How to set up and optimise your Google Business Profile

Step 1: Claim or create your profile and verify it

Start by searching your business name and suburb on Google Maps. If a profile already exists, it may have been created by Google or by a customer. Select "Claim this business", then "Manage now", and pick a verification method. If nothing comes up, go to business.google.com/add, choose "Add your business to Google" and follow the prompts.

If someone else already manages a verified profile for your business, such as a former staff member or an old web designer, you can't claim it directly. Google's process is to request ownership from the current owner instead.

• Verification methods: Google lists phone or text, email, a live video call and, for some businesses, a postcard. It shows you the options available for your business.
• How long it takes: Google says reviews can take up to 5 business days. Postcard codes mostly arrive within 14 days, and a code expires after 30 days.
• A faster path: if your website is already verified in Google Search Console, Google says verification can happen instantly.

Step 2: Use your real name and choose the right primary category

Google's guidelines say your business name must match the name customers see in the real world: on your signage, your website and your stationery. Adding keywords, suburbs or taglines to the name, like "Smith Plumbing Best Emergency Plumber Sydney", breaks the guidelines and puts the profile at risk.

Your primary category matters more than most owners realise. Google states plainly that the categories you select affect your local ranking. Choose the most specific category that describes what your business is. Google's own example: pick "Nail salon", not "Salon".

• Primary category: the single best description of your core business. You can't create your own; it has to come from Google's list.
• Additional categories: add a few only where they are a genuine part of the business. Google's example is a grocery store that adds Bakery and Deli. Don't add a category for every service.
• Business description: say what you do and where, in plain words. Google's limit is 750 characters.

Step 3: Set your address or service area, and your hours

This is where many trades and mobile businesses go wrong. Google treats businesses in three ways, and the setup is different for each.

• Customers come to you (a cafe, clinic or shop): show your full street address, with suite or floor number if needed. Google says no PO boxes or virtual offices.
• You go to customers (a plumber, cleaner or mobile groomer): remove the address so it is hidden, and set a service area instead.
• Both (a mechanic with a workshop who also does call-outs): show the address and add a service area.

Google lets you add up to 20 service areas. Use suburbs, cities or postcodes rather than a radius, and keep the whole area within about 2 hours' drive of your base. Changes can take up to 48 hours to appear.

Set your regular opening hours, then use special hours for public holidays and short changes. Special hours cover a change or closure of up to 6 days in a row. For 7 days or more, Google says to mark the business as temporarily closed instead.

Step 4: Add photos, services and products

Google's local ranking guide says complete, accurate information helps your profile show for the right searches. Photos, services and products are where most profiles are thinnest.

• Logo and cover photo: your logo helps customers recognise you, and the cover photo sits at the top of the profile.
• Business photos: your premises, your team at work, finished jobs, your menu or products. Google asks for sharp, well-lit, real photos without heavy filters.
• Photo specs: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB. Google recommends 720 by 720 pixels, with a minimum of 250 by 250.
• Services: where your category supports them, add services from Google's suggestions or write your own, grouped into categories with a short description. Google rejects custom service names that include prices or phone numbers.
• Products: if you sell products, add them with a photo through the product editor.

Step 5: Keep it active with posts, reviews and replies

A profile that was set up once and left alone slowly drifts out of date. Three habits keep it current.

• Posts: share an update, an offer or an event with a photo and a button. Google archives posts after 6 months unless a date range is set, so post regularly.
• Ask for reviews: Business Profile gives you a review link and QR code to share. Ask every customer, not just the happy ones. Google's policy bans offering discounts, freebies or payment for reviews, and bans asking only satisfied customers.
• Reply to reviews: Google says replying shows you value feedback. Replies appear under your business name and are checked before they go live, usually within 10 minutes but sometimes up to 30 days.

Google also has a question and answer feature, but its help pages say it isn't available for every Business Profile. Where you have it, answer questions promptly. Either way, put the answers to common questions in your services, your description and your website, where you control the wording.

Step 6: Link your website and make the details match

Add your website as a full address starting with https://. Google's guidelines say the link should go to a website for that location, not a page that redirects to someone else's site, and the phone number should be a local number for that business rather than a call centre.

Then check that your website and your profile say the same thing. Google's rules tie your business name to what appears on your signage and website. Your name, address and phone number should be identical in both places, along with your hours and service areas. When they disagree, Google and AI assistants have to guess which one is right, and customers lose trust when they ring an old number.

• Name spelled the same way, with no extra keywords on either side.
• Same street address format, or the same suburbs if you hide your address.
• One main phone number, shown as text on the website so it can be tapped and read.
• Opening hours on the website updated whenever you change them on Google.

For more on how your profile and website work together in search and in AI answers, see how to get found by Google and AI assistants and how to get your business recommended by ChatGPT.

Step 7: Measure what your Google Business Profile does

Once your profile is verified, open it and select Performance. You can choose a time period and see how people found you and what they did next.

• Views: how many people saw your profile on Search and Maps.
• Searches: the search terms people used to find you. Google updates this at the start of each month, and it can take up to 5 days to show.
• Calls, directions and website clicks: the actions that usually lead to work.
• Messages and bookings: shown where you have them turned on.

Check the numbers once a month and compare them with the month before. If views rise but calls don't, look at your photos, reviews and hours. If website clicks rise but enquiries don't, the problem is on the website. Our guide to why your website isn't showing up on Google covers the website side, and our FAQ covers how Lumeen handles hosting and edits.

Google is clear that you can't pay for a better local ranking. It ranks local results on relevance, distance and prominence. Distance you can't change. Relevance and prominence come from the work in steps 1 to 6.

Key takeaways

1. (01)

   Claim and verify your profile with a Google Account the business owns, then add staff as managers.

2. (02)

   Use your real business name and the most specific primary category. Categories affect your local ranking.

3. (03)

   Hide your address if customers don't come to you, and set up to 20 service areas instead.

4. (04)

   Make your name, address, phone and hours identical on your profile and your website, then check Performance monthly.

Frequently asked questions

More answers on price, hosting and timing in our FAQ.