"Insufficient contact information" in Merchant Center: what it means and how to fix it

What it usually looks like on a store

Common causes: a store that only shows a contact form, use a placeholder email like you@example.com, or put contact details in an image where crawlers can't read them. A visible email, phone number and address in the footer and on a contact page covers it.

What Google says

Google flags websites that are missing required contact information, have unverified business details in Merchant Center, or both. Google's fix page says to show at least one reachable contact method (address, phone, email, contact form, or social business profile) before checkout, and to keep business name, address and phone identical across the website footer, contact page and Merchant Center. It can lead to suspension under Misrepresentation or Website needs improvement.

Websites that are missing required contact information, have unverified business details in Merchant Center, or both.Google, Editorial and professional requirements

Show at least a business address, phone number, email, contact form, or social media business profile on your online store.Google, How to fix: Missing contact information on your online store

Ensure at least one form of reachable contact (For example, email, phone, or contact form) is easily visible prior to checkout.Google, How to fix: Missing contact information on your online store

Your business name, address, or phone number in Merchant Center doesn't match the information on your websiteGoogle, How to fix: Missing contact information on your online store

Also seen as: "Missing contact information on your online store", "Missing contact information on your online shop".

How to fix it

Based on Google's help pages, in plain language:

1. Add the missing contact information to the website so at least one reachable contact method is visible before checkout.
2. Make business name, address and phone number identical in the website footer, contact page and Merchant Center settings.
3. Provide detailed shipping and return policies, remove placeholder content, fix broken links, and make sure checkout is functional and secure.
4. In Merchant Center go to Settings, Business info, Business details, select Edit business details, and submit business information.
5. Verify your phone number in Merchant Center.

What to check on your website

These are the checks we run that relate to this issue. A problem in any of them can be enough on its own.

• Contact information: Shoppers can reach you: a contact page plus at least one direct method (email or phone), with no placeholder details.
• Business address: A real business or returns address is shown somewhere a shopper can find it (contact page, footer or policies).
• Consistent business identity: The business name is the same across your site name, structured data and footer, and your site says who the business is.
• Shipping policy: A shipping/delivery page exists and states costs and delivery times.
• Return and refund policy: A return/refund policy page exists, is linked, and states the return window, item condition, how refunds are paid and how to start a return.
• No placeholder or template text: No lorem ipsum, default theme copy, sample products, "your store name" fields or coming-soon notices anywhere we looked.
• Broken links in your menus: Links in your header and footer lead to real pages, not 404 errors.
• Secure connection (HTTPS): Your homepage, product pages and checkout load over HTTPS, plain http redirects to https, and forms don't post to insecure addresses.

Requesting a review

Google says it reviews the website and account after the changes are made and identity verification is approved. Google says that once technical fixes are live, a small ad edit or selecting Appeal starts a fresh crawl that usually finishes within 24 to 48 hours. Depending on the violation there may be extra verification steps and a limit on how many reviews can be requested.

Questions

Sources

• support.google.com/merchants/answer/6150244
• support.google.com/merchants/answer/12472091
• support.google.com/merchants/answer/13693195

Checked against Google's help pages on 2026-10-08. Listvane is an independent tool made by Great Work LLC. It isn't affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Google. Google and Google Merchant Center are trademarks of Google LLC.