How to Set Up a Google Business Profile

When someone searches “plumber near me” or types your business name into Google, the box with a map, your hours, your phone number and your reviews comes from your Google Business Profile. For many small businesses it brings in more calls than the website does. This guide walks through every setup screen in order and explains the verification step, which is where most people get stuck.

What is a Google Business Profile and do I need one?

It is a free listing that shows your business on Google Search and Google Maps. If customers ever come to you, or you go to them in a local area, you need one. Online-only businesses with no local customers are not eligible.

The profile is what used to be called Google My Business. It holds your name, address, phone, hours, photos, reviews and a link to your website. When people search for something nearby, Google picks which businesses to show based on three things: how well a profile matches the search, how far the business is from the person searching, and how well known it is. Google states there is no way to pay for a better local position.

You are eligible if you meet customers in person during your stated hours. That covers a shop, a salon or a restaurant, and also a cleaner, electrician or dog walker who travels to customers. A business that only sells online, or a rented mailing address with nobody working there, does not qualify.

What do I need before I start?

Ten minutes, a Google account, and your phone. Have your exact business name, your address, the area you serve, a phone number customers can call, and your website address ready.

Google suggests using a Google account with your business email if you are creating a new one. A plain Gmail address works too. Just use one you will keep, because that account will own the profile. If someone else helps you set it up, have them add themselves as a manager later rather than creating it under their own account.

Gather these before you click anything:

• Your real-world business name, exactly as it appears on your sign, van or invoices.
• Your address, even if you will hide it. Google needs it for verification.
• The towns or postal codes you serve, if you travel to customers.
• A local phone number that a person answers.
• Your website address. If you do not have one yet, you can add it later. Here is where to start.

How do I create the profile, step by step?

Open business.google.com/create on a computer or phone and answer about eight short screens. Each one asks for a single piece of information. Nothing is public until you verify, so you can go back and fix mistakes.

1. Business name. Start typing it. If Google suggests your business, pick it. That means a basic listing already exists, often created from Maps data. If it says the business is already managed by someone, see the FAQ below.
2. Category. Type what you are, such as “Hair salon” or “Electrician,” and pick from the list. You can add more categories later.
3. Do customers visit you? Choose yes if you have a staffed location customers can walk into, and enter the address. Choose no if you work at customers’ homes or offices.
4. Service area. If you travel to customers, add the cities or postal codes you cover. You can list up to 20. Google advises keeping the whole area within about two hours’ drive of your base.
5. Contact details. Add your phone number and website. Use a number that rings at your business, not a call center.
6. Verification. Google now asks you to verify. You can do it right away or come back to it. The next section covers the options.
7. Hours, services and description. Fill these in after verification or while you wait. They make your listing far more useful.

How does verification work?

Google decides which methods you are offered. Often it is a short video recorded live in the Business Profile app on your phone. Others are a code by phone, text or email, a live video call with Google support, or a postcard with a code. After you finish, Google’s review can take up to 5 business days.

You cannot choose any method you like. Google shows the ones available for your business, and you pick from those. Here is what each involves, based on Google’s verification help page:

If you get the postcard, do not edit your business name, address or category while you wait, and do not request a second card. Either can cancel the code that is already in the mail.

What should my verification video show?

One unedited clip, at least 30 seconds long, recorded live in the app. It needs to prove three things: where you are, that the business is real, and that you are the one running it.

Google’s video verification instructions list what reviewers look for. A simple plan that covers all three:

• Where you are. Start outside. Film the street sign, the building number, or a shop next door, so the reviewer can match it to Google Maps.
• The business exists. If you have a storefront, show your sign with the business name on it. The name must match the name on your profile. If you work from home or a van, show your tools, equipment, products, business cards or branded clothing.
• You run it. Show something only staff can reach: unlocking the door, the till or card reader, the back room or kitchen. Service businesses can film themselves unlocking a branded van, doing part of a job, or holding a permit or invoice in the business name.

A few things will get the video rejected. You cannot upload a clip you recorded earlier. You cannot cut or edit it. Keep other people’s faces out of shot, and do not film bank details, tax numbers or ID cards. Plan the route before you press record, then walk it in one go.

If Google later shows a “Review issues” notice, the video was not accepted. Open it and follow the instructions to try again.

What should I fill in after I am verified?

Add hours, a short description, your services, and at least a handful of real photos. Google says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results.

Work through these once, then keep them current:

• Hours, including holiday hours. Wrong hours are the most common complaint in reviews.
• Description. Two or three plain sentences about what you do and where. No phone numbers, links or sales slogans.
• Services or menu, with prices if you are comfortable sharing them.
• Photos: the outside of your building, the inside, your team at work, and examples of finished jobs. Real photos beat stock images.
• Attributes such as wheelchair access, parking or online booking, where they apply.

Then ask your first few happy customers for a review, and reply to every review you get, good or bad. Google lists both as ways to stand out locally.

What mistakes can get a profile suspended?

Adding extra words to your business name, using a virtual office or PO box as your address, showing a home address when customers never visit, and creating more than one profile for the same business. All of these break Google’s rules.

Google’s guidelines for representing your business are strict, and suspensions are slow to undo. The rules that catch small businesses most often:

• Name stuffing. “Smith Plumbing” is fine. “Smith Plumbing 24/7 Emergency Plumber Denver” is not, unless that is genuinely the name on your sign.
• Fake addresses. PO boxes, mailbox services and virtual offices are not allowed. A shared office counts only if it has your sign and staff there during business hours.
• Showing a home address. If customers do not come to you, the address must be hidden.
• Too many categories. Use as few as describe your core business. Pick ones that finish the sentence “this business is a…”, not “this business has a…”.
• Duplicate profiles. One profile per location. A service business should not create extra profiles for every town it covers.

How does my profile work with my website?

They support each other. The profile catches people searching nearby, and the website answers the questions the profile cannot. Keep the name, address and phone number identical on both so Google and customers can see they belong to the same business.

Your profile links to your site, which also helps Google discover a brand-new website. If your site is not showing up yet, this guide explains why and what to do. Make sure your site has a clear contact page with the same details as your profile, and update both when anything changes.

It is worth adding your business to Bing Places as well. It is also free, and it can import your Google profile so you do not type everything twice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Google Business Profile free?

Yes. Creating, verifying and managing a Business Profile costs nothing. Google also says there is no way to pay for a better position in local results. Companies that charge for a profile are charging for their time, not for anything Google sells.

Do I need a website to create a Google Business Profile?

No. The website field is optional. But a profile with a website gives customers somewhere to check your services and prices, and it gives Google more information to match you with searches. Add your website address as soon as you have one.

Can I list my business at my home address?

Yes, if you run the business from home. If customers do not visit you there, set it up as a service-area business and hide the address. Google requires the address to be hidden when there is no storefront that customers visit.

What if someone else already claimed my business?

When you search for your business during setup and it shows as already verified, Google offers a request access option. The current owner gets an email and has a few days to respond. If they do not, Google may let you claim it. This often happens when a former web designer or employee set the profile up.

How long until my profile shows up on Google Maps?

Customers can only see your profile after verification. Once you submit verification, Google says its review can take up to 5 business days. A postcard, if that is the method you get, usually arrives within 14 days.

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