Key takeaways
- A Google Business Profile is free and decides how your business appears on Google Search and Maps.
- Most new profiles are verified by a short live video recorded on your phone; Google says review can take up to 5 business days.
- Reviews decide who gets the call: 97% of consumers read reviews of local businesses, and 47% won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews (BrightLocal 2026).
- Q&A is being replaced by an AI Ask button, so put the answers customers need in your description, services and website.
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Search and Google Maps: your name, address or service area, hours, phone number, photos, reviews and a link to your website. For a local business it is usually the most valuable listing you can have, because it is what people see when they search "near me" or look up your name.
This guide brings together our older articles on Google listings, Google Local, Grow with Google and finding local customers online into one up-to-date guide.
Updated November 2026.
What a Google Business Profile does
Table of Contents
When someone searches for a service near them, Google shows a map with a few businesses (the "local pack") above the ordinary results. Those listings come from Business Profiles. A complete, verified and active profile helps you:
- appear in local searches and on Google Maps;
- get calls, direction requests, bookings and website visits directly from the listing;
- collect and answer reviews, which most customers read before they choose;
- show opening hours, services, prices and photos without the customer opening your website.
Google ranks local results on relevance (how well your profile matches the search), distance (how far you are from the searcher or the place they name) and prominence (how well known and well reviewed you are). You control relevance and prominence; distance you can only set honestly.
Old names you may still see: the product was called Google My Business until 2021, and before that Google Places and Google Local. They all mean the same listing. Grow with Google is a separate Google programme of free training courses and tools; it is useful for learning, but your listing itself is managed in Business Profile.
How to create your Google Business Profile
- Search for your business on Google Maps first. If a listing already exists (customers or Google can create one), claim it instead of making a duplicate.
- Go to Google Business Profile (business.google.com) and sign in with a Google account the business will keep. Use a shared business account, not a personal account of someone who might leave.
- Enter the business name exactly as customers see it on your sign, van or invoices. Adding keywords or town names to the name breaks Google’s guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
- Choose your primary category, the most specific one for your main service (for example "Emergency plumber" rather than "Plumber" only if that really is your main service).
- Add your address or service area. A shop, café or clinic shows its address. A business that visits customers (cleaner, electrician, mobile groomer) hides the address and lists the towns or areas it serves. A hybrid business can do both.
- Add phone number and website.
- Verify the profile (below).
- Complete everything else: hours, services, products, description, attributes, photos.
Verifying your profile
Google decides which verification options a business gets. Today most new profiles are offered video verification. According to Google’s help centre:
- the video must be recorded live in the Business Profile app or on the web from a mobile device, as one unedited recording with no breaks, at least 30 seconds long;
- a storefront shows its location (street signs, building number or landmarks), proof the business exists (the business name on a permanent sign) and proof you manage it (opening the till, a storeroom or the premises);
- a service-area business shows where it operates, proof it exists (tools, equipment, branded vehicle or uniform) and proof of management (doing the work, accessing business-only equipment); documents such as a permit or invoice can help;
- do not show bank, tax or ID numbers or other people’s faces;
- review can take up to 5 business days. If the video is rejected, Google says why and you can record again.
Other methods (phone or text code, email, or a postcard) appear for some businesses. Online-only businesses cannot be verified, because profiles are for businesses that meet customers in person.
Complete every section
A complete profile gives Google more to match and gives customers fewer reasons to look elsewhere.
| Section | What to add | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| Primary and secondary categories | Your main service, then other real services | Check which categories top competitors use |
| Description (750 characters) | What you do, for whom and where | Plain words; no links or offers |
| Hours | Regular and holiday hours | Wrong hours cause bad reviews |
| Services and products | Each service with a short description and price where sensible | Use the words customers search for |
| Attributes | Accessibility, payment types, "women-owned", "online appointments" | Only what is true |
| Photos | Logo, cover, outside, inside, team, vehicles, real work | Add new photos every month |
| Booking and messaging | Booking links or messaging | Turn on only if you reply fast |
Keep your name, address and phone number identical on your website, Facebook page, Apple Business Connect, Bing Places, Yelp and directories. Inconsistent details confuse customers and search engines. You can add a free listing to the Advanton Business Directory too.
