Earlier this month, an architecture studio came to us after their Google Business Profile was completely disabled.

Rather than a soft suspension, in which a profile remains visible in search results but features like photos, posts, and review requests are restricted, Google actually removed the studio’s listing from Google Maps and Search entirely.

Google cited the following reason:

Business does not exist
To keep data on Google as accurate as possible, Google uses information from different sources such as user reports and licensed content.
If we determine that your business doesn’t exist in the location you claim, Google will disable your profile.

This was understandably frustrating, as their business is most certainly real and has operated from the same location listed on Google for over 5 years.

This article explains why the studio’s profile was suspended and how we helped them get it back.

Why (We Think) This Happened

For context, the architecture studio’s office is located in a mixed-use building in a quiet residential neighbourhood with commercial units at street level and residential units above.

Our best guess is that the profile’s suspension was simply an automated decision because Google Street View couldn’t clearly identify the business signage and the unit was incorrectly flagged as residential-only.

What Google Recommends for an Appeal

Appealing a suspended Google Business Profile requires submitting a collection of documents that includes both the business name and address that match the profile you are appealing. In short, Google wants evidence that your business exists, that it exists where you say it exists, and that customers can physically visit the address to meet with you.

According to Google’s Help Center, the following documents are suggested for appeals:

• Official business registration
• A business license
• Tax certificates
• Utility bills for the business, such as:
  • Electricity
  • Phone
  • Water
  • Internet

We’ve found the most success in appeals when we include a few extra documents, photos, and videos, including:

• Lease or mortgage agreements
• Invoices from vendors and suppliers
• Video walkthroughs
• Interior and exterior office photos (especially showing permanent signage)

What We Submitted

After collecting, requesting, and compiling various documents from the studio, their landlord, vendors, and even the city, we had about a dozen PDFs, photos, and videos.

All documents had the business name and business address. Any sensitive information was removed.

Here’s what we ultimately submitted in the appeal:

• A signed lease agreement
• The studio’s listing on the Ontario Association of Architects website
• An invoice from an engineering and design firm
• A permit application approval from the City of Toronto
• An annual architectural practice insurance document
• A lighting and home supplier membership
• A design trade show application
• A walkthrough video showing:
  • Permanent signage in the window
  • The studio owners walking from the street and unlocking the office
  • A full interior tour of the office showing desks, computers, awards, mail, and more
• Additional photos of the office interior and from the street showing signage

These were all compiled and submitted in a single ZIP file to show that:

• The business exists
• The business operates from the listed address
• The office is a legitimate, professional space where the studio’s team works and meets with their own clients

Ultimately, the appeal worked out. It was definitely tedious to collect, organize, and request all of these documents. But doing so gave them the best possible chance that the appeal would be successful and that their studio would remain visible online in Google Maps and at the location where it had operated for over five years.

Note: Once their profile was back live, they retained all existing reviews, photos, business categories, address, phone number, and Google Posts.

Timeline of Events

Timelines can vary but in this case the total time from suspension to resolution was 22 days.

Here’s the full timeline:

• December 6, 2025: Google emails the architecture studio to say their profile was disabled
• December 7-20, 2025: Collecting documents, requesting forms from insurers, landlords, and associations, and taking videos and photographs of the office
• December 21, 2025: Submit appeal with Google
• December 27, 2025: Google approves the appeal
• December 28, 2025: Google Business Profile is fully live again

While the studio was without a Google Business Profile for a little over three weeks, their profile was approved without further back-and-forth or submitting a second appeal.

What We Learned

In addition to learning general patience when dealing with algorithms, here are a few additional takeaways/hypotheses from this experience:

• We’re still not 100% sure why their profile was disabled, but it was likely automated
• Permanent signage matters more than we thought. While it needs to be visible to people visiting in person, we are now more confident that it should also be visible on Google Street View.
• Business addresses in mixed-use buildings located in residential areas may be especially vulnerable to automated Google Business Profile suspensions and disabled listings
• Over-documentation in appeals beats under-documentation
• Recording video walkthroughs feels awkward and requires a few takes, but they likely help improve the outcome for appeals

Many architecture studios have taken important steps in their marketing and business development efforts, such as being featured in press, winning awards, participating in juries and events, and sharing work on social media. These features and mentions typically live on reputable sites in the design community such as Dezeen, Architizer A+Awards, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more.

We’ve seen that by bringing these important milestones and social proof back to a studio’s own website and organizing them strategically, they continue to provide value long after they’re first published or the event takes place. In other words, rather than living in isolation across different websites and social platforms and producing short-lived peaks of awareness for the studio, they come together on the studio’s actual website to form a more robust picture of its work, people, expertise, and reputation.

