Google Business Profile: the complete guide for

For a local business, your Google Business Profile may matter as much as your website. It's the panel that appears when someone searches your name, and the pin on the map when someone nearby searches for what you do. It shows your hours, phone number, photos, and reviews, with buttons to call you, get directions, or visit your site. It's free, and you control most of what it says. This guide walks through setting it up properly, step by step, and the few habits that keep it working.

What it is, and why it matters

A Google Business Profile is a free listing for your business on Google Search and Google Maps. When someone searches for your business by name, it's the box full of your details. When someone searches for a type of business near them ("roofer near me", "bakery in Portland"), Google shows a map with a short list of businesses, and those come from profiles too.

Google says three things decide which businesses show up in those local results:

Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched for.
Distance: how far you are from the person searching, or from the place they named.
Prominence: how well known you are, online and off. Reviews are a big part of it.

You can't move closer to every customer, but you can make your profile as relevant and complete as possible, and build prominence steadily over time. That's what the rest of this guide is about.

Before you start: write down your details once

Before you touch Google, write your business details in one note. Use this exact wording on your profile, your website, and every other listing, so they all match:

Business name, exactly as it appears on your sign, your vehicle, or your paperwork. Nothing extra. "Riverside Plumbing", not "Riverside Plumbing | Best Emergency Plumber in Springfield".
Address, if customers come to you, written the same way every time (Suite or Ste., St. or Street: pick one).
Service area, if you go to your customers: the towns or areas you really serve.
Phone number: a local number that you or your team actually answer.
Website: your home page, or the page most useful to a new customer.
Hours, including when you close for holidays.
A one-sentence description of what you do, where, and for whom.

This note becomes your master record. Every time you create or fix a listing anywhere, copy from it.

Step 1: check whether you already have a profile

Many businesses have a profile they've never claimed: Google creates some automatically, and customers can suggest a place. Search Google Maps for your business name and town. If you find it:

If it shows an option to claim the business, it's unclaimed. Claim it (step 2).
If someone else already manages it, like a former employee, a past web designer, or an old marketing company, you can request access through Google. Ask the current manager first if you know who it is; it's quicker.
If you find two profiles for the same business, don't create a third. Claim one and ask Google to remove the duplicate.

Step 2: create or claim it, in the right account

Use a Google account the business will keep for good: one that belongs to you as the owner, not to an employee, a relative, or whoever builds your website. You can add other people as managers later, and remove them just as easily. Losing access to the account that owns your profile is one of the most painful problems to untangle, so choose carefully.

Then start at Google Business Profile and follow the prompts. You'll be asked for your business name, your category, whether customers visit your location, the area you serve, and your phone number and website. Use your master record.

Step 3: verify

Google won't publish a new profile, or trust edits from a new owner, until you prove you're the business. Google chooses the method, and it varies by business and location. You may be asked to:

Record a short video showing your location or your work. Show your signage and the street or the outside of the building, then something that proves you run the business: unlocking the door, your tools or equipment, your work vehicle, or the space where you serve customers. Keep it continuous, one take, and in good light.
Get a phone call or text with a code.
Get an email with a code.
Wait for a postcard with a code, mailed to your address.

Verification can take a few days, sometimes longer if Google reviews it by hand. While it's pending, don't keep editing your name, address, or category. Big changes can restart the review. Google may also ask you to verify again later, for example after you change your address.

Step 4: choose your categories

Your primary category is one of the most important settings on the profile. It tells Google what kind of business you are, and it affects which searches you appear in.

Choose the most specific category that describes your core business. "Plumber", not "Contractor". "Italian restaurant", not "Restaurant", if that's what you are.
Add a few secondary categories for other main services you really offer. A plumber who also installs water heaters might add a water heater category.
Don't add categories for things you don't do, or only do occasionally. It makes you less relevant, not more.
Look at your competitors. The category shown under a business's name on Maps is its primary category. If the businesses that rank well near you all use a category you hadn't considered, it's worth a look.

Step 5: storefront, service area, or both

This is where many profiles go wrong.

Customers come to you (a shop, salon, office, or restaurant): show your address.
You go to your customers (plumbers, cleaners, landscapers, mobile groomers): set a service area and hide your address. You still verify with a real address, but customers only see the area you serve. This is how to list a business run from home without publishing your home address.
Both (a shop that also delivers or visits): show the address and add a service area.

Keep the service area honest: the towns, cities, or areas you actually work in. Google limits how large it can be, and a sprawling area doesn't help you rank farther away anyway.

Don't list an address where you don't really do business. P.O. boxes aren't allowed, and a virtual office or mailbox service used only to get an address in a particular town is a common reason profiles get suspended.

Step 6: fill in everything

A complete profile gives customers what they need and gives Google more to match against searches. Work through every section:

Hours. Your regular hours, plus special hours for holidays and closures. Nothing frustrates a customer like driving over and finding you closed when Google said you were open.
Phone and website. From your master record. If you have a page for new customers, link to that rather than a generic home page.
Description. Up to 750 characters, in plain language: what you do, who you do it for, where you work, and what makes you different. Don't include links, sales, or promotions; Google doesn't allow them in the description.
Services or products. List each service you offer, with a short description and a price or starting price if you publish one. This is some of the most useful information on the profile, and many businesses leave it empty.
Attributes. Depending on your category, Google offers details like wheelchair access, online appointments, free estimates, or identity attributes such as women-owned or veteran-owned. Add the ones that are true.
Opening date, and booking or quote links if your category supports them.

