Google Business Profile Guide

What a Google Business Profile is

When someone searches for a business, or for something like "florist near me", Google shows a map with a few local businesses before the ordinary results. Those listings come from Google Business Profiles. Your profile is also the panel that appears on the right of the results when someone searches for your business by name.

It's free, you control what it says, and it works alongside your website. Customers can call you, get directions, visit your website or read your reviews straight from it.

Why it matters for your business

• You appear on Google Maps when people nearby search for what you do.
• Customers can contact you in one tap, whether that's calling, getting directions or visiting your website.
• Reviews build trust before someone has even visited your website.
• It feeds AI search. AI tools draw on your profile when recommending local businesses, so it helps your SEO and GEO.
• It's free, and it's one of the quickest ways for a local business to get more enquiries.

How to set up your Google Business Profile

1. Sign in with a Google account and go to Google Business Profile.
2. Search for your business name. If a profile already exists, you can claim it rather than creating a new one.
3. Choose the category that best describes your business, for example "Plumber" or "Hair salon".
4. Add your address if customers visit you, or your service area if you visit them.
5. Add your phone number and website.
6. Verify your business. Google chooses the method, which is often a short video showing your business, a phone call, an email or a postcard.
7. Once verified, complete every section, including hours, services, photos and a description.

Verification can take a few days, and Google sometimes asks for more proof. It's worth doing carefully, because a profile can't appear properly until it's verified.

How to get more from your profile

• Pick the right main category, then add any others that genuinely apply.
• List every service you offer, in the words customers use.
• Keep your hours up to date, including bank holidays and closures.
• Add real photos regularly, such as your work, your team and your premises.
• Post updates about offers, news and recent jobs to keep your profile active.
• Keep your details identical to your website and other listings, down to the spelling of your address.

How to get more Google reviews

Reviews are one of the biggest factors in which businesses Google shows, and in which ones customers choose. Most happy customers are glad to leave one, they just need asking.

1. Ask at the right moment, straight after a job goes well.
2. Make it easy with a direct review link from your profile, or a QR code customers can scan.
3. Reply to every review, good or bad, politely and promptly.

Google doesn't allow paying for reviews, offering something in return for them, or asking only the customers you know are happy. Fake reviews can get a profile suspended, so honest reviews are the only kind worth having.

Mistakes to avoid

• Stuffing keywords into your business name. Use your real business name, or Google may suspend the profile.
• Using an address you don't operate from, such as a virtual office. Service-area businesses can hide their address instead.
• Creating duplicate profiles for the same business.
• Setting it up and forgetting it. Out-of-date hours and unanswered reviews put customers off.

Questions