Here’s how we typically apply this thinking when working with architecture studios.

01 Define Your Focus

Before we create any content, we want to set the direction by first asking questions and identifying where the studio wants to grow its reputation, raise awareness of its practice, and ultimately win more work.

For some firms, it’s location-specific:

• Getting more work in Brooklyn, Chicago, Toronto, or rural lakefront areas
• Planning for studio expansion or opening an office in a new city

For others, it’s sector or typology-focused:

• Residential: single-family, additions, laneway, multiplex
• Adaptive Reuse: heritage, urban densification
• Commercial and workplace: offices, retail, mixed-use
• Hospitality: hotels, restaurants
• Sports: stadiums, training facilities, fields and arenas
• Civic and cultural: museums, libraries, community centres

In most cases, it’s a mix of both. The target markets and typologies that emerge from this exercise should inform the content and pages that are created for a studio’s website.

We also want to audit all existing work, whether in progress, built, or concept designs, along with mentions in press and books, award wins or special mentions, events and speaking engagements, and decide which make sense to publish on a studio’s website over time. The goal here is to simply start surfacing assets that support your reputation in the space and help with the marketing and business development of your practice.

02 Build Your Core Pages & Supporting Content

Once a focus has been set and you’ve started organizing assets, we want to begin building pages by telling the stories of a studio’s team, projects, recognition, and thinking, and are aligned with where you want more reputation. Not everything listed below has to be built out at once. The goal is to just start and continue creating these types of content over time.

We typically recommend building 12 page types.

Homepage

• Your main entry point for people searching your studio name, clearly stating what you do, who you do it for, and where, with proof through featured projects.
• Example: Hariri Pontarini

Studio About Page

• A page that shares your studio’s story, values, and process, introduces your team, and shows the impact you aim to have on clients and the community.
• Example: END Studio

Principal Bio Pages

• Pages dedicated to your leadership team, highlighting credentials, career history, design philosophy, notable projects, awards, publications, and speaking or teaching experience.
• Example: Olson Kundig

Contact Page

• A page for inquiries that makes it easy for prospects, collaborators, and media to connect, with a clear call to action such as a form or list of emails, plus your address and phone number.
• Example: Feldman Architecture

Areas of Expertise Pages

• Pages for each sector or typology relevant to your studio, showing projects, process, and expertise, sector-specific trends and insights, key team members, and awards or press features.
• Example: Gensler

Location Pages

• Pages that showcase your local office, team, and projects, connect your design philosophy to the region, and share related community news such as groundbreakings or events your team has participated in.
• Example: Perkins&Will

Project Pages

• Pages dedicated to individual projects with professional photography, a clear description, key details (location, type, size, photography credits), collaborator credits, and optional media like short films, awards, or press features.
• Example: John Ellway

Case Studies

• Narratives that reveal the client’s challenge, your design thinking, and the outcome, supported by sketches, schematics, 3D models, renders, construction images, and completed photography.
• Example: Mihaly Slocombe

Awards Page

• A chronological list of awards, including the year, award name, and the project or team member recognized.
• Example: Akb Architects

Press Page

• A chronological list of publication mentions and features, organized by year, with the publication name and the related project or topic.
• Example: MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects

Thought Leadership Posts

• Articles that explore big challenges or new ideas in the built environment, using data, research, built work, renders, concept designs, or models to support your perspectives.
• Example: MVRDV

Company Announcements

• Updates about project news, groundbreakings, commercial render releases, permit approvals, awards, press features, book features, team member updates, or speaking events.
• Example: PLP Architecture

Once we start publishing more website content, we want to tie it together with internal linking:

• Homepage: Links to the Studio About, Areas of Expertise, Projects, Awards, and Press pages
• Expertise Pages: Link to relevant Project and Company Announcement pages
• Awards/Press Pages: Link to related Projects and Company Announcement pages
• Company Announcements: Link to relevant Projects and Principal Bio pages
• Case Studies: Link to relevant Areas of Expertise and Principal Bio pages

03 Grow Your Reputation with Public Relations

To support your website’s content strategy, we also need to continue considering the activities that occur outside your website. This includes public relations.

Here, we want to determine the right opportunities for your studio: relevant in-print and digital publications to pitch, lectures and juries to participate in, awards to submit for, and platforms and mediums where your work and perspective can meaningfully contribute. It’s here that you can create a roadmap for the projects best suited for coverage, build connections, identify the angles editors are looking for, and understand the specific requirements of each outlet, such as exclusivity, photography, and whether to include client stories and/or build costs.

Every press feature, award, or event that comes from public relations efforts can then be brought back into your website content strategy through project pages, awards and press, and company announcements.