Dermatologist GBP Suspended After Address Change, Reinstated

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

Diagnosis & Investigation

A deceptive content flag right after a move reads like an accusation. In my experience it rarely is one. It usually means Google found the new address contradicted somewhere else, so I checked every public record against the listing before touching the appeal.

Three things disagreed. The website still listed both the old and the new clinic. The ABN carried the wrong postcode for the new room. And the window sign showed the clinic's brand while the profile carried her name, which is also why the verification video had been refused. None of it was dishonest. Her records simply hadn't caught up with the move.

Opening a new profile would have made things worse. A second listing for the same practitioner at the same address, created during an active suspension, reads as evasion, and her 2.5 years of reviews would not have transferred to it.

The Solution

1. 1Stopped the client from opening a second profile, which would have read as suspension evasion
2. 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
3. 3Client corrected the ABN to the new address; the ASIC business name record already listed it
4. 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
5. 5Confirmed the practitioner name now appeared on the front window panel, the same setup another tenant had verified with
6. 6Set hours honestly around the five-day phone line, then filed one complete appeal

Day-by-Day Timeline

1. First contact

   Verification video already refused for missing signage. Client planning to open a new profile under the clinic brand. Advised against it.

2. Suspension

   Profile suspended for deceptive content shortly after she asked for help.

3. Audit

   Compared the website, ABN, ASIC record and signage against the listing. Found two addresses on the website, the wrong postcode on the ABN, and the clinic brand on the sign.

4. Fixes

   Client corrected the ABN to the new address. Practitioner name confirmed on the front window panel.

5. Evidence

   Lease naming the room, payment-terminal record, virtual reception invoice, provider-number record and a signage letter from the clinic. Hours set honestly around the five-day phone line.

6. Appeal filed

   One complete appeal submitted.

7. 2 days later

   Appeal approved. Profile reinstated at the new address with every review intact. 10 days end to end.

Key Lessons

• 1The name on the sign matters as much as the address. A clinic brand on the window while the profile carries a practitioner's name is a mismatch a verification video will show.
• 2Opening a new profile during a suspension throws away the reviews and reads as evasion. Fix the original.
• 3One complete appeal beats several partial ones. This one was approved two days after it went in.

Prevention Checklist

• Before a move, list every place the old address appears, starting with your website and business registration, and update them in the same week as the profile.
• At a shared clinic, get your own name onto the signage before you verify.
• Once the move is done, keep one address on the website.
• Hold off on a separate clinic profile until a second practitioner actually works there.

Frequently Asked Questions