Between 25 September and 6 October 2026, Google changed two sets of rules covering what UK businesses can say on their Google Business Profile. On 6 October, Search Engine Roundtable reported that Google had updated the advertising and solicitation section of its Maps and Business Profile content policy, adding a "For merchants" list of banned content. Eleven days earlier, the same publication found that Google's posts help documents now warn that posts with unverified contact details may be removed.
Neither change got a launch blog post, and both are easy to miss. But many UK owners who manage their own profile have at some point put "Call 07... for a free quote" in a post or "10% off this month" in their description. This guide explains what the rules now say, which parts of a typical profile are exposed, and a short routine to fix it.
What exactly did Google change in its Business Profile policy?
The Google Maps prohibited and restricted content policy now opens its advertising section by saying contributions "should reflect genuine experiences or define a business's permanent identity", so that the platform "remains reliable rather than a marketplace". It then lists, for merchants:
- In the listing: promotional or commercial content containing "time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls to action".
- In posts: email addresses, phone numbers, social media links or links to other websites "that are not related to your business".
It also states plainly that "offers and updates that may be seen as promotional or commercial content are otherwise permitted in posts." So Google is not banning selling. It is separating where selling happens.
What changed about phone numbers and emails in posts?
Search Engine Roundtable compared the posts help page against an archived copy from 31 August 2026. The old wording said Google did "not allow your post content to include a phone number". The current Google posts help page says: "To avoid fraud or abuse, we may remove posts with unverified contact information. This includes phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles." It then suggests attaching a Call now button, which uses your verified profile number.
On paper that is a loosening for phone numbers. In practice the scope widened to emails and social handles, and Google decides what counts as verified, not you. A call-tracking number, a personal mobile, or a WhatsApp number that differs from your profile number may not pass.
Why is Google doing this now?
Search Engine Roundtable's September coverage included reports of scammers uploading photos carrying phone numbers to trick people into calling them. Phone numbers inside free text are an easy route for that kind of abuse. A description stuffed with "£49 this week only" is also poor raw material for an AI summary that may be read months later.
Which UK businesses are most exposed?
Common patterns that now sit outside the written policy:
- A plumber's description ending "Call today for a same-day quote".
- A salon description listing "Cut and blow dry from £35".
- An aesthetics clinic post saying "DM us on Instagram @..." with no button.
- A café post with a staff mobile number for bookings.
The Google posts help page adds that hotels "can't create 'offer' posts, or any post that mentions or includes links to deals". UK B&Bs and small hotels categorised as hotels should check this first.
How should a UK owner decide what goes where?
Run each line of your profile through this checklist:
- If it mentions a date, season or "this month", move it to an Offer or Event post with dates set.
- If it states a price, move it to the menu, products or services pricing feature, or an Offer post. Remove it from the description.
- If it says "call", "book", "message" or "get a quote", delete it from the description. The profile's own buttons do that job.
- If a post contains a phone number, email or handle, delete it and use the Call now or a link button instead.
- If the number you want customers to use differs from the profile number (tracking or mobile), decide which is your verified primary number. Do not route around it in post text.
- If you are a hotel, stop offer posts entirely and keep posts to updates and events.
- If you are a single-location food or drink business, keep posting. Google's post creation help page mentions featured posts for some of these businesses, including in the UK.
What could a policy breach realistically cost?
Take an illustrative Bristol plumber. Assume the profile produces 12 calls a week, one in three becomes a job, and the average job is £220. That is about £880 of work a week flowing through the profile (12 ÷ 3 × £220).
Now suppose the description includes "£59 boiler service, call now", and posts carry a tracking number. The likely outcome is posts quietly removed. That loses the visibility of each post, perhaps a handful of calls a month. If the account instead faced a week of restricted features while you dispute it, £880 of enquiries are in play, more in a cold snap when boiler work peaks.
Against that, the fix is roughly 45 minutes of editing. Even valuing your time at £60 an hour, that is £45 of effort protecting a channel worth several hundred pounds a week. The figures are assumptions, so swap in your own call count, conversion rate and job value.
Does this make Google Posts less worth doing?
The post creation help page says Offer posts require "a title, dates and time" and automatically include a View offer button, with an optional coupon code. Updates can include "an action button with a link". These are cleaner for the customer than a number in a paragraph, and they work on mobile in one tap.
