How to Close, Remove or Delete a Google Business Profile Properly
You are retiring, selling up, changing the name on the van or moving to a new unit. The instinct is to delete the Google listing and be done with it.
Stop for a minute. Google has no single delete button, and the option that looks like one does something else. Pick wrong and you can leave a listing on Maps that nobody manages, or start again from zero reviews.
Every step below comes from Google's own help pages, checked on 26 September 2026.
The short version
- "Removing" a profile from your Google account takes away your control. It does not guarantee the listing leaves Maps, and customer reviews stay put.
- Marking a business permanently closed is the honest option when you have genuinely stopped trading. The listing shows as closed and fades from results over time.
- Selling the business? Transfer primary ownership instead. Google says this keeps your reviews with the business.
- A minor name change is an edit, not a new profile. A big rebrand counts as a new business under Google's rules.
- You cannot delete a listing you do not own, but you can ask Google to remove it if it is fake or ineligible.
Can you actually delete a Google Business Profile?
Not in the way most people mean. Google lets you remove a profile from your account, which strips out your photos, posts and review replies and removes every owner and manager. Google states plainly that this "doesn't guarantee that the business won't show up on Maps and Search". The listing can live on without you.
The Maps listing is Google's record that the business exists. Giving up your right to manage it does not delete that record.
Which option fits your situation?
Match the action to the reason. A break of more than a week means temporarily closed. Stopping for good means permanently closed. Selling means transferring primary ownership. A new name or a move usually means editing the existing profile. Removal from your account is the only one you cannot undo.
| Action | What the public sees | Reviews | What you keep | Can you undo it? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mark temporarily closed | "Temporarily closed" on Search and Maps | Google's closure page mentions no change | Full control of the profile | Yes, select Open with main hours |
| Mark permanently closed | "Permanently closed". It "may still appear" for name searches, then slowly disappears | Google's closure page mentions no change | Ownership, while the profile exists | Yes, reopen, unless you closed for a name or location change |
| Remove from your account | The listing "might still show up" on Search and Maps | "User-generated content and review remains" | Nothing. Your posts, photos, videos and review replies are "permanently removed" | No. It "can't be recovered". You must re-verify to manage it again |
| Transfer primary ownership | No change. Business info "like reviews" is "maintained" | Stay with the business | Your past replies stay. You can remain a user or stop managing | Only the new primary owner can hand it back |
Sources: Google's help pages on closing, reopening, removal, transfer and owners and managers, retrieved 26 September 2026.
How do you mark a business temporarily closed?
Use temporarily closed when you will be off for more than seven days, closed for the off-season or closed indefinitely. For seven days or less, Google says to set special hours instead. It tells customers searching your name that you are coming back.
According to Google's Mark your business as closed page, the steps are:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Edit profile, then Hours.
- In the Opening hours section, next to Hours, select Edit, then Temporarily closed.
- Select Save.
There is a cost. Google warns that "for broad queries, temporarily closed businesses can rank after open businesses." BrightLocal's summary of the 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey, updated September 2026, also lists "Business marked as Temporarily Closed" as a negative factor. That survey is run by Canadian firm Whitespark, whose 2026 edition lists 47 contributing local SEO experts, 39 of them in the US or Canada and four in the UK. It is expert opinion, not a test, and not UK data.
So a roofer off for a week with a bad back should use special hours, not this. When you are back, Google's reopening page says to select Open with main hours in the same place.
How do you mark a business permanently closed?
Go to Edit profile, then Hours, and choose Permanently closed. The profile then shows as closed on Search and Maps. It does not vanish on the day. Google says it "may still appear" for people searching the name, and on another page that it "will slowly disappear from search results and then be completely removed."
The steps on Google's closure page mirror the temporary ones:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select Edit profile, then Hours.
- Next to Hours, select Edit, then Permanently closed.
- Select Save.
This is the honest choice when you have genuinely retired or wound up. Old customers see you have stopped trading, rather than ringing a dead number for months.
Be sure first. BrightLocal's summary of the same survey puts "Business marked as Permanently Closed on GBP" first in its list of negative factors. If there is any chance you will trade again under the same name, temporarily closed is the safer setting.
How do you remove a profile from your Google account?
Only the primary owner can do it, from Business Profile settings, by choosing Remove Business Profile. It is permanent and affects every owner and manager. Your posts, photos, videos and review replies are deleted. Customer reviews stay. The listing may still show on Search and Maps, and you would have to re-verify to manage it again.
Google's Remove a Business Profile from your Google Account page gives these steps:
- Go to your Business Profile, signed in to the Google account that manages it.
