Google Business Profile Posts Not Showing: What the Status Tells You

If your Google Business Profile posts are not showing, open the post inside your profile and read the one word status Google puts next to it. Google gives a post one of three statuses on its page about adding updates: Live, which means "the post is public and shows on Search and Maps," Pending, which means the post does not appear yet because it is still uploading or being processed or because the profile is unverified, and Not approved, which means the post does not appear at all and a question mark beside the status tells you which content policy it broke.

That status is the whole diagnosis. Here is what each one means in practice, plus the four other reasons a post Google calls Live still looks invisible to you.

Are you looking in the right place?

Plenty of "my post disappeared" cases are a live post sitting where the owner never looks. Google shows posts in different places by device:

• On mobile Search and Maps, posts show under the Updates or Overview tabs.
• On desktop Search and Maps, posts show in a section called From the owner, which sits well down the profile.

So an owner who searches his own name on a laptop, sees nothing near the top and assumes the post failed is looking above the section that holds it. Scroll to From the owner before you troubleshoot anything.

Worth knowing so you stop chasing it: Google also runs featured posts on mobile, the big card pulled from your posts or your social media. That program is limited to English language, single location food and drink businesses in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. An HVAC company is never getting one, and that is not something you did wrong.

My post says Pending. How long is that normal?

Pending means Google has the post but is not showing it. Two very different causes.

The first is processing: a post with a photo takes a little while to upload and clear review. If you posted five minutes ago, wait.

The second traps people for months: an unverified profile. Google lists an unverified profile as a reason a post stays Pending. If you claimed your business but never finished verification, or verification was undone after you changed your name, address or category, you can write posts all day and nobody sees one. Fixing verification fixes every post at once.

My post says Not approved. What did I do?

Click the question mark next to the status. Google names the policy there, so you are not guessing.

For a service business the usual offender is contact information. Google's posts content policy says that to prevent fraud or abuse "we may remove posts with unverified contact information," and it names phone numbers, email addresses and social media handles as examples. The updates page says the same thing about a number typed into the description: it may be rejected if Google cannot verify the number belongs to the business.

That is why "Call us today at 407 555 0000" kills a post and a Call now button does not: the button pulls the verified number already on your profile. Take the number out of the text, add the button, repost.

The other common problem is off topic content. Google's guidelines for representing your business are blunt: "Content that's irrelevant to your business or has no clear association with it isn't allowed," and Google "reserves the right to suspend access to Business Profiles on Google or other Google Services" when the rules are broken. Keep posts about the work you do. For a safe format, here are post examples and what to post each week.

Could the post just be old?

Yes, and this surprises owners who think a year of posts is still working for them. Google's updates page says posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range. An Offer post requires dates and times. An Event with no start or end time shows as lasting 24 hours on the event dates, so an event meant to run all month vanishes the next day.

So a plain Update is the workhorse, it carries about six months, and a weekly habit is what keeps the profile current. One burst of posts in March does nothing for you in November.

Are you posting to the profile customers actually see?

If the post is Live in your dashboard and nowhere on Google, you may have two profiles for one business and be posting to the wrong one. That happens after a move, a name change, or when a past marketer claimed a second listing. Google's guidelines are explicit: "Do not create more than one page for each location of your business."

Search your business name and your phone number on Maps in an incognito window. If two pins come up, the duplicate is the problem and no amount of posting fixes it. The setup checklist most contractors get wrong covers sorting that out.

Is your profile suspended?

A suspended or disabled profile does not show posts, and Google will not hear you out on a removed post until the profile is back. Its appeals page says that if the profile is suspended or disabled it must be reinstated before you can appeal content decisions. Reinstatement first, posts second.

How do you appeal a post Google took down?

In the US it depends on what was restricted, and most owners pick the wrong door.

• A suspended profile goes through the Business Profile appeals tool: pick the profile, pick the decision, attach evidence such as a business license, a tax certificate or a utility bill whose name and address match the profile, write your reason, submit.
• A restricted post, photo or video is not handled by that tool outside the UK and EEA. It goes through Google's contact form: pick the closest issue, fill it out, submit, and if the first reply does not solve it, reply to that email and support continues the appeal.

Three rules on that page that cost people weeks: decisions can take up to 5 business days, an appeal can be submitted only once per issue, and do not create a new Business Profile for the same business while you wait. Rebuilding a listing to dodge a suspension is how owners lose the reviews they spent years earning.

Where my plan fits

Straight answer: this is a job most owners can do alone. Reading a status, deleting a number from a post and clicking Call now takes ten minutes.

What owners hire me for is the part that repeats. On my Website + Google Profile plan I keep the profile current, posts included: the weekly update with a real photo of your work, plus hours, services and the questions people ask. That plan is $1,000 to set up and then $297 a month on a 12-month plan, or $397 month to month. If you already have a website you like, Google Profile only is $300 to set up, then $197 a month with a 12-month plan or $247 month to month.

What it does not do: it cannot force Google to approve a post, speed up an appeal, lift a suspension, or promise you a ranking. Google decides all of that. What it does is keep the profile from going quiet for three months because you were under a house.

You can see both on the plans and prices page.

Questions owners ask

How long should a new post take to show up? Minutes, usually. If it still says Pending after a day, check whether the profile is verified, the cause Google names.

Why was my post rejected when the number on it is my real number? Because Google could not verify that the number belongs to the business. Take it out of the text and attach the Call now button, which uses the verified number on your profile.

Do posts stop working after six months? Google archives posts older than six months unless you set a date range. That is why weekly beats bursts.

My post is Live but I cannot find it on my computer. Where is it? On desktop, scroll to the section called From the owner. On a phone, check the Updates or Overview tab.

If you would rather someone kept the profile posting every week, look at the plans and prices or call me at (407) 890-7557 and tell me what your profile is doing.