Google Business Profile: Complete Setup Guide (2026)

A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business in Google Maps and in the local results on Google Search, with your hours, phone number, reviews, photos and directions. For most local and service businesses it brings in more calls than the website does. Setting one up takes about 30 minutes, verification can take minutes or days, and getting the details right from the start is what keeps the profile from being suspended later.

This guide covers eligibility, each setup step, Google's rules on names and addresses, service areas, categories, posts and reviews, plus a checklist of the mistakes that cause problems.

Who is eligible for a Google Business Profile?

Google's guidelines require a business that makes in-person contact with customers during its stated hours, either at a location or by traveling to customers (Google Business Profile guidelines). Purely online businesses without in-person contact are not eligible.

Business type	Eligible?	How to set it up
Storefront (shop, salon, restaurant, office that receives clients)	Yes	Show your address
Service-area business (plumber, cleaner, mobile groomer)	Yes	Hide address, set a service area
Hybrid (shop that also does home visits)	Yes	Show address and set a service area
Home-based freelancer who meets clients in person	Usually	Hide address if clients do not visit
Online-only store or remote service	No	Use your website and other channels
Virtual office or P.O. box only	No	Not an eligible location

How to set up a Google Business Profile, step by step

1. Sign in with a Google account you will keep long term, ideally a business account rather than an employee's personal one.
2. Search for your business in Google Business Profile to see if a listing already exists. If it does, claim it rather than creating a duplicate.
3. Enter the business name exactly as customers see it on your signage, website and invoices.
4. Choose a primary category that completes the sentence "This business IS a..."
5. Add your location or choose to serve customers at their location, then set your service area.
6. Add a phone number and website.
7. Verify using the method Google offers.
8. Complete the profile: hours, description, services, photos, attributes and booking link.

Google's rules for names, addresses and phone numbers

Business name

Use your real-world name only. Google's guidelines say not to add marketing taglines, service or location keywords, phone numbers or URLs. "Smith Plumbing" is fine; "Smith Plumbing - Best Emergency Plumber Austin 24/7" is a common reason for suspension. Legal terms like LLC are allowed only if you use them consistently in the real world, for example on signage or invoices. Keeping your name consistent across your profile, website and paperwork also helps Google trust the listing.

Address

• Use a precise physical address where you operate.
• P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes are not acceptable.
• Virtual offices are not eligible. Coworking spaces qualify only with signage, staff on site and customers received during hours.
• One profile per location.

Phone and website

Use a local number under your direct control rather than a call center line, and link to a website that represents your business, not a social media page redirect.

Service-area businesses: hiding your address

If you travel to customers and do not receive them at your address, Google says you should hide your address. Set your service area by cities or postal codes. Google's guidelines say the area should generally not extend farther than about two hours of driving time from where the business is based. Listing 40 cities you rarely visit will not help you rank in them; a tighter, accurate area is better.

Verification: what to expect

Google decides which verification methods you see, based on your category, location and history. Methods can include phone or text, email, a recorded video, a live video call, or a postcard. Video verification is common now. Prepare before recording:

• Show your location: street signs, storefront or nearby landmarks.
• Show the business in operation: equipment, branded vehicle, tools, stock or workspace.
• Show proof of management: unlocking the door or the point-of-sale, or business documents such as a license or utility bill.

Record in one continuous take. If verification fails, read the reason, fix any profile details that do not match the evidence, and try again.

Optimizing your profile after verification

Section	What to do	Why it matters
Categories	One accurate primary category; add a few secondary ones only if they describe your core business	Strongest relevance signal on the profile
Description	Plain description of what you do, who for and where; no links or promotions	Helps customers decide; supports relevance
Services and products	List each service with a short description and, where possible, a price range	Matches more searches; sets expectations
Hours and holiday hours	Keep accurate; update before holidays	Wrong hours lead to bad reviews
Photos	Exterior, interior, team, work samples, vehicles; real photos, not stock	Profiles with photos get more engagement
Posts	Offers, events and updates every week or two	Shows activity; promotes timely offers
Reviews	Ask every customer the same way; reply to all	A prominence factor and a conversion driver
Q&A, messaging, booking	Enable what you can staff; answer quickly	Turns views into calls and bookings

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that review count and score factor into local ranking (How to improve your local ranking on Google). Our step-by-step guide on how to get Google reviews covers the rules for asking.

Worked example: a cleaning company's first 90 days

Ana runs a two-person home cleaning business from home. She sets up a profile with the primary category "House cleaning service", hides her address, and sets a service area of eight nearby suburbs. The numbers below are illustrative.

Month	Actions	Reviews (total)	Calls and booking requests from profile
Month 1	Verified by video, added 25 photos, services with price ranges	6	9
Month 2	Started review requests after every first clean, weekly posts	19	21
Month 3	Added booking link, replied to every review, holiday hours	34	32

Of 62 enquiries, she converted 24 into recurring clients at an average of $160 per visit every two weeks, roughly $8,300 a month in invoiced work at full schedule. She tracks which clients came from Google with a "How did you hear about us?" field, so she knows the profile is worth her time.

Managing access: owners and managers

Profiles can have several users with different roles. Keep at least one owner account under the business's control, such as the founder's account plus a shared business account, and add employees, agencies and web designers as managers. When someone leaves or a contract ends, remove their access. Losing access to a profile because the only owner was a former employee or agency is a common and painful problem, and recovering it can take weeks.

Turning profile leads into booked, paid jobs

A profile only pays off when enquiries become invoices. A few habits help:

• Answer calls and messages fast. Many local customers contact two or three businesses and book whoever replies first.
• Publish price guidance. Services with "from" prices or ranges filter out poor-fit leads. A simple price list on your website supports this.
• Quote and confirm in writing, including your service area and any travel charges.
• Invoice quickly after the job, by email or text, with a payment link. Our guide on sending an invoice by text shows the process.
• Ask for a review when the invoice is paid, which completes the loop and brings in the next lead.

Mistakes that get profiles suspended or ignored

• Keyword-stuffed business names
• Using a virtual office, P.O. box or a friend's address
• Showing a home address for a service-area business
• Creating duplicate profiles for the same location or for each city served
• Offering discounts or gifts in exchange for reviews
• Letting an employee or agency own the profile instead of adding them as managers
• Stale hours, especially around holidays

If you are suspended, fix the issue, gather proof (signage photos, business license, utility bills, invoices showing the business name and address), and submit the reinstatement request through the profile.

Measuring your profile's performance

The performance view in your profile shows how many people found you, which searches they used, and how many called, requested directions, clicked to your website or booked. Check it monthly. If views rise but calls do not, look at your photos, reviews and hours, since those drive the decision to contact you. If searches for a service you offer are low, add that service to the profile and your website. Pair these numbers with your own records of which booked jobs came from Google, so you can see real revenue rather than clicks.

Keep your profile and your paperwork consistent

The business name, address and phone number on your profile should match your website, directory listings, and the documents customers see, including quotes and invoices. Consistency helps customers and supports the local signals covered in our local SEO checklist. If you are just launching, our guide on how to start a small business covers the registration steps that come before the profile, and our guide on getting clients as a freelancer covers channels beyond Google.

When those new Google leads turn into jobs, send a branded invoice with the same name, address and phone number as your profile using our free invoice generator - no sign-up needed, and you can download each invoice as a PDF.