What our appeal actually looks like
Read this first. The business below is invented. We have not published a real client's case and we will not — a reinstatement file contains a business owner's licensing, utility bills and interior photographs, and none of that belongs on a marketing page. What is real is the structure: this is the diagnosis, the evidence list and the filed text exactly as we produce them. Judge the work, not the logo.
The question an agency actually has is not "do you know the process." It is "will this embarrass me in front of my client." So rather than tell you we are thorough, here is a complete file. If it looks like something you would be comfortable forwarding under your own brand, that is the answer. If not, that is also the answer, and it cost you nothing to find out.
The intake
What we ask for, in one message, so the client is interviewed once rather than four times:
- Business name exactly as it appears on signage, and exactly as it appears on the profile
- The address as registered, and what physically exists there
- Every change made to the profile in the 30 days before suspension — including by previous marketing vendors
- The suspension notice itself, screenshotted, with the date
- Whether anyone has already filed an appeal, and what it said
That last item matters more than it looks. A second appeal that contradicts the first is the most common reason a winnable case becomes unwinnable, and it is the one thing an agency cannot know without asking.
The diagnosis
Worked example — "Halstead & Roe Family Dentistry," suspended 4 March.
Stated reason from Google: none. The notice said the profile was suspended for violating guidelines, which is what every notice says.
What we found: the profile name read "Halstead & Roe Family Dentistry – Emergency Dentist Open Late." The signage, the website and the state dental board registration all read "Halstead & Roe Family Dentistry." The trailing phrase was added by a previous marketing vendor in February.
Why that is the trigger: Google's name policy permits the business name as it appears in the real world and nothing else. Descriptors, service keywords and hours are all prohibited additions. The edit was made 19 days before the suspension, which fits the re-review window.
What we ruled out, and said so: the address is a real commercial suite with exterior signage, so it is not an address violation. There is no duplicate listing. Categories match the practice. Dentistry is not in a swept category. Naming a single cause and showing the alternatives you eliminated is the difference between an appeal and a plea.
The evidence package
Assembled and labelled before anything is filed, because a reviewer who has to work out what they are looking at is a reviewer who declines:
- State dental board registration — establishes the legal name, which is the whole argument
- Exterior signage photograph, taken so the street number and the sign are in the same frame
- Interior photograph showing the reception desk and the same name
- Utility bill in the practice name at the registered address, most recent month
- Screenshot of the corrected profile name, dated, showing the fix is already made
Every file renamed to describe itself — 01-state-dental-board-registration.pdf, not IMG_2047.jpg. Forty files named IMG_2047 is not evidence. It is homework you assigned a stranger.
The appeal, as filed
This is the actual text, not a summary of it.
"This profile was suspended on 4 March. I believe the cause is the business name, and I have corrected it.
In February a marketing vendor changed the profile name to 'Halstead & Roe Family Dentistry – Emergency Dentist Open Late.' The added phrase is a service descriptor and is not part of our business name. That was a violation of the name policy and it was our responsibility regardless of who typed it.
The name now reads 'Halstead & Roe Family Dentistry,' which matches our state dental board registration (attachment 1), our exterior signage (attachment 2), our interior signage (attachment 3), and the utility account at this address (attachment 4). Attachment 5 shows the corrected profile.
The practice has operated at this address since 2009 and is staffed during posted hours. I am happy to provide additional documentation, a video walkthrough of the premises, or a scheduled call.
Thank you for reviewing."
Why it is written that way
- It names the violation in the first line. A reviewer works a queue. An appeal that makes them hunt for the issue gets the fastest available disposition, which is denial.
- It accepts responsibility without excuses. "It was the vendor" reads as deflection. "It was our responsibility regardless of who typed it" reads as a business that will not do it again, which is the only thing the reviewer is actually assessing.
- It states the fix is already made, in the past tense, with evidence. An appeal that promises to fix something is asking for permission. An appeal that shows it fixed is asking for review.
- It does not plead. No mention of lost revenue, no mention of how long the business has waited. Those are true and they are irrelevant to the decision, and including them signals that the writer does not know what the decision turns on.
- It offers more without demanding a reply. Costs nothing, occasionally converts a borderline case.
What happens after filing
We follow up on a schedule rather than waiting, escalate through the reinstatement request form if the first pass is denied, and send you a status note you can forward to your client without editing. You stay the only name they see.
Send us a case
$400 per case, under your brand, no retainer and no minimums. We diagnose, assemble, write and manage it to a decision. If Google hasn't reinstated the profile within 90 days of us filing, the case fee is refunded in full. We also decline cases we believe are unwinnable rather than take a fee we expect to hand back.
See the terms