How to Set Up and Optimize a Google Business Profile
- Difficulty
- Beginner
- You need
- A Google account and your business details
- Cost
- Free
On this page
To set up a Google Business Profile, add or claim your business at business.google.com/add, verify it with the method Google offers, then complete every section: your real business name, your address or service area, categories, hours, contact details, a description and photos. A complete, accurate profile helps you appear in Google Maps and local results. The profile is free. This guide is part of our technical SEO guide.
You'll need a Google account, ideally on a company email address, and access to whatever Google uses to verify you: your business phone, email or premises.
Who can have a Business Profile
Google allows a profile for a business that has a physical location customers can visit, or that travels to customers where they are. How you set it up depends on which of those you are.
| Type of business | What customers do | What the profile shows |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront | Visit your premises | Your address and hours |
| Service-area | You travel to them | A service area; address hidden |
| Hybrid | Both | Your address and a service area |
Some businesses aren't eligible. Google doesn't accept P.O. boxes or virtual offices, and a desk in a co-working space only counts if it has clear signage, is staffed during business hours and receives customers there.
Steps
- Check that your business is eligible.
Use the table above to decide whether you're a storefront, service-area or hybrid business. If you work from home and travel to customers, you're a service-area business, and your home address shouldn't be shown. Have your exact business name, address or areas served, phone number, hours and website ready before you start.
- Add or claim your profile.
Search Google Maps for your business name. If an unverified profile already exists, select "Claim this business". If none exists, go to business.google.com/add and follow the prompts. Google says there should be only one profile per business, so check carefully before creating a new one.
- Verify the profile.
Google decides which verification methods you're offered, based on your business type, region and other details. Options include a phone call or text, email, a video recording, a live video call or a postcard. You may need more than one. Automated phone menus can't receive a verification call, so use a number a person answers.
- Enter your real-world business name.
Use the name on your signage, website and stationery, and nothing more. Google's guidelines don't allow taglines, locations, service keywords, phone numbers or hours in the name field, and adding them can get the profile suspended. Details like your services and area belong in their own fields.
- Set your address or service area.
Storefronts enter a precise street address. Service-area businesses remove the address and add up to 20 service areas by city, postal code or region. Google says the overall area shouldn't extend much beyond about two hours' drive from your base. Be specific and only list areas you really serve.
- Choose as few categories as possible.
Pick the one primary category that completes the sentence "This business is a...", then add only the extra categories that describe your core business. Google says not to use categories as keywords or to describe things you merely have, such as amenities. Choose the most specific option available.
- Add hours, contact details, a description and photos.
Enter your regular customer-facing hours, and set special hours for holidays. Use a local phone number you control and the page on your site that best represents the business. Write a plain description of what you do; Google doesn't allow links, prices or promotions there. Add real photos of your premises, team or work.
- Keep it current.
Update the profile the day anything changes: hours, phone, address or services. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show in local results. Our own practice is a quarterly check of every field, plus a reply to each new review, which our guide to getting more Google reviews covers.
Your profile is one of many places your business details appear online. Our explainer on NAP citations and business listings shows how to keep them all consistent, and our schema markup guide covers matching details on your own site. Running several locations? Google's guidelines allow a separate profile for each location that has its own staff, so set each one up on its own.
If you'd rather have your profile and website managed together, our in-house SEO team handles SEO end to end, with every project custom-quoted.
What to leave out of your profile
Most profile problems come from trying to squeeze in extra keywords or promotions. Google's guidelines rule these out.
- Keywords in the name. "Example Plumbing, Emergency Plumber 24/7" breaks the naming rules; "Example Plumbing" doesn't.
- A virtual office or mailbox address. Neither is eligible as a business location.
- More than one profile per location. Duplicates cause display problems and can lead to removal.
- Redirecting phone numbers or links. The number and website must lead to the actual business.
- Prices and offers in the description. Use the description to explain what you do.
What Google says affects local results
Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search, which is why complete categories, services and descriptions matter. Distance is how far you are from the person searching, which you can't change. Prominence is how well-known your business is; Google says this draws on information such as how many websites link to your business and how many reviews you have.
Google is also clear about what doesn't work: there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Profiles that are verified, complete and kept up to date are more likely to show up.
Troubleshooting
Verification options are limited or keep failing
Cause: Google chooses which verification methods to offer, and you can't change them. The options depend on your business type, public information, region and hours. Verification also fails when the details you entered don't match what Google can confirm, such as a phone that goes to an automated menu or an address without signage.
Fix: check that your name, address and phone match exactly what appears on your signage and website. Use a phone number a person answers, and attempt video verification at your premises if it's offered, showing your signage, equipment and proof that you manage the business. Make sure you're signed in to the right Google account. If every available option fails, contact Business Profile support from the help center rather than creating a second profile.
Someone else already manages your profile
Cause: a former employee, an agency or a previous owner verified the profile with their own Google account. Because Google allows only one profile per location, you can't simply create a new one alongside it. Doing so would create a duplicate, which causes display problems and can lead to removal.
Fix: first ask the person who manages it to add you as an owner, which is usually the simplest route. If you can't reach them, use Google's process to request ownership of a verified profile from the profile itself. Keep evidence that you run the business, such as signage photos and non-sensitive business documents, in case Google asks. Once you have access, remove managers who no longer need it. Our advice is to keep at least two owners, both on company accounts, so access never depends on one person.
Your profile was suspended
Cause: Google found something that breaks its guidelines. Common reasons are keywords or locations in the business name, an ineligible address such as a virtual office, a duplicate profile, or a service-area business showing a home address.
Fix: read Google's guidelines for representing your business and correct everything that doesn't match, not just the first problem you spot. Rename the business to its real-world name, fix the address or service area, and remove any duplicate. Then submit an appeal through Business Profile support with evidence such as signage photos and business documents. Keep a note of what you changed and when, so you can explain it if Google asks for more detail.
Common questions
Does a Google Business Profile cost anything?
No. Google says you can add or claim your business at no charge. You need a Google account and a business that meets the eligibility guidelines: a real location customers can visit, or a business that travels to its customers. Google also says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking, so be wary of anyone selling one.
Should a service-area business show its address?
Not if customers don't visit it. Google's guidelines say a business that serves customers at their locations should hide its address and set a service area instead, for example a plumber who works from home. A hybrid business, which serves customers at its premises and also travels to them, can show its address and set a service area.
Can I have more than one Business Profile?
Only one per real location. Google says not to create more than one page for each location, in one account or several. A business with several staffed locations can have a profile for each. A service-area business gets one profile, unless it has separate locations with their own service areas and staff. Departments and individual practitioners have their own rules.