Bottom line: If Google Ads rejects your name-change proof as "invalid (irrelevant)," you uploaded the wrong document. An annual report shows your current name. Google wants proof your name changed, old and new in one place. In Massachusetts that's the free Business Entity Summary on the Secretary of the Commonwealth's corporate search site. Save it as a PDF, upload it, done. Five minutes, once you know which page to grab.
That's the answer. If you've got 90 seconds, here's how I learned it the hard way.
What happened when I changed my LLC name
I renamed my Massachusetts LLC in early 2025, from Acme Labs, LLC to Acme Studio, LLC. My Google Ads account had been verified for years. Didn't matter. A name change is exactly the kind of update that can set off re-verification (Google calls the whole flow advertiser verification), with a deadline that does not move (you'll find yours in the account under Admin > Policy > Account). Being verified before doesn't get you a pass. The second your legal name stops matching Google's records, you're back at the start of the line.
The mistake I made
I uploaded my annual report. New name, state-stamped, recent, official. Rejected in seconds: "invalid (irrelevant)." I read "irrelevant" as "your name change never legally went through" and nearly went hunting for a filing I thought I'd missed. That was the wrong read.
Why the annual report fails (and what fixes it)
An annual report only shows your current name. But the reviewer isn't asking "what is this company called?" They're asking "prove the company that used to be Acme Labs is now Acme Studio." That's a before-and-after question, and the annual report is silent on the "before." It answers a question nobody asked. Hence: irrelevant.
Google actually spells this out: to change your legal name, they want a document showing the legal name has changed while the legal entity stays the same. A before and an after, one company. The annual report hands them an after with no before.
The document that shows both names in one place is your state's entity summary. In Massachusetts, the Business Entity Summary page is free, public, and literally said: "The name was changed from Acme Labs, LLC on [date]." Old name, new name, date. I saved the page as a PDF straight from the official site and uploaded it. It cleared within the day, first try, minutes after the annual report got bounced.
A few things worth knowing before you re-verify
The summary page proves the change, it doesn't make the change. In Massachusetts the rename itself is a Certificate of Amendment filing, a $100 step with the state. The summary page isn't a substitute for that. It's just the easiest single document that reflects the result once the filing is done. Do the legal part properly first, then grab whatever record shows both names together, whatever your state calls it. Not every state hands you a free web page for this.
If your state's record still shows the old name, stop. That means the change never actually went through, and no upload will fix it. Get the legal change recorded first. Verification comes after.
If a reviewer won't take the free printout, escalate the document, not your blood pressure. Order a certified copy of the record, or use the stamped Certificate of Amendment itself. Costs a little, ends the argument.
Renaming a company should be a footnote, not a fire drill. Don't upload the document that shows your new name. Upload the one that shows your name changing.
If you've cleared a Google verification loop, I'd love to know which document finally did it for you. The error messages are vague enough that we're all reverse-engineering this in the dark.
