- It’s shut for the season, or for more than a week. Mark it temporarily closed. For 7 days or less, set special hours instead.
- It moved. Keep the profile and change the address. Google says not to create a new profile for the new location.
- There are two profiles of the same business. Remove the one you created by mistake, or ask Google to merge them.
- The business never existed, or isn’t eligible. Request its removal.
- Your home address is showing. If you serve customers at their place, hide the address and show your service area.
- Only you are leaving. Transfer primary ownership or remove yourself. The profile and its content stay for the business.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on removing a profile from your account, marking a business closed, requesting removal from Search and Maps, duplicates and ownership, and the business address. Read October 24, 2026.
Remove a profile from your account
Only the primary owner can remove a profile’s content and managers, and a new owner has to wait 7 days before doing it. Our guide on owners and managers explains the roles.
- Open your profile. Sign in with the Google Account associated with the profile and go to your Business Profile.
- Open the settings. Select More, then Business Profile settings.
- Choose the removal. Select Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
- Decide on the label. To show customers the business closed, turn on Mark your business as permanently closed.
- Confirm. Select Continue, then Remove, then Done.
Google’s help article on removal has no separate steps for the Google Maps app.
Several profiles at once
Go to the Business Profile Manager, signed in with the account that holds all the profiles, and select the ones to remove. At the top right, select Actions, then Remove businesses, then Remove. To show them as closed, mark them permanently closed first. If the bulk removal gives an error, remove the content and managers of each profile separately.
What happens afterwards
- It’s permanent for everyone. The removal affects all owners and managers, and the content can’t be recovered.
- Your own content goes. Posts, photos and videos added by owners and managers are deleted for good, and so are their replies to reviews.
- Customer content stays. Reviews and other content from users remain.
- The listing may stay. The business might still show on Search and Maps, unless Google considers it ineligible.
- Coming back means starting over. To manage the business again, you have to verify the profile again: our verification guide covers the methods.
If the business carries on and only you are leaving, you don’t need any of this. A primary owner can hand the profile to someone else, and other owners or managers can stop managing it, without touching its content. The owners and managers guide has both sets of steps.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on removing a profile from your account, owner and manager permissions, and transferring primary ownership. Read October 24, 2026.
Mark your business closed
A closed label tells people who look your business up by name that it’s shut before they make the trip. Google offers two:
- Permanently closed. The business won’t reopen. The profile may still appear on Search and Maps for people who search for it, and it clearly shows that the business is closed.
- Temporarily closed. For a closure of more than 7 days, for the off-season, or with no reopening date. Shorter closures go in special hours.
On a computer
- Open the hours. Go to your Business Profile and select Edit profile, then Hours.
- Edit the status. In the “Business hours” section, select Edit beside “Hours”.
- Pick the closure. Choose Permanently closed or Temporarily closed, and select Save.
On a phone
In the Google Maps app, tap Business at the bottom right, then Edit profile. The closure is set in the hours, as on a computer.
With many locations, use the Business Profile Manager: select the businesses, click Actions at the top and choose Mark as temporarily closed or Mark as permanently closed, then confirm in the dialog.
A temporary closure has a cost in search. For broad searches, Google says temporarily closed businesses can rank after open ones, depending on the category, the type of search and how many matching businesses are temporarily closed.
When you reopen, go back to the hours and choose Open with main hours.
A rename can also end in a closure: when the new name counts as a new business, Google asks you to close the old profile and add a new one. Our guide on changing your business name covers that case.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on marking a business closed and reopened and on editing a profile in the Google Maps app, and the rename rule in Google’s guidelines. Read October 24, 2026.
Ask Google to remove a listing
You don’t have to own a listing to report it. Google can take a business off Search and Maps when it never existed or isn’t eligible to be on Google. To be eligible, a business has to make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. Some of the businesses Google lists as ineligible:
- Rental or for-sale properties, such as vacation homes, model homes or vacant apartments. Sales or leasing offices are eligible.
- Brands, organizations, artists and other businesses that only exist online.
- Lead generation agents or companies.
- Businesses whose address is a P.O. box or a mailbox in a remote location.
On a computer or a phone
- Sign in. Google only takes removal requests from a signed-in Google Account.
- Find the business. In Google Maps or the Google Maps app, select it on the map.
- Open the report. Select Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here.
- Give the reason. Choose the option that fits, such as Doesn’t exist here or Offensive, harmful, or misleading, and select Submit.
Google may send you a status email with follow-up questions. If it approves the request, the business is removed from Search and Maps.
When the problem looks like fraud, such as a misleading business name, phone number or website, Google points to its Business Redressal Complaint form instead. And if Google restricted your own profile, our guide on a suspended Google Business Profile explains the appeal.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on requesting removal from Search and Maps and on business eligibility, and Google Maps Help on reporting a business and marking a place closed. Read October 24, 2026.
