How to Set Up and Manage a Google Business Profile

Check before you create a profile

A listing for your business may already exist, created by someone else or generated automatically. Search for your business name on the map. If a listing exists, you should request ownership of it instead of creating a new profile. Several listings for the same business confuse customers and split your reviews.

Before you start, have this information ready:

• The business name customers know you by
• Your full address or the areas you serve
• A phone number and, if you have one, a website
• Opening hours
• A few good-quality photos that show the business

Step 1: Create the profile

Sign in to the Google Business Profile page with your Google account and add a new business. Use only your real business name. Adding phrases such as "cheapest" or "best", or your neighborhood name, breaks the rules and can get your profile suspended.

Next, choose the type of business:

• Business with a physical location: A shop, cafe or workshop where customers come to you. The address appears on the map.
• Service-area business: A business that goes to the customer (a plumber, home cleaning, a mobile hairdresser). In this case you can hide your address and list the areas you serve.
• Both: A business that has a shop and also visits customers.

Step 2: Verification

Your business must be verified before the profile is visible to everyone and fully manageable. Verification methods vary by business type and region; options may include a code by post, phone, email or a short video. Video verification usually asks you to show, in one continuous take, your sign, the inside of the shop and something that proves you manage the business. Read the instructions carefully and show everything that is requested.

Step 3: Category and basic details

Your primary category is one of the most important choices: it decides which searches your profile appears in. Pick the narrowest category that describes your business accurately, such as "Florist" instead of "Store", or "Home cooking restaurant" instead of "Restaurant". You can add a few extra categories if needed, but never for services you don't actually offer.

Then fill in the following completely:

• Opening hours: Besides your regular hours, add special hours for public holidays.
• Business description: Explain in plain language what you do and what you do differently. Avoid links, exaggerated claims and repeated keywords.
• Attributes: Tick options such as wheelchair access, takeaway or card payments.
• Products and services: Add your main products and services, with descriptions where possible.

Step 4: Photos

Photos help people picture your business before they visit. Try to add these kinds of photos:

• Exterior: the sign and entrance, so customers recognize the shop from the street
• Interior: wide shots that show the atmosphere
• Products or services: your most popular ones
• Team: the people who welcome customers

Make sure your photos are bright, sharp and current. If you have rearranged the interior or added new products, update the photos too. For product shots, see the tips in our guide to product photography with your phone.

Step 5: Posts and updates

Short posts on your profile let you show new products, events or announcements to people who find you on the map. These posts are like social media posts, but shorter and more informative. You can adapt the content you prepare for social media and reuse it here, so your posting calendar gets no extra load.

Step 6: Questions and reviews

People can ask questions and leave reviews on your profile. Check these regularly:

• Give accurate, short answers to questions. You can also add answers to common questions to your description or attributes.
• Reply to every review, positive or negative, politely and personally.
• Report reviews that break the rules, are off-topic or abusive using the platform's report option; don't get into arguments.

You are free to ask happy customers for a review, but offering discounts, gifts or money in return, or having fake reviews written, breaks the rules.

Look at how your profile performs

Google Business Profile also shows basic performance data: how many times your profile was viewed, and how many people asked for directions, called you or clicked through to your website. Reviewing these numbers once a month helps you understand how much the profile contributes to your business. For example, after updating your photos or correcting your opening hours, you can check whether direction requests changed. Comparing the numbers with your own history is more meaningful than comparing them with other businesses; the goal is steady improvement over time.

Regular upkeep

A profile is not something you set up once and forget. Run these checks once a month:

• Are the hours, phone number and address current?
• Do I need to add new photos or products?
• Are there unanswered questions or reviews?
• Has someone suggested a change to my profile that I didn't approve?

Keeping the details on your profile consistent with your website and social media accounts also matters for local SEO.