The trade-off is measurement. Owners who used a unique number in posts to count post-driven calls lose that method. The replacement is a UTM-tagged link on the post button, so visits show as a separate source in GA4, while profile calls stay in Business Profile performance. Posts age too: anything older than six months is archived unless you set a date range, so a light, regular rhythm beats a burst. A simple AI-assisted content calendar can plan a year of seasonal posts in an afternoon.
What about reviews and customer replies?
The policy's user section lists "posting email addresses, phone numbers, social media links or links to other websites in your reviews" as prohibited. It is wise to apply the same discipline to your replies. Rather than "ring Dave on 07...", write "please contact us using the phone number on this profile so we can put this right". A tested complaint-handling process makes that wording routine instead of a heat-of-the-moment reply.
What should UK owners do this week?
Monday, 15 minutes: open your profile editor and read the description aloud. Delete any price, date or "call now" style line. Rewrite it to describe what you do, where, and for whom.
Tuesday, 10 minutes: go through live posts. Delete or edit any containing a phone number, email or social handle. Add a Call now or link button instead.
Wednesday, 10 minutes: confirm the primary phone number on the profile is the one you actually want customers using. If you run call tracking, decide deliberately which number is primary.
Thursday, 10 minutes: tag each post button link with UTM parameters (for example utm_source=google&utm_medium=gbp-post), so post traffic is measurable in GA4.
Friday, 5 minutes: add a monthly calendar reminder to repeat the check. If you are a hotel, archive any deal posts. If you run a restaurant, move prices into the menu and check for any dietary attributes that apply to you.
If your profile drives a meaningful share of enquiries, it also helps to have someone reviewing it as part of wider local SEO work, because Google changed its help documents twice in under a fortnight without a public announcement.
The short version: Google has not banned selling on Business Profiles. It has drawn a line. Your listing says who you are, posts carry what is on this week, and buttons handle contact. Put each piece in its place and the October rules stop being a risk.
Google Business Profile Post Rules Tightened — FAQ
Can I still put my phone number in a Google Business Profile post?
Only if Google can verify that the number belongs to your business, and even then it is the riskier option. Google's posts help page says posts with unverified contact information may be removed, and that this covers phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles. The same page suggests adding a Call now button instead, which uses the verified number already on your profile. For most UK owners the safest habit is to leave numbers and handles out of the post text and use the button. That way a tracking number, a mobile number or a sister business's number never triggers a removal, and customers still reach you in one tap from the post.
Can I still run offers on my Google Business Profile?
Yes, in posts. Google's updated prohibited and restricted content policy states that offers and updates that may be seen as promotional or commercial are otherwise permitted in posts. What the policy now spells out is that the listing itself should not carry time-bound promotions, pricing or direct calls to action. So a 20 percent off January boiler service belongs in an Offer post with dates, not in your business description. Hotels are the exception: Google's posts help page says hotel businesses cannot create offer posts or any post that mentions or links to deals.
What counts as 'the listing' in Google's new advertising rule?
Google's policy wording separates the listing from posts but does not list every field it means. The sensible reading for a UK owner is that it covers the permanent parts of your profile: business name, description, services and similar fields that describe what you are rather than what you are promoting this week. The policy says contributions should define a business's permanent identity. If a line in those fields would go out of date when a sale ends, or reads like a sales instruction such as 'call now for a free quote', it is the type of content the rule targets. Move it into a post.
Will breaking these rules get my Business Profile suspended?
The Google help pages cited in this article describe removal of the offending posts or content as the immediate outcome. The wider Maps policy says Google may take actions ranging from suspending account privileges to account termination where behaviour harms users or the ecosystem. Nothing in the October update says a single price in a description triggers a suspension. The practical risk is cumulative: repeated removed posts and promotional profile fields add noise to an account that may already be under automated scrutiny. Cleaning it up usually takes under an hour, which is cheap insurance.
Do these changes affect restaurants and cafés differently?
Partly. Google's post help documentation mentions featured posts for some single-location food and drink businesses, including in the UK, so posts can carry extra visibility for independents in hospitality. Google has also been adding menu and dietary attributes for food businesses, so check your profile editor for any that apply to you. Taken together, food businesses should keep prices in the menu feature where they belong, keep the description free of promotions and use posts for time-limited offers. That split matches what the policy now asks for and keeps each part of the profile doing one job.
