When a member of the public suggests a change to a business’s Google listing and Google wants the owner to check it, the owner now has four days to accept or reject it. Google’s Business Profile help page says that if nobody responds in that time, Google may publish the change anyway, provided other public information, such as the business’s own website, backs it up.
Search Engine Roundtable reported the new section of the help page on September 23, 2026. Four days is not long. A notice that lands on a Friday in an inbox nobody reads, or with an agency that has lost access, can expire before anyone sees it.
- 01Owners get four days to accept or reject a suggested edit.Google sends an email or an in-product notification when a user’s suggestion needs the owner’s review.
- 02No answer can mean the edit goes live.Google may publish it if other public information, such as your website, supports the change.
- 03Some edits skip review entirely.The help page says Google may apply suggested user edits without prior review in some cases, and does not list which.
- 04Your website is the tiebreaker.Out-of-date hours, phone numbers or addresses on your own site can confirm a wrong edit instead of blocking it.
01 — The ruleWhat the help page now says
- How you are toldOnly for suggestions that Google decides need your review.
- Email or in-product
- Time to respondCounted from the notification.
- 4 days
- If you do not respondWhen other public information supports the edit.
- May be published
- Edits with no prior reviewGoogle gives no list of which edits these are.
- Possible
The rule sits in a new section of Google’s help page on Google updates to a Business Profile, under the heading about notifications for suggested edits. Google frames it as giving owners more control, and for an owner who responds, it does: a suggestion that needs review is held until the owner answers or the four days pass.
The same page is candid about the limits. Google may apply some suggested edits without asking first, as long as they meet its policies, and it does not say which kinds. Changes Google makes from its own sources, which show in blue in the profile editor, are a separate process; the four-day rule is described only for user suggestions.
02 — The outcomesWhat happens when the four days run out
You accept
The suggested change goes live on Search and Maps.
You reject
You turn the suggestion down. Keep your listing and website consistent so the same edit does not come back looking supported.
You say nothing
Google may publish the edit if public information, such as your website, supports it. The decision passes to Google.
If a wrong edit does go live, you can correct the listing yourself. Google’s page on owner edits says your own changes are reviewed too, usually within about ten minutes but sometimes up to 30 days. A missed four-day window can therefore leave wrong information in place for much longer than four days. Our guide to appeal evidence for Business Profiles covers what to send when a correction is not approved.
03 — The alertMake sure the right person sees the notice
The four days only help if the notice reaches someone who can act on it. Google’s notifications help page lets each user turn categories on or off, including account updates and business info alerts. It does not say which category covers suggested edits, so leave both on for whoever is responsible.
Three common situations lead to missed notices: the listing owner is a former employee, the only manager is an agency whose contract has ended, or notices go to a shared inbox that is filtered or ignored. A quick review of who has access to each profile fixes all three, and it is worth doing before the deadline catches someone out.
04 — The evidenceYour own website decides the tie
Google names the business website as an example of the public information it checks before publishing an unanswered edit. If your site still shows last year’s hours, an old phone number or a closed location, a suggestion that repeats that old information will look confirmed. Your website is also the evidence Google uses when you do not answer.
Multi-location businesses have one more thing to check. The help page says that when locations are updated in bulk by spreadsheet, a field left blank may receive an automatic update, while a field that is changed replaces both the old value and any Google update. A tidy upload with every field filled in is the simplest defence. For the wider picture of how listings and AI search interact, see our local SEO guide for 2026.
05 — ConclusionA four-day clock with a default of yes
Confirm who receives Business Profile alerts for each location and bring your website's hours, phone and address into line with the listing
The rule rewards businesses that answer quickly and keep their own site accurate, and it quietly passes the decision to Google for everyone else. Two small tasks cover most of the risk: the right person on the notifications, and a website that matches the listing. If you manage many locations and want help keeping listings and site data consistent, our SEO team runs listing audits. For every other feature in the profile, see our full Business Profile guide.