- Select More, then Business Profile settings.
- Select Remove Business Profile, then Remove profile content and managers.
- If you want to show the business has closed, turn on Mark your business as permanently closed.
- Select Continue, then Remove, then Done.
Two restrictions catch people out. Only primary owners can remove a profile, and Google's owners and managers page confirms managers cannot. The owners page adds that new owners and managers must wait seven days before they can delete a profile, remove other users or transfer primary ownership. That page also mentions "undelete" without explaining it, while the removal page says removed content cannot be recovered. Treat removal as final.
Google is blunt about the result: "After the content is removed, it can't be recovered or managed."
Why is deleting usually the wrong move?
It takes away the one thing you control and leaves everything else behind. Customer reviews remain on the listing after removal, good and bad. Your replies to them are wiped. If the listing stays on Maps, it now has nobody to answer it, correct the phone number or flag a fake review.
Some owners want to delete because of bad reviews. Google's removal page says "user-generated content and review remains." Deleting only removes your right to reply. Responding to bad reviews is the better use of that energy.
The other temptation is to delete and start again with a fresh profile. Google's duplicates page says you can have only one Business Profile for each business, and that a profile considered a duplicate "won't show on Google Search or Maps".
And a new profile begins with no reviews. Rebuilding them means years of asking for Google reviews at the end of every job.
What should you do instead of closing?
If the business carries on in any form, keep the profile. Selling means transferring primary ownership to the buyer. A small name change is an ordinary edit. Moving premises means updating the address. Each keeps the reviews and history attached. Closing and starting over is only right when Google's rules say you are now a different business.
Selling the business or handing it on
Google's Transfer primary ownership page is direct: "If you want to transfer ownership of your business, make sure that you're transferring primary ownership of your Business Profile to the new owner. This ensures that all of your business info, like reviews, are maintained."
The buyer first needs to be added as an owner or manager. Then:
- Go to your Business Profile.
- Select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
- Select the person, then next to Access select Edit.
- Select Primary owner, then Save.
Google's owners page says new owners and managers must wait seven days before they can transfer primary ownership, and its transfer page warns of an error inside that first week. Add the buyer at least a week before completion. Afterwards, remove yourself under People and access with Stop managing.
Changing your trading name
Google's guidelines for representing your business allow a "minor name change" as a simple edit if "the proper nouns and services described in the business name remain unchanged and the business category remains unchanged."
If your new name fails that test, Google treats you as a new business. You must mark the old profile closed and create a new one. Google's reopening page adds: "If you want your reviews to be moved to the new profile, contact us for help." That is a request, not a guarantee.
Moving to new premises
Google's duplicates page says: "If your business relocates, do not create a new Business Profile for the new location. Instead, update the existing profile with the new address." If you work from a van and hide your address, read our guide to service area or address setup before you change anything.
How do you remove a listing you don't own?
You cannot delete it, but you can ask Google to. In Google Maps, open the listing, choose Suggest an edit, then Place is closed or not here, and pick the reason that fits. Google says a business "can be removed" if it "never existed or isn't eligible to be on Google". If it is genuinely yours, request ownership instead.
Google's Mark a place reopened or closed page lists eight options you can suggest, including permanently closed, doesn't exist here and duplicate of another place. You must be signed in, and Google reviews every suggestion before anything changes.
So how do you remove a permanently closed business you don't own? Suggest it as permanently closed, or "Doesn't exist here" if it never existed. Google's removal request page says you may get an email with follow-up questions, and if approved, the business is removed from Search and Maps. For fraud, such as a rival using your name or phone number, Google points to its business redressal complaint form.
If it is your business but a former partner or old web designer controls it, use Google's request ownership process. The current owner has three days to respond. A listing that vanishes without you doing anything is a different problem, covered in our guide to Google Business Profile suspensions.
What to do this week
- Write down why you want it gone. Retiring, selling, renaming, moving or bad reviews each need a different action.
- Check who the primary owner is under Business Profile settings, then People and access. If it is an ex-partner or an agency, sort that first.
- Selling? Add the buyer as an owner now so the seven-day clock starts before completion day.
- Renaming? Test the new name against Google's rule: same proper nouns, same services, same category. If it passes, edit the name. Do not create a second profile.
- Closing for a short spell? Use special hours for seven days or less. Keep temporarily closed for longer gaps.
- Save your own copies of your photos before removing a profile. Google says removed content cannot be recovered.
At Business Opt, the conversation we would rather have is the one before the delete button, because most of these choices cannot be undone.
Closing a business is hard enough. Do not let a menu option decide whether ten years of reviews keep working for the business.