A Google Business Profile is the listing that appears in Google Maps and in the local pack above ordinary search results. Eligibility rests on one requirement: you must make in-person contact with customers, either at a location you control during stated hours, or by travelling to them.
Eligibility, and the cases that fail
- Storefront — customers come to you. Uses your street address, which is displayed.
- Service area business — you travel to customers. You register an address for verification but hide it, showing service areas instead.
- Hybrid — both, such as a salon that also does home visits.
Purely online businesses with no in-person contact are not eligible. Neither are virtual offices, mailbox services or coworking addresses used solely as a registered address — these are a common cause of suspension. Use an address you actually staff or operate from.
Creating multiple listings for the same business at the same address to cover more search terms is against Google's guidelines and risks suspension of all of them. Separate listings are for genuinely separate locations, or for distinct departments with separate staffing and customer entrances.
Verification
Google verifies that you are connected to the address. Methods offered vary by business type and history, and have shifted over time — postcard, phone, email, and increasingly video verification where you record a continuous walkthrough showing signage, equipment and evidence of management access.
Video verification fails most often for a predictable reason: it needs to be one unbroken recording that ties the location to the business and then to you. Have your signage, tools or stock, and something showing your access — keys, back-of-house, a licence — ready before starting.
The fields that matter
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Business name
Your real-world name as it appears on signage and paperwork. Adding location or keyword text — "Riverbend Plumbing Emergency Plumber Springfield" — violates the naming guidelines and is one of the most-reported and most-penalised edits.
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Primary category
The single most influential field for which searches you can appear in. Choose the one that describes your core business rather than the broadest available, then add secondary categories for genuine additional services.
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Address or service area
Storefronts show the address. Service area businesses should set realistic areas — an implausibly large radius does not help and can look like spam.
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Hours
Keep them accurate and set special hours for holidays. Google surfaces user reports of wrong hours, and repeated mismatches erode listing reliability.
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Phone and website
A local number is generally preferable to a call-tracking number as the primary. Link to the most relevant page, not always the homepage.
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Services and products
Structured entries that help match you to specific queries. Worth completing properly rather than leaving to the category defaults.
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Photos
Exterior shots that help someone recognise the place from the street, interior shots, and images of the work. Genuine photos of your own premises, not stock.
Reviews
Reviews influence both ranking and conversion. Two rules keep you on the right side of the policies:
- Do not incentivise. Offering discounts or gifts for reviews is prohibited, as is buying them.
- Do not filter. Asking only customers you believe are happy — review gating — is also prohibited. Ask everyone.
Responding to reviews, including critical ones, is visible to prospective customers and is generally the highest-value few minutes a week available here. Respond factually, avoid disclosing personal details about the reviewer, and offer to take specifics offline.
Keeping it healthy
- Update hours before holidays rather than after.
- Check for user-suggested edits, which can change your details without warning.
- Keep your name, address and phone number consistent with everywhere else they appear — see local search basics.
- If you move, update the profile rather than creating a new listing.
Questions owners ask
Can I use my home address?
Yes, if you operate from home. Register as a service area business and hide the address so it is used for verification only and not displayed publicly.
My listing was suspended. What now?
Suspensions commonly follow a guideline breach — most often an ineligible address or a keyword-stuffed name. Correct the underlying issue first, then file a reinstatement request with evidence such as a business licence, a utility bill for the address and photographs of signage.
Does posting regularly help?
Posts surface offers and updates on your listing and are worth using for genuinely timely information. Treat them as a communication channel rather than as a ranking lever.