Google Business Profile is the listing people see when they search for your business, or for what you sell, on Google Search and Maps. The profile itself costs nothing. Google renamed it from Google My Business in November 2021, and plenty of owners still use the old name. Through it you edit business details, add photos and reply to reviews. What you cannot do is skip the first step: find the listing that already exists and make sure the business, not a former employee or an old agency, controls it.

This guide takes a business owner or the person managing the profile from that first search to the routine that keeps the listing accurate. Eligibility and access come first, then the information a customer needs before calling or walking in. If a profile already exists, read the ownership part before you create anything new.

Before you open a single form, put together a short working record: the name on your sign, the hours during which customers can actually be served, the address or the area you travel to, the website, a phone number and the name of the person responsible for access. Check every field against that record as you go. Anything uncertain gets flagged for the owner to confirm, not guessed.

Check whether your business qualifies

Google’s rule of thumb is in-person contact: customers meet your staff at your premises, or you go to them, during the hours you publish. A business that only exists online, or only collects leads for someone else, does not qualify. A website and a company registration are not enough on their own, and some business types carry extra conditions.

Read the rules for your operating model before anything else. The address has to reflect how you actually operate. A rented mailing address or a virtual office does not qualify just because post arrives there. A coworking space can, but only if it meets Google’s conditions: clear signage, customers received on site, and your own people staffing it during business hours.

If you go to customers and never receive them at your premises, set the profile up as a service-area business and hide the address from the public listing. A hybrid business does both: people come to the location, and it also travels or delivers. The practical test is simple. Can a customer turn up during your published hours and be served right there? If yes, you have a storefront. If not, you have a service area.

Find the existing profile and secure access

Most businesses that have been open for a while already have a listing, whether or not anyone at the company created it. Find that record, get control of it and give every person who touches it their own login. A second profile created on top of the first is how duplicates start, and Google can hide a duplicate from Search and Maps entirely.

Search before you create

Search Google and Maps for the business name together with the town. Google’s own setup guidance separates two situations: a business that is missing from Maps, which you add, and a business that is already there but unverified, which you claim. If someone else has already verified it, neither applies and you go through the ownership request instead.

When you find a possible match, compare the address and phone number, not only the name. If it is yours, keep working with that record. Google allows one profile per business, and a listing it identifies as a duplicate may not appear on Search or Maps. Separate eligible businesses at the same address can be a different case. And when a business moves, update the existing profile; a move is not a new business.

Recover ownership when someone else controls it

For a storefront or hybrid business, use Google’s ownership request on the existing listing. The current owner gets three days to respond. If nothing comes back, Google may offer you a claim or verification option, though it says that option is not always available. A service-area business with no storefront takes a different route and asks support for an ownership transfer.

Before you file the request, ask around. A colleague or a former supplier may still hold access, and a quick message beats a three-day wait. Note who is handling the request and keep Google’s emails in one place, so the handover is easy to follow and three people do not end up chasing the same access problem separately.

Give each person their own access

Everyone who works on the profile gets their own Google Account. Owners manage user access. Managers can do most of the daily work, including edits and review replies, but cannot add or remove users or remove the profile. There is a single primary owner. With the roles set properly, nobody needs a shared password.

Keep primary ownership with the business and give a supplier exactly the role its work requires, and write that arrangement down before the supplier starts. When the engagement ends, revisit access as part of the handover instead of discovering the gap on the day something goes wrong.

Complete the verification Google offers

You do not choose how to verify; Google does, based on the business and its circumstances. Phone, postcard or video may or may not be on offer, and sometimes more than one method is required. Google’s review can take up to five business days after you finish the steps, not counting your preparation or a code in the post.

Do not assume a method is available because another business used it. Follow what your own profile shows. Keep verification codes private, including from anyone helping you with the listing.

If video is offered, be ready to show the location, the business itself and evidence that you manage it. Google requires a continuous, unedited recording made through the profile on a mobile device, at least 30 seconds long; a prerecorded upload is not accepted. A service-area business may need to show work equipment, vehicles or similar proof. Keep sensitive documents and other people’s faces out of frame.

Walk the route once before you press record. Check that you can show what is required without exposing anything private, and read the on-screen instructions for your business type: the useful evidence for a shop and for a trade that works at customers’ homes will not be the same.

Infographic with six cards: check eligibility, find the profile, secure access, complete verification, check the details, maintain and review
Six tasks in the order that saves rework. A practical sequence, not a Google interface; follow the prompts in your own profile. Data: Google Business Profile Help.

Complete the information customers rely on

Once you have access, sign in with the linked Google Account and search for the business name and city, or for “my business”, to open the controls on Search or Maps. The fields you see depend on the profile. The rule for all of them is the same: enter what a customer would find if they showed up, called or clicked.

