How to set up your Google Business Profile, step by step

Before you start: check that you qualify

Google says a business is eligible if it has a physical location customers can visit, or if it travels to customers where they are. A rented mailing address where you don’t operate (a virtual office) isn’t eligible, P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes aren’t acceptable, and an office in a co-working space needs clear signage and your own staff during business hours.

You need a Google Account, which can use any email address, and you can add or claim your business at no charge.

Create or claim the profile

Go to business.google.com/add and follow the steps to add your business. If Google Maps already shows your business, search for it, choose “Claim this business”, then “Manage now”. If someone else has already verified it, you can request ownership from the current owner, as long as you are authorized to manage the business.

Name and category: keep them exact

Use your real-world business name, the one on your sign, invoices and business cards. Google’s guidelines don’t allow extra information in the name, such as taglines, service descriptions, locations, phone numbers or hours.

For the primary category, pick the most specific option that completes the sentence “This business IS a…”, for example “Plumber” rather than a broad category. Add a few more categories only for real departments or services, not one for every product. You can’t create your own category.

Address or service area

If customers come to you, enter your physical address, with any suite number on the second address line. If you go to customers, hide your address and set a service area instead: Google allows up to 20 areas, set by city, postal code or region rather than a radius, and the whole area should stay within about two hours of driving from your base. Hybrid businesses can show an address and a service area.

Verify your business

Google decides which verification methods you can use, based on things like your business type, public information, region and hours, and you can’t change them. Options can include a phone call or text, email, a live video call, a postcard with a 5-digit code, or a video recording. Google says reviews can take up to 5 business days.

For a video recording, Google asks for one continuous, unedited clip of at least 30 seconds, recorded live with your phone, that shows:

• Where you are: street signs, building numbers or nearby landmarks.
• That the business exists: your permanent signage, or for service-area businesses, the tools and equipment you use.
• That you manage it: something only staff can do, such as opening the cash register or unlocking a work van.
• No bank, tax or ID numbers, and no other people’s faces.

If Google sends a postcard

Postcards usually arrive within 14 days, and the code expires after 30 days. While you wait, don’t edit your business name, address or category, and don’t request a new code: either one makes the first code unusable. Google will never ask you for the code, so don’t share it.

Complete the profile

A verified profile with complete information is easier for customers to trust. Fill in:

• Hours: your regular customer-facing hours (businesses that work only by appointment shouldn’t list hours), plus special hours for holidays.
• Phone: a local number under your direct control, rather than a central call center.
• Website: a page that represents this location.
• Services: the jobs you actually do, in plain words.
• Description: up to 750 characters on what you offer, what makes you different and how long you have been in business. No links or HTML, and focus on the business rather than promotions or prices.
• Photos: your logo, a cover photo and real photos of your work. Google accepts JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommends 720 by 720 pixels, and wants them in focus, well lit and without heavy filters.

After setup: reviews and upkeep

Create your review link or QR code from the profile and ask every customer the same way. Reply to reviews, keep your hours current and add photos as you work. Change your name, address or category only when the change is real: Google says editing your category can lead it to ask you to verify again.

A business description you can adapt

For a hypothetical roofing company. Keep yours under 750 characters and true to your business.