How to Set Up and Verify a Google Business Profile

When someone searches “plumber near me” or “best tacos downtown,” the map results at the top of Google are often the first, and sometimes the only, businesses they consider. Those listings come from Google Business Profile. If yours is missing, unverified or half finished, customers may never see you, or worse, see wrong hours and drive to a closed door.

Setting up a profile is free and takes less than an hour, though verification can take longer. This guide walks through every step, explains each verification method, and covers the settings Google says affect local rankings.

What a Google Business Profile does

A Business Profile is the listing that appears in Google Search and Google Maps for your business. It can show your name, category, address or service area, hours, phone number, website, photos, reviews, products, services and booking links. Customers can call, get directions, book or message you directly from it.

Google says local results are based mainly on 3 factors:

• Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched for.
• Distance: how far your business is from the searcher or the location in the search.
• Prominence: how well known your business is, including links to your website, reviews and ratings.

Google also states clearly that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. If someone calls claiming they can guarantee you the top map spot for a fee, treat it as a likely scam. Our guide on how to spot phishing emails explains common tactics.

Before you start: check eligibility and gather details

Google’s guidelines set a few rules up front:

• You need real in-person contact with customers, either at a location customers visit during stated hours or by traveling to customers. Online-only businesses are generally not eligible.
• Virtual offices are not eligible, and P.O. boxes or remote mailboxes are not acceptable addresses. A co-working space qualifies only with clear signage and staff who receive customers during business hours.
• One profile per location.

Gather this information first:

• Your exact business name as it appears on signage, your website and stationery.
• Your street address, or the area you serve.
• A local phone number you control directly.
• Your website address.
• Regular hours and any special hours.
• A logo and several good photos.
• Access to your business phone, business email or mailing address for verification.

Use a Google Account owned by the business, protected with strong two-step verification. If an employee or agency sets it up under their personal account, you can lose control when they leave. Our guide to two-factor authentication explains how to secure it.

Step 1: Create or claim your profile

1. Go to business.google.com and sign in with the business Google Account.
2. Search for your business name. If a profile already exists, request ownership or access instead of creating a duplicate.
3. If no profile exists, add your business.
4. Enter your business name exactly as customers know it.

Do not add extra keywords, cities, taglines or phone numbers to the name. Google’s guidelines say to leave out marketing taglines, store codes, hours, phone numbers, URLs and location details unless they are part of your real-world name, and names with unnecessary information can lead to suspension. “Smith Plumbing” is correct. “Smith Plumbing Best Emergency Plumber Dallas” is not.

Step 2: Choose your categories carefully

Your primary category is one of the most important choices you make. Google advises choosing the most specific category that describes your business as a whole, such as “Nail salon” rather than “Salon.” You cannot create custom categories.

You can add up to 9 additional categories for distinct services or departments, but Google recommends using the fewest categories needed to describe your core business. Do not add a category for every product or service.

Category names change over time, so start typing in the category field and choose from the list Google shows. Search for your top competitors on Maps to see which categories are commonly used in your industry.

Step 3: Add your location or service area

This step depends on how you serve customers:

• Storefront businesses, such as restaurants, shops and clinics, show their street address. Keep permanent signage with your business name at that address.
• Service-area businesses, such as plumbers, cleaners and locksmiths, that do not serve customers at their address should hide the address and set a service area instead. A plumber who works from home, for example, should not show the home address.
• Hybrid businesses, such as an auto shop with roadside service, can show the address and also set a service area.

Google says service areas generally should not extend beyond about 2 hours of driving time from where the business is based, though some businesses may justify larger areas. Add cities or postal codes you actually serve.

For trades that work at customers’ homes, see how verification works for high-risk categories in our guide on how technology is changing locksmiths.

Add your phone number and website

• Use a phone number that connects to that location, preferably a local number rather than a central call center. Premium-rate numbers are not allowed.
• Link to your own website, ideally the page for that specific location. Google’s guidelines say the link should not redirect to other pages, including social media profiles.