Button labels move around and some fields appear only for certain categories, so lean on what the profile shows you today, with Google’s help pages open beside it, rather than on a screenshot from last year.

Use the real business name and location

Use the name the business goes by in the real world. No service lists, no town names, no promotional wording tacked on to catch searches. Google’s representation guidelines require accurate location information as well, so the name field does one job: identify the business.

Check the street address, the unit or suite where it matters, and the map pin. If Google cannot place the address accurately, fix the pin instead of assuming the typed address is enough. If customers are not served at that address, remove it from public view and use the service-area setup.

For service areas, list the cities, postal codes or other supported areas you actually cover. Google allows up to 20 and does not use a radius for this field. Its general guidance is that the whole area should sit within roughly two hours’ drive of your base; check the full guidelines if you need more.

A list of towns is not a promise of visibility in each of them. Sterling Sky’s published monitoring example found that the service area it specified did not produce rankings across that area. The page carries a 2025 date while the example describes observations heading into 2023, so treat it as limited, historical evidence.

Choose categories that describe what you do

Pick the most specific primary category that fits. If the exact one does not exist, take a broader one from Google’s list; there is no way to create your own. Add additional categories for other genuine lines of business. Categories describe what the business is, not every product or service it sells.

Category studies need careful reading. BrightLocal’s 2023 study looked at 1,050 US locations across seven primary categories and found relationships between additional categories and map rankings. It was an observational sample, results varied by category, and it does not establish a universal best number of categories.

A newer analysis by Whitespark founder Darren Shaw, published in August 2026, examined 1.8 million profiles and reported correlations between category choices, profile completeness and rankings, with an explicit warning that correlation is not causation. Businesses that tend their profile carefully probably do other local SEO work too. Use the evidence to review your choices and keep every category truthful.

Set regular and exceptional hours separately

Enter the hours during which a customer can actually use the business. If you close for a break and reopen, use separate opening periods. Where the option exists, Google’s regular-hours controls also distinguish main opening hours from hours for particular services. Then look at the public result and ask whether it tells someone when they can be served.

Use special hours for holidays and short exceptions instead of rewriting the weekly schedule every time. Google recommends confirming holiday hours even when they match the normal ones. Its special-hours guidance covers temporary closures of up to six consecutive days; anything longer has its own closure guidance.

Give one person the job of collecting upcoming exceptions from the business. A shared calendar is enough as a reminder. Before each exception, compare the intended hours with the public profile and the website, so a customer sees the same answer everywhere.

Explain the business in plain language

Write a description that says what you offer and what a customer should know before choosing you. Google’s guidance invites useful detail about services, products and what sets the business apart. If an AI suggestion appears, check it against reality before saving; generated wording still has to describe the actual business.

Start with the main activity, then add specifics you can back up. Cut “the leading provider” and its relatives unless you have a clear basis for the claim. Read the result as a customer would and delete any praise that tells them nothing about the service. Links and promotional offers stay out of this field; Google’s guidelines say so.

If your category supports the services editor, go through its suggested services and add the ones you provide. You may also be able to add custom services with descriptions and prices. Name each service plainly and respect the field restrictions; a phone number does not belong in a service name. What is available depends on the profile.

Attributes cover practical details such as accessibility or amenities, where those fields exist for your category and location. Some of that information can also come from customers. Confirm each answer with someone who knows the premises or the service, and leave an uncertain attribute empty until you can verify it.

Review the website link and any booking, ordering or menu links on offer. Link types vary by business, and Google can also show links from third-party providers, so inspect the public profile rather than only the links you entered. Open every destination yourself and confirm it lands the customer on the right business and the right action.

Add photos and posts that help someone decide

Photos and posts are the parts of the profile a customer reads like a shop window. Use recent pictures of the real business, choose them around the questions a first-time visitor would ask, and post only when there is something worth saying. Nothing here goes live automatically: an upload or a post can sit pending or be turned down.

Google’s photo guidance asks for well-lit, in-focus images without heavy alteration or filters. Photos appear publicly only after the profile is verified. A cover photo you choose is not guaranteed to be the first image customers see, and uploads can be rejected.

Build the first photo set around what a new customer wants to know. What does the entrance look like? What is inside? What does the work or the service look like? Keep only the questions that apply to your business. The illustration at the top of this article is a cover design, not an example of what to upload.

Posts let you share updates, offers and events. Pick the format that fits, check the dates and the destination link, then confirm the publication status. Google warns that a phone number in the post text can get it rejected, and every post still has to meet its policies.

Post when you have something a customer can use: a real event, a changed service, an offer they can actually redeem. Keep a note of what went out and when it stops being relevant. A posting calendar exists to support that, not to chase a ranking effect nobody has proven.

