Get found on Google Maps: Business Profile setup

A Google Business Profile is the business information that can appear in Google Search and Maps. For a trade business, it can show what you do, where you work and how to contact you. Google explains the starting point in its add or claim guide.

Use this guide alongside Google’s instructions. Menus and available features can vary by device and account. Each step links to official help checked when this guide was written. Follow the current on-screen instructions if the wording differs.

Have your business name, contact number, working area and service list ready. Keep notes as you go so you can check the finished profile against the facts.

Check eligibility and access

Step 1: Check that your business qualifies

Google normally requires in-person contact with customers during your stated hours. A gardener, plumber or electrician who visits customers may qualify as a service-area business. An online-only business or a business that only passes leads to others does not qualify on that basis. Read Google’s eligibility and ownership rules before you start.

Think about how your business actually operates. Do customers visit you, do you visit them, or both? That answer affects how you should set up the address and service area. Do not invent a shopfront to make the listing look more established.

Step 2: Use an account you control

Use a Google Account that you can reliably access. If someone helps with the profile, give them their own access through the profile settings. You do not need to share your password. Google describes owners and managers in its access guide.

Keep your account recovery details current. Write down which account owns the profile, without putting its password into a shared job document. If a helper leaves, review their access rather than leaving it active out of habit.

Step 3: Look for an existing profile

Search Maps for your business name and town before creating anything. If an unverified profile already exists, use the claim option and follow Google’s add or claim instructions. If no profile exists, start the add-business process linked there.

If someone else owns a verified profile, do not create a duplicate. Follow the ownership request guide. It distinguishes storefront businesses from service-area businesses: for the latter, Google directs you to support to request a transfer. Keep the support reference and any replies.

Add accurate business details

Step 4: Enter your name and choose a category

Use the business name you use in the real world. Do not add extra town names or service claims to the name just to attract searches. Google’s business representation rules explain what belongs in the name field.

Choose the available category that best describes your main work. Add further categories only where they genuinely describe your business. Categories are not a list of every task you could attempt. Google’s category guide explains how to choose and edit them.

Step 5: Set your address and service area correctly

If customers do not visit your business address, do not display it as a customer location. Follow Google’s service-area setup and hide the address from the public profile. Provide accurate details when Google asks for information during setup or verification. A hidden public address is not permission to invent a base.

In the profile, look for Edit profile, then Location, then Service area. Add the towns or postcode areas you actually serve and save the changes. Google uses named areas rather than a radius. Its service-area guidance explains both the address rules and editing steps.

Avoid adding distant places you would not accept work in. Use your normal working area, not a wish list. A service-area entry is information for customers; it is not a promise that you will appear in every search there.

Step 6: Add contact details and honest hours

Enter the phone number customers should use and your website address if you have one. Check every character. Set hours that reflect your actual customer-facing operation, and use the holiday hours options when needed. Do not select round-the-clock opening unless that is truly how you operate.

Google’s profile editing guide covers these fields. Keep a note of any changes you make so you can check their status later. Some edits are reviewed before they appear publicly.

Complete verification

Step 7: Follow the verification method offered

Google decides which methods your business can use. You cannot demand a particular method, and more than one check may be needed. Open the verification prompt and follow the option offered. Read Google’s verification guide if you are unsure what is being requested.

If video recording is offered, prepare before pressing record. For a service-area trade, you may need to show the area where you operate, your work equipment and evidence that you manage the business. Follow the official video requirements, including the rules about recording through the profile and keeping sensitive information and other people’s faces out of the footage.

Do not assume a profile is verified because you have sent information. Check the result in your account. If Google asks for more evidence, read the reason and address it. No web designer can promise that Google will accept a profile or finish a check by a set date.

Finish and maintain your profile

Step 8: Add services and useful photographs

Use Edit services to list the work you actually offer. Google explains the available controls in its services guide. Keep the wording plain and remove any service you no longer provide.

Add genuine photographs you have permission to use. Choose images that show your work or equipment without exposing customer details. Follow Google’s photo guidance. Do not use a staged design example as evidence of a completed job.

Step 9: Ask for honest feedback and check the profile

Google provides a review link you can share; see its review request guidance. Invite honest feedback without rewards. Do not filter requests so only happy customers reach Google: its content policy prohibits selectively requesting positive reviews.

Check the public profile after changes. Test the phone number and website link. Revisit the service list and opening hours when your work changes. Treat the profile as information you maintain, rather than a task you never need to look at again.

Google says local results depend mainly on how well your business matches the search, how near you are to the person searching and how well known your business is. Google calls these relevance, distance and prominence. A complete profile does not guarantee a position. Read its local ranking guidance before accepting promises about coming first.

For help planning a website alongside your profile, see how we help trades get found locally and what we do for plumbers.

Get my free mock-up

Get found on Google Maps: setting up your Business Profile, step by step