Google Business Profile posts now allow verified contact details

Google has rewritten the contact information rule for Business Profile posts. The change was first reported by Search Engine Roundtable on 25 September 2026, after Hiroko Imai spotted it, and is visible in two Google help pages today. Reported as a crackdown, it is in fact a narrower ban on phone numbers and a wider one on everything else.

What did Google change?#

The archived posts policy from 31 August 2026 had a section headed “Avoid phone stuffing”. It said Google did “not allow your post content to include a phone number,” and pointed to the Call now button instead.

The current posts content policy replaces that section. It now reads: “we may remove posts with unverified contact information. This includes phone numbers, email addresses, and social media handles.” It still offers the Call now button, which it says “uses your verified Business Profile phone number.”

Google’s guide to creating posts carries a matching warning: posts that include a phone number “might get rejected if they cannot be verified as being connected to the business.” It links to editing your profile to add additional phone numbers.

Is it stricter or looser?#

Both, depending on what a post contains.

• Verified phone numbers: looser. A number Google can connect to the business was banned before and is now allowed.
• Unverified phone numbers: unchanged in effect. They could not appear before and can still get a post removed or rejected.
• Email addresses and social handles: stricter. The old policy did not mention them. Now an unverified one is grounds for removal.

Google does not define what counts as verified beyond the link to profile edits. The reading its own pages support is that a number listed on the Business Profile is verified, and any other number is at risk.

What should managers do?#

• Check existing posts for phone numbers, email addresses and social handles, especially ones that are not on the profile, such as a campaign line or a personal handle.
• Add any extra phone number you want to use to the profile first, as Google’s posts page suggests, rather than typing it into a post.
• Use the Call now button for calls and a link button for the website or booking page. Imai recommended linking out rather than typing handles into post text.
• Keep the rest of the profile consistent. If your site marks up the business with LocalBusiness structured data, run it through the LocalBusiness schema checker and compare its telephone and address with the profile.

Why we care#

Posts are one of the few parts of a Business Profile a business writes itself, and contact details are what turn a view into a call. The new rule rewards businesses whose profile data is complete and punishes shortcuts, which is the same direction as Google’s recent test of setting business hours automatically. Follow local SEO for further Business Profile policy changes.