Dermatologist (Practitioner Profile)
Key Takeaway
Appeal approved two days after submission. Profile reinstated at the new address with all 2.5 years of reviews intact. Client was advised to wait before creating a separate clinic profile, and only once a second doctor consults there.
Location
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Service
GBP Suspension Recovery (Deceptive Content)
Timeline
10 days
The Problem
A sole-trader dermatologist moved her practitioner profile from a clinic she had used for 2.5 years to a newly leased room at a second clinic. Google refused the verification video because there was no signage with her name, and shortly after she asked for help the profile was suspended for deceptive content.
She was ready to abandon the profile and open a new one under her clinic brand, which would have lost 2.5 years of reviews and likely triggered a duplicate-listing suspension.
Challenges
- Suspended for 'deceptive content and behavior' right after an address change
- Verification video refused: no fixed signage at the new address
- Window sign showed the clinic brand, not the practitioner name on the profile
- Business registration (ABN) showed the wrong postcode for the new address
- Website listed both the old and new clinic addresses
- Lease only eight days old, one session a week
The Solution
- 1Stopped the client from opening a second profile, which would have read as suspension evasion
- 2Traced the flag to mismatches, not dishonesty: two addresses on the website, the wrong postcode on the ABN, and a sign carrying a different name than the listing
- 3Client corrected the ABN to the new address; the ASIC business name record already listed it
- 4Built a matching document set: lease naming the room, payment-terminal record, virtual reception invoice, provider-number record and a signage letter from the clinic
- 5Confirmed the practitioner name now appeared on the front window panel, the same setup another tenant had verified with
- 6Set hours honestly around the five-day phone line, then filed one complete appeal
The Result
Appeal approved two days after submission. Profile reinstated at the new address with all 2.5 years of reviews intact. Client was advised to wait before creating a separate clinic profile, and only once a second doctor consults there.
Frequently Asked Questions
My profile was suspended for deceptive content after I changed the address. Did I do something wrong?
Usually not. After a move, the deceptive content flag normally means Google found the new address contradicted somewhere else: a website listing two addresses, a registration showing a different postcode, or a sign carrying a different name. The fix is to make every record agree, then appeal once.
Should I just create a new Google Business Profile instead?
No. A new listing for the same practitioner at the same address, set up during an active suspension, reads as evasion and can take both profiles down. Your reviews also do not transfer. Fixing the original profile is almost always the better path.
Why was my verification video refused when others at the same address passed?
Check the name. Google looks for the name on the listing in the video. A sign showing the clinic brand while the profile shows your personal name is a mismatch, even if everything else is correct.
Facing a similar situation?
Book a free assessment. I'll tell you if I can help.
Book Free Assessment