Duplicate profiles
Google allows one Business Profile per business, and a profile it treats as a duplicate doesn’t show on Search or Maps. It names three usual reasons: a verified profile already exists for the same business, several profiles share an address, or one business has a profile for each service.
- You created the second profile by mistake. Remove it from your account with the steps above. Your verified listing isn’t affected, but every piece of content and every manager of the removed profile goes, so make sure you pick the right one.
- Two profiles of your business are on Maps. Ask for a merge: in Google Maps, select one, then Suggest an edit, Place is closed or not here and Duplicate of another place, and Submit. Google reviews every merge request.
- Someone else verified a profile of your business. Request ownership from the current owner, who has 3 days to answer. With no answer, you may get the option to claim the profile, though Google doesn’t always offer it.
- Google merged two different businesses. Contact support to appeal the duplicate status. Both businesses must be eligible and distinct, and if they serve customers at the same location, Google asks for evidence of permanent signage showing both.
For a merge, the two profiles must represent the same business and should carry the same information. It combines their reviews, but replies to reviews may be lost.
Two businesses at one address can each keep a profile when they have different names, clearly different signage, and both are eligible.
Google’s help also says what not to do:
- Don’t open a new profile after a move. Update the address on the profile you have.
- Don’t split the business by service. List the services on one profile.
- Don’t remove a profile to lose its reviews. Customer reviews stay after a removal.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on duplicate profiles and ownership issues, and Google Maps Help on marking a place as a duplicate. Read October 24, 2026.
A move or a home address
A move is no reason to close or remove anything. Change the address on the profile you have: select Edit profile, then Location, and next to “Business location” select Edit. In the Google Maps app, tap Business first.
The new address usually shows in about 10 minutes, and sometimes takes up to 30 days. Our verification guide answers whether a move means verifying again.
If you work at your customers’ places and your home address is visible, you can hide it instead of removing the profile. In the same “Business location” editor, turn off Show business address to customers and select Save.
Google allows this only for service-area businesses. The profile then shows your service area, and if you don’t enter one, Google picks a local area for you that you can edit later.
RememberRemoving a profile from your account isn’t the same as taking the business off Google. The listing and its customer reviews can stay on Maps. Google takes a listing down when the business never existed or isn’t eligible, and a profile it treats as a duplicate doesn’t show.
Before you remove a profile, check:
- You’re signed in as its primary owner, and have been for at least 7 days.
- It’s the profile you mean to remove, not your verified one.
- You don’t only want to step back, which a transfer or leaving the profile solves.
- You’ve kept copies of the photos and posts you want: Google can’t bring them back.
- You know whether customers should see the business as permanently closed.
Sources: Google Business Profile Help on the business address, editing a profile, duplicate profiles and removing a profile from your account. Read October 24, 2026.
Quick answers
Can I get my profile back after I remove it?
Not its content. Google says removing a profile’s content and managers is permanent, and the posts, photos, videos and review replies of owners and managers can’t be recovered. The listing itself may still be on Maps. To manage the business again, you have to verify the profile again.
How long does a closed business stay on Google Maps?
Google gives no fixed time. A profile marked permanently closed may keep showing to people who search for it, clearly marked as closed. In its help on removing a profile, Google adds that a closed business won’t disappear from Maps right away: it slowly drops out of search results and is then removed completely.
My business will be closed for two weeks. Should I mark it closed?
Yes, as temporarily closed. Google’s rule goes by length: “Temporarily closed” is for more than 7 days, the off-season or a closure with no end date. For 7 days or less, set special hours and leave the profile open. When you reopen, choose Open with main hours in the same section.
Can I get a listing removed if I don’t own it?
Yes, if it never existed or isn’t eligible to be on Google. Sign in, select the business in Google Maps, then Suggest an edit and Place is closed or not here, and choose a reason like “Doesn’t exist here”. Google may email you follow-up questions, and it removes the business only if it approves the request.
Can I remove several profiles at once?
Yes, in the Business Profile Manager, signed in with the account that holds all of them. Select the profiles and, at the top right, choose Actions, then Remove businesses, then Remove. To show them as closed, mark them permanently closed first. If you get an error, remove each profile’s content and managers separately.
Want help with duplicates or a move?
Our local SEO service is the monthly work on your Google Business Profile, your reviews and your listings, which stay on the same name, address and phone everywhere. Each month it also fixes up to 4 pages of your website. For a business in Miami, the details are on our local SEO in Miami page.
Sources
- “Remove a Business Profile from your Google Account”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Mark your business as closed”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Mark your business as reopened”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Request removal of a Business Profile from Google Search & Maps”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Resolve duplicate profiles & ownership issues”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Business eligibility and ownership guidelines”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Manage your business address”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Edit your Business Profile”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Guidelines for representing your business on Google”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Manage your Business Profile owners & managers”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Transfer primary ownership of a Business Profile”, Google Business Profile Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Mark a place reopened or closed on Google Maps”, Google Maps Help, read October 24, 2026.
- “Report a business on Google Maps”, Google Maps Help, read October 24, 2026.