Step 7: add real photos

Photos help customers decide, and a profile with none looks abandoned. Start with:

Your logo and a cover photo.
The outside of your building, from the street, so people recognize it when they arrive.
The inside, if customers visit.
Your work: finished jobs, before-and-afters, the products you make, the dishes you serve.
You and your team, because people like to see who they'll be dealing with.

Use real photos rather than stock images. Phone photos are fine if they're sharp and well lit: shoot in daylight, wipe the lens, and skip heavy filters. Add a few new ones every month or two. Customers can add photos too; you can report ones that are inappropriate or have nothing to do with your business.

Reviews: the part that matters most over time

Reviews influence both whether you show up and whether people choose you once you do. The businesses with a steady stream of recent, genuine reviews tend to win. There's no shortcut, but there is a system.

Ask every customer, every time

Most happy customers will leave a review if you ask at the right moment and make it easy. The right moment is right after the job is done well, while they're pleased.

Find your review link in your profile (look for the option to ask for reviews) and save it on your phone.
Send it by text or email with a short, personal note: "Thanks again for having us out today. If you have a minute, a review really helps a small business like ours," followed by the link.
Put the link, or a QR code for it, on invoices, receipts, and follow-up emails.

What not to do

These break Google's rules and can get reviews removed or your profile suspended:

Offering anything in return: no discounts, gifts, or entries into a drawing for reviews.
Only asking happy customers. Screening people first and sending only the satisfied ones to Google is called review gating, and Google doesn't allow it. Ask everyone.
Writing reviews for yourself, or having employees, friends, or family post them.
Buying reviews, from anyone, for any reason.

Reply to every review

Replies show future customers that you pay attention. Keep them short and specific.

For good reviews: thank them by name and mention the job if you can. "Thanks, Maria, glad the new water heater is keeping up with the kids' showers!"
For bad reviews: stay calm, don't argue in public, and don't share private details about the customer. Acknowledge the problem, say what you'll do or have done, and offer to talk directly. People reading it care more about how you handle a problem than about one unhappy review.
For reviews that break the rules (spam, someone who was never a customer, hateful language), you can report them to Google. A review can't be removed just because it's negative.

Posts and updates

You can publish updates on your profile: news, offers, events, a new service, seasonal hours, a recent project. They're not required, but they show you're active and give customers a reason to choose you now. When something is worth telling customers, post it, with a photo.

Make your website back it up

Google compares your profile with your website. When they agree, it builds confidence. Make sure your site:

Shows the same business name, phone number, and address or service area as your profile, word for word.
Has a contact page with your hours and, if customers visit, your address and a map.
Has a page for each main service, so you have something relevant for each thing people search for.
Has a separate page for each location, if you have more than one, and links each profile to its own page.
Includes structured data: a small bit of behind-the-scenes information that tells search engines your business type, address, phone, and hours. Whoever builds your site can add it.

Beyond Google: the other listings that matter

Google isn't the only place people look you up, and consistent listings elsewhere support your profile. Using your master record, claim and complete:

Apple Business Connect, which controls how you appear in Apple Maps and on iPhones.
Bing Places, for Bing and the services that use its maps. It can import the details from your Google profile.
Yelp and Facebook, if your customers use them.
The directories for your industry, the ones customers in your field actually browse, and local ones like your chamber of commerce.

Then search for your old phone number and any old addresses. Listings with outdated details are worth correcting, because they send customers to the wrong place and muddy the picture for search engines.

Mistakes that get profiles suspended

A suspended profile disappears from Maps, sometimes without warning. The usual causes:

Extra keywords or locations in the business name.
An address that isn't a real, staffed place of business: a P.O. box, a mailbox service, or a virtual office.
More than one profile for the same business at the same location.
Fake, paid, or incentivized reviews.
A separate profile for each service you offer, rather than one profile with several categories.
Frequent changes to your name, address, or category in a short time.

If it happens, fix the cause first, then use Google's reinstatement request and include evidence: your business license, a utility bill or lease at the address, and photos of your signage. Don't create a new profile while the old one is suspended; that usually makes things worse.

How to tell if it's working

Your profile has a performance section that shows how many people saw it and what they did: calls, direction requests, website clicks, messages, and bookings where available. It also shows the search terms that led people to you.

Check it once a month and compare with the same month last year, not just last month. Most businesses are seasonal.
Look at the search terms. If people find you for a service you hardly mention, add it to your profile's services and your website. If they don't find you for something you want to be known for, that service needs more attention.
Keep an eye on calls and direction requests. They're the closest thing to new customers walking in.

A 15-minute monthly routine

Reply to every new review.
Check your hours, and add special hours for any holidays coming up.
Add two or three new photos.
Post an update if you have news.
Look at the performance numbers and search terms.
Make sure nothing changed without you. Anyone can suggest an edit to your profile, and Google sometimes applies them. If your hours, phone number, or website changed and you didn't do it, change it back.

If you'd rather hand it off

Everything here is doable on your own, and many owners do it well. If you'd rather it were done for you, Local SEO covers the profile, the directory listings, and a website that backs them up, and the Business plan includes Google Business Profile setup.

Google Business Profile: the complete guide for local businesses