Your Google Business Profile, done properly.
For most local businesses, the Google profile is seen more often than the website. These resources help you complete it and keep it right.
The basics
Verify it and keep ownership
A verified profile can be edited and is more likely to show in results. Keep ownership yourself and add any agency as a manager.
Fill in everything that's true
Categories, services, hours, attributes, a 750-character description and real photos of the outside, inside, team and work. Google's own playbook says complete profiles get far more clicks.
Check it every month
Customers and Google can suggest edits to your hours or phone number. A quick monthly check stops wrong details going live.
Key terms
- Attributes
- Facts you tick on your Google Business Profile, such as wheelchair access, free Wi-Fi or outdoor seating. They help customers decide and can help you match searches that mention them. Recheck them every few months.
- Business description
- The "From the business" text on your Google profile, up to 750 characters. Say what you do, who for and where, in plain words. Links, prices and promotions aren't allowed.
- Google Business Profile
- Your free business listing on Google Search and Google Maps, showing your name, hours, photos, reviews and buttons to call, book or get directions. For most local businesses it's the most-viewed page about them online.
- Google posts
- Updates, offers and events you publish on your Google Business Profile, each with a photo and a button. Tests haven't shown posts lifting rankings, but they show customers you're active and give them a reason to choose you.
- Keyword stuffing
- Adding search terms where they don't belong, such as "Smith's Plumbing Emergency Plumber Leeds" when the sign just says "Smith's Plumbing". In a Google business name it breaks the guidelines and risks suspension.
- Place ID
- Google's unique code for your business on Google Maps. Tools use it to build your direct review link and to track your rankings and reviews.
- Primary category
- The main category on your Google Business Profile, such as "Dentist" or "Emergency locksmith service". It's one of the strongest factors for which searches you appear in, so choose the most specific one that's true. You can add up to 9 more.
- Service-area business
- A business that visits customers rather than having them visit, such as a plumber or mobile groomer. On Google you hide your address and list up to 20 areas you serve instead.
- Suggested edits
- Changes to your Google profile proposed by the public or made by Google, such as new hours or a different phone number. Google gives you 4 days after notifying you to accept or reject a suggested edit, so check your profile at least weekly.
- Profile suspension
- When Google restricts or removes a Business Profile for breaking its guidelines, often for keyword-stuffed names, virtual offices or fake reviews. You can appeal, but prevention is far easier.
- Verification
- Proving to Google that you own and run the business, often by video or phone. Verified profiles can be edited and are more likely to appear in results.
Features that help
Google posts on autopilot
Posts for your Google profile, drafted from your business details and approved from an email.
Learn more about Google posts on autopilotReports and dashboards
See the calls, directions and clicks Google sends you, your rating progress and every review, in one report.
Learn more about Reports and dashboardsReview posts for social media
Turns your best reviews into branded images for Instagram, Facebook and Google, with captions written for you.
Learn more about Review posts for social mediaOther topics
Local SEO
How Google decides which local businesses to show, and what you can do about it.
Learn more about Local SEOReviews
Get more reviews the right way, reply well and protect your rating.
Learn more about ReviewsAI search
How ChatGPT, Google's AI answers and other assistants pick local businesses.
Learn more about AI searchCalls and enquiries
Answer every call and message fast, so searches turn into customers.
Learn more about Calls and enquiriesWebsites and ads
Local websites that convert, and ads that bring calls rather than clicks.
Learn more about Websites and ads
See where you rank before you spend another dollar on marketing.
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