Missing contact information in Merchant Center: how to fix it

Updated 25 Sept 2026 · by Sergey Sachenok, Founder of Polyntor

Merchant Center showsMissing contact information on your online store

In short

Google flags a store when a buyer cannot easily see who runs it and how to reach them. The result is a Misrepresentation or Website needs improvement suspension, or disapproved products.
There are two halves to fix: the contact details on your website, and the Business info in Merchant Center, including a verified phone number.
Your business name, address and phone must be identical in the footer, on the contact page and in Merchant Center.
Make every change live first, then request a review. A second failed review can start a cool-down period.

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What this issue means

Google names this problem Missing contact information on your online store in its help center. It rarely arrives under that name alone: the account notice usually says Misrepresentation or Website needs improvement, and the missing contacts are one of the reasons behind it. Depending on the case, the whole account is suspended or individual products are disapproved.

The issue has two sides. One is your website: a shopper has to find a way to reach you before they reach checkout. The other is your Merchant Center account: Google wants the business name, the address where the business is registered, customer service details and a phone number that has been verified. A gap on either side, or details that do not agree between them, is enough to trigger it.

You may also come across two other names. Insufficient contact information is the wording Google uses in its requirements for comparison shopping services, and many merchants search for it. Google has also documented a separate Merchant Center issue, Unverified phone number, which covers the account half alone. The fix below deals with both.

What Google expects to find

Google’s stated minimum for the website is low: at least one of a business address, phone number, email, contact form or social media business profile, easy to see before checkout. In practice the reasons Google lists for this issue name a missing phone number, physical address or email, so a store that shows only one of them is taking a risk. Aim for all of these:

On the website: your business name, a full postal address, a phone number, an email address and a contact form, on a contact page linked from the footer of every page.
In Merchant Center: a business name, the registered business address, and the Customer service fields — a working URL of the page that shows your contacts, an email, and a valid business phone number.
A verified phone: Google lists verifying the phone as its own step of the fix. An unverified number counts as missing.
Consistency: the same name, address and phone in the footer, on the contact page and in Merchant Center. Google names mismatches between them as a cause of this issue.

Some things are good practice rather than rules. An email on your own domain is one: Google’s Business info guidance asks for your domain in the Email field, but its minimum for the site does not mention it. Business hours and a typical reply time are not required at all, yet they make the page look like a business that answers.

Contact details are rarely the only gap. The same help page lists missing identity verification, vague shipping or return policies, placeholder text and broken links as reasons for the same suspension. See Misrepresentation for the full picture.

How to fix it, step by step

Choose one official set of detailsWrite down the business name, the full address, the phone number and the support email you will use everywhere, spelled exactly the same way each time. Every later step copies from this list.
Build or update the contact pagePut all of those details on the page as text, not inside an image, because Google reads text. Add a contact form. Business hours and how quickly you reply are worth adding too. Make the phone and email clickable so a shopper on a phone can use them.
Repeat the details in the footerThe footer appears on every page, so it is where both shoppers and Google look first. Show at least the business name, address, phone and email, and link to the contact page.
Fill in Business info in Merchant CenterGo to Settings, then Business info. On the Details tab, find the Business details card and select Edit business details. Enter the business name, the address where the business is registered, and the Customer service fields: the URL of your contact page, your email and your phone number. Use the list from step one. More on the name and identity side in Business identity.
Verify the phone numberVerify the number in Business info, following the prompts in Merchant Center. Use a line you can answer yourself, and check the number carefully before you start.
Complete identity verification if askedLook at the Needs attention tab. If Google asks for identity verification with an ID or business documents, finish it: Google says it is often required before a review can be requested for an account-level suspension.
Check the rest of the storeClear the other reasons Google gives for the same suspension: detailed shipping and return policies, no placeholder text, no broken links, and a checkout that works and is secure.

Requesting a review

When the changes are live, open the issue in Merchant Center, choose I fixed the issue, then Request review. Google says a review can take up to 7 business days, and you get an email when it starts and when it ends.

Do not ask before everything is done. If the issue is still there after the second attempt, a cool-down of about a week may begin, the review button is disabled until it ends, and Google says the wait can grow with each failed review. Support cannot shorten it. The process in detail is in Requesting a review after a suspension.

What Polyntor checks for this

Whether the store has a contact page, and whether the footer links to it
A phone number on the contact page and in the footer
An email on your own domain rather than a free mailbox, and an email in the footer
Business name and physical address on the contact page, and as text rather than an image in the footer
Business hours and an expected reply time
A contact form on the contact page
If you enter your business name, phone and support email in scan settings: whether each one actually appears on the site
If you enter your customer support URL: whether it loads and sits on your own domain
Whether the store runs on its own domain rather than a platform subdomain
The match with Merchant Center, Google Ads and Business Profile, which a site scan cannot see, as a to-do on your checklist

Fixed it? Scan again before you request a review

A free scan of your store against Merchant Center policies. No card needed.

Questions

Is a Gmail address enough?

Google’s minimum for the website does not rule it out. But the Business info guidance asks for your own domain in the Email field, and a domain address is one more sign of an established business. If you are already suspended, switch to one.

Do I have to publish my home address?

An address is one of several options in Google’s minimum for the site, but the reasons Google gives for this issue include a missing physical address, and the misrepresentation policy forbids a false or virtual one. If you do not publish it, show every other contact method clearly, and give Merchant Center your real registered address.

Does the phone number on my site have to match Merchant Center?

Yes. Google asks for the business name, address and phone to be identical in the footer, on the contact page and in Merchant Center. A different number in each place is one of the listed causes of this issue.

Do social media links count as contact information?

A social media business profile is one of the options Google accepts for the site. On its own it is thin, though. Treat it as an addition to a phone, an email and a contact form, not a replacement.

How long does it take after I fix everything?

Google says a review can take up to 7 business days. For some disapprovals Google also mentions that a fresh crawl of your site usually finishes within 24 to 48 hours once the fixes are live.