Build a review process your team can follow

Reviews work when the invitation is honest and the reply is specific. Ask every customer, not only the happy ones, offer nothing in return, and answer each review on its actual point. Google’s policies forbid incentives, selective solicitation and pressure, and a review you dislike is not the same thing as a review that breaks the rules.

Ask customers for honest feedback about their experience. Google provides a review link and a QR code you can share. Its guidance prohibits incentives such as a discount or free goods in exchange for a review, a changed review or the removal of a negative one. Keep the request simple and optional.

Do not sort customers by satisfaction and send only the pleased ones to Google. The contribution policy prohibits selectively soliciting positive reviews and discouraging negative ones. It also bans pressuring people to review while they are on the premises, asking for specific review content and requiring staff to collect a set number of reviews. Everyone who asks for reviews needs to know these limits.

Verified businesses can reply. Replies are public and pass through Google’s review process, so they may not appear immediately. Read the review, check what you can establish internally and answer the specific issue. Do not publish private details about the customer or the transaction. For a sensitive matter, invite the person to a private channel without confirming anything they have not said themselves.

If a review looks like a policy violation, report it and pick the matching reason. Disagreeing with criticism is not grounds for removal. Google’s Reviews Management Tool shows the status of a report and, for eligible decisions, lets you appeal. Keep a short note of the suspected violation so the report stands on policy rather than on hurt feelings.

Measure actions and understand the ranking limits

Performance reports show what people did on the profile, not what they bought. Calls are taps on the call button, website clicks are taps on the link, and directions are requests for a route. Read those numbers next to your own inquiries and sales, and remember that no setting and no payment buys a better local ranking.

Performance data is available for verified profiles, and the metrics shown depend on the business. The report can include activity from organic results and from Google Ads. Read each metric’s definition before it goes into a business report.

MetricWhat it recordsWhat it does not establish
CallsClicks on the profile's call buttonCompleted or answered calls
Website clicksClicks on the profile's website linkInquiries, bookings or revenue
DirectionsRequests for directions, with Google's counting adjustmentsConfirmed visits to the premises

Definitions: Google Business Profile performance guidance.

Keep profile activity alongside your own inquiry and sales records: the same reporting period, plus a note of anything that changed in advertising, hours or services. That comparison adds context. On its own, the profile report cannot tell you where every inquiry came from.

Google describes local ranking mainly in terms of relevance, distance and prominence. Complete, accurate information helps Google understand the business, but distance still counts, and Google says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. A complete profile is ongoing maintenance, not a guarantee of first place in every nearby search.

If the profile is accurate and the next question is about your website or your wider local presence, CyberLab’s local SEO audit covers the work beyond the profile: location pages and business information across directories.

Maintain the profile and handle problems

A submitted change is not a published change. Google marks edits as accepted, pending or not approved, and it also updates profile data on its own from user reports and licensed sources. The maintenance routine is therefore a check, not a form: what is public today, what changed since last time, and who owns the next fix.

After an edit, look at whether Google has actually published it. Check the status and the public result before calling a correction done. If Google asks for additional verification, go through it; repeating the edit will not resolve the underlying issue.

Google can update business information from other sources, including user reports and licensed content. Review those updates when they appear. Keep a record of the intended information, what changed and what you checked; not every Google update can be handled through the same controls.

Choose a rhythm the team can keep. A weekly look at reviews, edits, links and anything time-sensitive, plus a monthly look at performance, is a reasonable start; adjust it to the business and check immediately after a move, a change of hours or a change of supplier. These intervals are our suggestion, not a Google requirement and not a tested ranking formula.

If the profile is suspended or disabled, read the stated reason and fix the policy problem before you appeal. Prepare business documents whose details match the profile. Google’s appeal guidance says that once you open the evidence form you have 60 minutes to submit it, so prepare first and open the form second. Do not create a replacement profile while the appeal is being reviewed.

Before handing the profile over, have the person who will maintain it walk through the public listing: open the website and booking links, check the next holiday, find the review controls and confirm who the primary owner is. Write down every unfinished item with a name and a next action. That walk-through is what turns a completed form into a profile someone can actually keep.

Keep a handover record of who owns the profile, who maintains it, which details are confirmed and which issue needs attention next. Any other authorized person should be able to pick up the work from that record alone.

Need help with the setup itself? CyberLab’s Google Business Profile setup covers the one-time work described here, and monthly profile management takes over the routine after that. Or send us the profile link and the issue you want checked.

Sources

Key guidance from Google, checked 7 September 2026. The research file behind this article covers 33 materials: 30 Google Help and policy pages plus the three industry studies named in the text.