Step 4: Verify your business

Verification proves you are the legitimate business owner. Until your profile is verified, many features, including public photos, are limited. Google decides which methods you can use based on factors such as business type, public information, region and hours, and you cannot change the options it offers.

Tips for video verification

For a storefront, Google asks you to show where you are (street signs, building numbers or nearby landmarks), proof the business exists (signage with your business name on a permanent fixture) and proof of management (such as opening the register, entering a storage room or using your POS).

For a service-area business, show identifiers near the business address or your neighborhood, proof the business exists (tools, equipment, branded vehicles or apparel, business cards) and proof of management (such as opening a branded van or showing a business permit, invoice or utility bill that matches the profile name). Do not show bank account, tax or ID numbers, or other people’s faces.

After you submit, Google can take up to 5 business days to review. Avoid changing your business name, address or category while a postcard code is pending, or the code will not work.

Key takeaway: Get your name, category and address right before you verify. Most verification problems come from mismatched details, such as a profile name that does not match your signage or an address customers cannot visit.

Step 5: Complete the profile after verification

A complete profile helps relevance. Google specifically recommends keeping your address, hours, category and attributes accurate.

• Hours, including holiday and special hours. Appointment-only businesses generally should not list hours.
• Description of what you do, who you serve and what makes you different, written for customers.
• Services or products with short descriptions and prices where you can.
• Attributes such as accessibility features, payment options or amenities.
• Booking, menu or ordering links. Our guide to taking online bookings shows how to add a Book button.
• Messaging, if you can respond quickly.

Photos and videos

Google adds photos and videos to its list of ways to improve your profile. Its specs:

• Photos: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, with a recommended resolution of 720 by 720 pixels and a minimum of 250 by 250.
• Videos: up to 30 seconds, up to 75 MB, at 720p or higher.
• Quality: in focus, well lit and without heavy filters, major edits or AI alterations. The image should represent reality.

Add a logo, a cover photo, exterior shots that help people find you, interior shots, your team at work and examples of real jobs or products. Our guide to taking product photos with a phone has easy lighting tips.

Step 6: Build reviews and keep the profile active

Reviews and ratings feed prominence, and Google recommends responding to reviews and working on getting more of them.

• Ask every customer, using a short review link from your profile, in follow-up emails, texts or receipts.
• Respond to all reviews, positive and negative, calmly and without sharing private details.
• Follow the rules. The FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule, in effect since October 21, 2024, bans fake reviews, buying positive or negative reviews and suppressing negative ones. Google’s own content policies also prohibit fake engagement. You can ask all customers for honest reviews.
• Post updates about offers, events or seasonal services.
• Answer common questions in your description and services so customers do not have to call.
• Update hours before holidays and closures.

Restaurants, salons and clinics rely heavily on their profiles. Our guides to how technology is changing restaurants and hair salons and barbershops show how profiles fit into their wider tech setup.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Keyword stuffing the business name, which risks suspension.
• Using a virtual office or P.O. box as your address.
• Creating duplicate profiles for the same location.
• Showing a home address when customers do not visit it.
• Letting an agency own the account. Add agencies as managers, while the business keeps ownership.
• Ignoring the profile after setup. Outdated hours and unanswered reviews cost customers.

Conclusion

A Google Business Profile is one of the highest-value marketing tools a local business can have, and it is free. Set it up with your exact name and the most specific category, show an address or service area that follows Google’s rules, verify with the method Google offers, then keep it complete with photos, services, hours and fresh reviews. For more local business resources, browse our top lists.

Sources

• Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking — relevance, distance and prominence, and no paid ranking
• Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business — eligibility, name, address and service area rules
• Google Business Profile Help: Verify your business on Google — verification methods, postcard and review timing
• Google Business Profile Help: Verify with a video recording — what to show in a verification video
• Google Business Profile Help: Manage your business category — primary and additional categories
• Google Business Profile Help: Manage photos and videos — photo and video specifications