Posts, photos and updates
Profiles that change show Google and customers that the business is active:
- Posts: share offers, events, new services and recent jobs. One post a week is a good rhythm.
- Photos: real photos of work, premises and staff beat stock images. Customers often look at photos before they call.
- Products and services: update prices and seasonal services.
- Holiday hours: set them before every public holiday.
The Ask button replaced Q&A
For years customers could post public questions on a Business Profile and anyone could answer. Google has been retiring that Q&A feature: the Q&A API was switched off on 3 November 2025, and in December 2025 Google said Q&A was being removed from Google Maps. In its place an AI Ask button answers customers’ questions using what you put in your profile and what reviewers say.
That makes the rest of your profile more important. Put the answers to common questions (prices, areas served, parking, payment, waiting times, emergency availability) in your description, services, attributes and website, and mention them naturally in replies to reviews.
Reviews: the part that wins customers
BrightLocal’s Local Consumer Review Survey 2026 (1,002 US adults) shows how much reviews matter:
| Finding | Share of consumers |
|---|---|
| Read reviews for local businesses | 97% |
| Only care about reviews from the last three months | 74% |
| Won’t use a business with fewer than 20 reviews | 47% |
| Will only use a business rated 4 stars or higher | 68% |
| More likely to use a business that responds to all reviews | 80% |
| Wrote a Google review in the past year | 45% |
So you need recent reviews, a steady flow and replies to all of them:
- ask every customer, at the moment the job is done, with a direct link to your review form (in your profile, choose "Ask for reviews" to get the link or QR code);
- reply to every review within a few days, by name, mentioning the service; avoid copy-paste replies;
- answer negative reviews calmly, offer to fix the problem offline, and never argue in public;
- never buy reviews, write your own, offer rewards for positive reviews or ask only happy customers. Google’s policies forbid it, and in the US the Federal Trade Commission’s rule on fake reviews (in force since October 2024) allows civil penalties of more than $50,000 per violation.
Our guide to getting more customer reviews covers request templates, replies and what to do about fake reviews in detail.
Track what the profile brings in
In your profile’s Performance section you can see:
- searches and the search terms that showed your profile;
- calls, messages, direction requests and website clicks;
- bookings, if you use them.
Add tracking (UTM tags) to your website link so profile visits show separately in your analytics, and ask every new customer how they found you. The number that matters is booked customers, not views.
Common problems and fixes
| Problem | Likely cause | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Profile suspended | Keywords in the name, wrong address type, virtual office | Fix the details to match reality, then request reinstatement |
| Duplicate listings | Old listings created by customers or a previous owner | Claim them, then ask Google to merge or remove duplicates |
| Someone edited your hours or category | Google accepts suggested edits from users | Check your profile weekly and correct edits |
| Not showing in the map results | Incomplete profile, few reviews, far from searchers | Complete every section, build reviews, add area pages to your site |
| Can’t verify | Missing proof in the video | Re-record showing signage, equipment and management tasks |
A 30-day Google Business Profile plan
| Week | Do this |
|---|---|
| 1 | Claim or create and verify the profile; choose categories; set hours |
| 2 | Write the description; add every service with prices; upload 10–20 real photos |
| 3 | Send review requests to your last 20–50 customers; reply to every existing review |
| 4 | Publish your first posts; add UTM tracking to the website link; check Performance |
Then repeat every month: new photos, weekly posts, review requests after every job, and a quick check that nobody has changed your details.
Next steps
- Check how your business looks to Google with the free Local SEO Check.
- Build a website your profile can link to with the free website builder, or follow the Launch online checklist.
- Read our local online marketing guide for directories, local ads and budgets.
- Learn how to bring customers back in Keep customers coming back.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business with video
- BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey 2026
- PPC Land, Google replaces Business Profile Q&A with an AI Ask button
- Federal Trade Commission rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (summary by Davis Wright Tremaine)
Last reviewed November 15, 2026. Startup costs are estimates; check local prices, licensing and tax rules before you commit money.