This case study documents a six-month engagement with a Singapore aircon servicing company whose Google Business Profile had been suspended. Aircon servicing is won on Google Maps. People search for "aircon servicing near me" or "aircon chemical wash Tampines", look at the map pack, and call one of the first three businesses they see. Google is also strict with this category. Home services attract fake listings, so a profile with a keyword-filled name, a virtual office address or a run of quick edits is likely to be suspended.
The company had two listings. The first was created years earlier by a former marketing contractor, who still owned it, no longer replied to messages, and had left an old phone number on it. The second was the profile the owner had built up, with 96 reviews. It was suspended after its name was changed to include "Aircon Servicing Chemical Wash Singapore" and its address was switched to a virtual office. The business disappeared from Maps, the reviews were hidden, and calls from the old listing went to a dead line. Monthly enquiries had dropped from about 35 to 17, mostly from repeat customers and referrals.
We compared the suspended profile against Google's guidelines and found three problems: keywords added to the business name, a virtual office address on a business that does not serve customers at its premises, and eleven edits in two weeks. We changed the name back to the registered business name, removed the address and set a service area covering the whole island instead. We then built one evidence pack: the ACRA business profile, a tenancy agreement and utility bill for the base, photos of the branded vans and signage, and a technician's job invoice with the same name and phone number. The appeal went in once, through Google's reinstatement form. The profile was reinstated on day 23 with all 96 reviews.
Appeals for home service businesses fail when the profile still breaks the rules at the time it is reviewed. Fixing the cause first, then sending evidence that matches the profile exactly, gives the reviewer nothing to reject. Sending several appeals or editing the profile while one is under review usually slows the process down.
We requested ownership of the old listing through Google's ownership request process. The former contractor did not respond within the waiting period, so Google let the company verify it. Once both listings were under the company's own account, we reported the old one as a duplicate of the reinstated profile and Google removed it from Maps. We also moved ownership of the company's Search Console and analytics accounts, which the same contractor had set up, to accounts the business controls.
A listing owned by someone who has left the business cannot be fixed, closed or merged by the owner. It keeps showing old details and splits Google's view of the business across two places. Getting every account into the company's own name is the step that stops the problem coming back.
We found 23 directory and marketplace listings with the old business name, the old phone number or the virtual office address, and corrected them. The website's contact page and footer were updated to match the profile word for word, and we added LocalBusiness schema with the service area and no street address.
Google checks a business's details against other sites before trusting a profile, and this matters more after a suspension. Consistent details across the web lowered the risk of a second suspension and helped the reinstated profile regain its map rankings faster.
We rewrote six service pages (general servicing, chemical wash, chemical overhaul, gas top-up, repair and installation) with prices in S$, how long each job takes and what is included. We added five area pages for the East, West, North, North-East and Central regions, built around real jobs in each area and common HDB and condo set-ups. On the profile, we set the primary and secondary categories, listed every service with its starting price, and posted photos of real jobs each week.
The map pack favours businesses close to the searcher. A service-area business with one base cannot be close to everyone, so its website has to show Google clearly which areas and services it covers. The area pages are what moved the profile into the 3-pack outside the East.
Technicians sent each customer a link to the profile by SMS after the job was done. The owner replied to every review within 48 hours, using the customer's service and estate where it fit. No discounts or gifts were offered for reviews, which Google does not allow. We checked the profile weekly for edits suggested by the public, new duplicate listings and changes to the categories.
Reviews are one of the strongest map pack signals, and the company was starting from zero visible reviews while suspended. A simple routine run by the technicians added 75 new reviews in four months. Weekly checks matter because Google can apply public edits to a profile without telling the owner.
Most suspended profiles that stay suspended are appealed too early or with the wrong evidence. These four things made the difference here.
The keyword-filled name, the virtual office address and the run of edits were all corrected before the appeal. Google reviews the profile as it stands on the day, so an appeal sent with the problems still in place would have been refused.
Every document showed the same registered name and phone number as the profile: the ACRA record, the tenancy agreement, the utility bill, the branded vans and a job invoice. Mismatched details are one of the most common reasons appeals fail.
One complete appeal went in and the profile was left alone while it was reviewed. Repeat appeals and edits during review restart the queue or raise new flags.
The profile, the reclaimed old listing, Search Console and analytics now sit in accounts the company owns, with outside help added as managers. If a contractor leaves, nothing leaves with them.
If your business has vanished from Google Maps, check whether the profile is suspended before changing anything else. Google shows the status inside the profile manager. A suspended profile cannot be fixed by posting, adding photos or editing details, and edits made in a panic often make the review take longer.
Never let a contractor or agency own your Business Profile. If you run a home services business in Singapore, make sure you are the owner and add outside help as a manager. Recovering a listing from someone who has stopped replying is possible, but it costs weeks you would rather spend taking calls.
Reinstatement brings the profile back, not the rankings. The map pack positions came back through the clean-up, the area pages and new reviews in the months after. Plan for both steps, and expect enquiries to return in stages rather than overnight.
The most common reasons are a suspended or unverified Business Profile, a duplicate listing that Google shows instead of yours, or a profile that does not rank for searches outside its immediate area. Check the status in your profile manager first. If it says suspended, fix the cause and appeal before changing anything else.
It usually takes from a few days to several weeks after a complete appeal is sent. This profile was reinstated on day 23. Appeals with missing or mismatched evidence take longer and are often refused, so it pays to get the evidence right the first time.
Ask the current owner to transfer it to you from the profile's settings. If they do not respond, request ownership through Google's ownership request process. If there is no reply within the waiting period, Google may let you verify the profile yourself.
Yes. If you own both listings, you can report the old one as a duplicate and Google will normally remove it. If someone else owns the old listing, you first need to claim it or report it through Google's support channels with proof that it is a duplicate of your business.
Start with a free SEO audit. We check your Google Business Profile status and ownership, look for duplicate listings and inconsistent details, and map where you rank in the local pack across your service area, then show you a realistic path to more calls before you commit to anything.
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