Google may now remove Business Profile posts that carry an unverified phone number

01What exactly did Google change?

Google updated its Business Profile content policy for photos, videos and posts. The new line reads: 'To avoid fraud or abuse, we may remove posts with unverified contact information. This includes phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles.'

A second help page, on creating and managing posts, adds: 'Posts that include a phone number in the post description might get rejected if they cannot be verified as being connected to the business on which they are posted.'

Search Engine Roundtable reported the change on 25 September 2026. Google also gives the alternative in the same policy. You can attach a Call now button, which 'uses your verified Business Profile phone number so customers can contact you.'

Note the words 'may' and 'might'. Google is not promising to remove every post with a number in it. It is telling you that a number it cannot connect to your business is now a reason to remove the post.

02Why is Google doing this now?

Google has not given a reason beyond fraud and abuse. In our view, the timing is not a coincidence.

On 10 September 2026, Search Engine Roundtable reported a scam where fake photos with a phone number printed on them were added to business listings. A customer looking for the real shop saw the number and called a stranger. Google removed the contributor after it was reported, but the trick shows the problem. A phone number on Google is trusted, and scammers know it.

Posts are the easiest place to slip in a number. So Google is asking for proof that a number in a post belongs to the business. The safe number, from Google's side, is the one you verified on your profile.

03Which of your posts are at risk?

Open your profile and read your recent posts the way Google will. These are the ones we would fix first:

• Posts with the owner's or a salesman's personal mobile typed in, when the listing shows the shop landline.
• Posts with a separate WhatsApp number that appears nowhere else on your profile or website.
• Posts with a Gmail address that is not on your website or listing.
• Posts that ask people to DM an Instagram handle that is not linked from your website or profile.
• Older posts from a previous staff member or agency, with a number nobody answers now.

Google's wording talks about the post description, the text you type. It says nothing about a number printed on the photo itself. In our view, keep the number on your creative the same as the profile number anyway. It is one less thing for Google, or a confused customer, to question.

04What should you do this week?

This takes about fifteen minutes on a phone, and Diwali week is the wrong time to find out a post was removed.

• Open your Business Profile and go to Posts. Google's help page says each post shows a status: Live, Pending or Not approved.
• For any post that is Not approved, tap the question mark next to it. Google says it shows which policy the post broke.
• Edit live posts that have a typed phone number, email or handle. Remove the contact line and save.
• Add the Call now button to the post, so the call goes to your verified profile number.
• Check that the profile number is one someone actually answers between 9 am and 9 pm in festival season.
• Write the Dhanteras and Diwali offers now as Offer posts, with dates, so they are ready before the rush.

If you are still planning the festival weeks, our Diwali countdown has the dates and the shoot plan: Diwali 2026 marketing plan for shops in Rudrapur and Haldwani: a week-by-week countdown.

05How should a Diwali offer post look now?

Google's posts page says an Offer post needs a title, dates and a time, and it automatically adds a View Offer button. That gives you a clean shape to follow:

One exception matters in the hills. Google's policy says hotels cannot create offer posts, or any post that mentions deals or discounts. If you run a hotel in Nainital or a resort near Bhimtal, post rooms, views and food as Updates, and keep the discount on your website.

06Why should one number match everywhere?

Google is checking whether a number is connected to your business. The simplest proof is consistency. The same number on the Google listing, the website contact page, the board outside, the Instagram bio and the WhatsApp Business profile.

In family businesses this is where it usually breaks. The listing has the landline. The Instagram bio has the son's mobile. The website still has a number from three years ago. Every one of these is fine on its own. Together they make it harder for Google, and for a customer in Haldwani deciding whether to drive over, to trust any of them.

Pick one number for customers and put it everywhere. We wrote about the same consistency problem with Google's suggested edits: Google now gives you 4 days to reject a suggested edit to your Business Profile. A simple website with a correct contact page backs up your listing. That is how we build them at Website Design & Development in Rudrapur.

07What should you not panic about?

If a post is removed, your profile is not suspended. A post is a post. Fix the text, remove the number and post again.

Old posts are not a problem either. Google's posts page says posts older than 6 months are archived unless a date range is set. You do not need to dig through last year's Holi greetings.

And you do not need to stop posting. Google posts are still a free, useful way to show a customer what is new before they call. They just need to send that call through the button, not through a number typed into the text.

08How does AMS handle Google posts for clients?

When we take on a client, the first Google check is not the posts. It is the number. Which number is on the listing, who answers it on a Sunday, and does it match the website and the bio.

After that, the posts follow a simple rule in our team. No contact details in the text, a Call now or website button on every post, and real photos from the shop rather than poster designs. Festival offers go up as Offer posts with dates, a week or two before the day.

Advance Media Solution runs this as part of a client's regular social media work. If you want someone to look at your Google posts before Dhanteras, see Social Media Marketing Agency in Rudrapur or call +91 91059 43909.

09Questions people ask