How to report a fake or misleading business on Google Maps

Google has a different route for each kind of problem, so pick the one that matches:

Sources: Google Maps Help: Report a business on Google Maps, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Request removal of a Business Profile from Google Search & Maps, checked 15 October 2026

Anyone signed in to a Google Account can ask Google to remove a business that never existed or isn't eligible to be on Google under its guidelines.

1. Go to Google Maps on the web or open the app.
2. Search for the business or select it on the map.
3. Select Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here.
4. Choose the option that fits, such as Doesn't exist here or Offensive, harmful, or misleading.
5. Select Submit.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Request removal of a Business Profile from Google Search & Maps, checked 15 October 2026; Google Maps Help: Report a business on Google Maps, checked 15 October 2026

If a listing's name, phone number or website looks designed to mislead or defraud people, Google says to use the Business Redressal Complaint form rather than a suggested edit.

• You can report several businesses at once by uploading 10 or more profiles or a spreadsheet of their URLs.
• To report a Business Profile that breaks Google's policies in other ways, Google also has a third-party complaint form.
• Our suggestion: before you report, note the listing's name, address, phone number and the URL from Maps, and take screenshots. The listing may change while Google reviews it.

Sources: Google Maps Help: Report a business on Google Maps, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Request removal of a Business Profile from Google Search & Maps, checked 15 October 2026

Google prohibits reviews given in exchange for payment, a deal or a discount, and businesses that pressure people into leaving reviews. To report the business's conduct:

1. Open the Google Maps app.
2. Search for the business.
3. On its place sheet, tap Suggest an edit.
4. At the bottom, tap Report business conduct.

• To report one review rather than the business's behaviour, flag the review itself. Our reviews guide covers how.

Source: Google Maps Help: Report a business on Google Maps, checked 15 October 2026

Google may send you a status email with follow-up questions. If it approves a removal, the business is taken off both Search and Maps. Google's pages don't say how long reviews take or whether you'll always hear back.

• It's your own profile showing wrong details: edit it yourself rather than reporting it.
• Someone else controls a listing for your business: request ownership instead of reporting it or creating a second profile.
• The fake listing comes back: report it again with the details and screenshots you saved, using the route that matches the problem.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Request removal of a Business Profile from Google Search & Maps, checked 15 October 2026; Google Business Profile Help: Edit your Business Profile, checked 15 October 2026

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