How to Set Up a Google Business Profile and Verify It

When someone searches for something in your line of work, especially a place near them, Google shows a map and business cards. Your profile feeds that card. For many people the decision is made on that card before your website ever loads.

The profile does not replace a website; it complements one. The details on both must match. If the phone number, address or name differs between the two, neither the customer nor the search engine knows which to trust.

Write the details down in one place before you start.

Use the real-world name of the business, the name customers see on the sign and on invoices. Adding keywords, a service list or a slogan to the profile name breaks the rules and is a common reason for suspension.

• The business name exactly as it appears on the sign and in your documents
• A street address customers can visit, or the areas where you provide services
• A phone number customers can reach and, if you have one, the website address
• Opening hours, including any special-day changes
• A primary category: the single option that describes you best
• A few clear, current photos that belong to you: exterior, interior, team, product or examples of work

The flow is straightforward. You sign in, type the business name, choose a category, and say whether customers come to you or you go to them. If customers visit, you enter an address and mark the location on the map. If you are a service business that travels to customers, you can define a service area without showing a street address. That option exists for people who work from home and do not want the address public.

Category choice matters more than people expect. The primary category is the main signal Google uses to decide which searches to match you with. In the description, explain the business in two or three plain sentences, with no hype and no advertising slogans.

Verification is Google confirming that the business exists and that you are the one managing the profile. The methods vary by business, category and country, and Google shows you which ones are open to you. Typically the options include a code sent by post, a phone call or text message, an email, and for some businesses a video demonstration. You cannot choose which one appears; you continue with what is offered.

If a video is requested, you usually show the exterior and location, the work area or equipment, and some proof that you are authorised to manage the business, all in one continuous recording.

Photos are the most viewed part of a profile. Clear pictures of the real premises, the real product and the real team build more trust than stock images. Do not upload photos once and forget them: update them when the premises, menu or products change, because an old photo creates the wrong expectation.

Reviews influence customer decisions more than anything else on the profile. Asking satisfied customers for a review is legitimate, and you can make it easy in person, by message, or with a QR code at the till. Offering a discount or gift in return, asking only happy customers, or having fake reviews written is against platform rules. Reply to every review, positive or negative, briefly, politely and specifically. A calm answer to a bad review tells the next reader more than the review itself.

• Update opening hours ahead of holidays
• Add new services or products to the profile when you add them to the business
• Answer questions and messages the same day
• Reply to reviews in the business voice, but like a person

The most common mistake is adding extra words to the business name. Writing a title full of name, city and service terms instead of your real name looks clever in the short term, but it breaks the rules and can get the profile suspended. The second is opening several profiles for the same business. Duplicates do not split rankings; they create trouble, because it becomes unclear which one is real and Google may restrict both.

The third is leaving the profile unverified and then wondering why it does not appear. The last is setting it up and never looking at it again.

• Adding keywords, a city or a slogan to the name
• Opening more than one profile for the same address
• Leaving verification unfinished
• Using a different name, phone number or hours on the website, profile and social media
• Leaving a home address public by accident

A business that never meets customers and has no local connection, selling only online regardless of region, often does not need a profile as its first priority. A business with no real address or service area may not be eligible to open one at all; Google is looking for a genuine point of contact with customers.

There is also the question of timing. If the name, service and address are not settled yet, fix them first and then open the profile, because frequent changes to the name or address can trigger re-verification. Once the profile is live, you can review your own site once with our free on-page SEO audit to keep the details consistent.