To set up a Google Business Profile, search for your business on Google Maps to see if a listing already exists, then either claim it or add a new one at Google's Business Profile site, enter your details, and complete the verification Google offers you. Once you're verified, fill in every section: hours, category, photos, services and your website. It's free, and it's the listing people see when they search for you on Google Search and Maps.
Here's the whole process, plus why it's worth an hour of your time.
Why it matters
When someone searches "coffee near me," "food truck Haleiwa" or your business name, the map results and the box with your hours, photos and reviews come from your Business Profile. For a lot of customers, that's the first thing they see about you, sometimes before your website.
A few reasons to take it seriously:
- It's how you show up on Maps. Google says verified businesses are more likely to appear in local results, and that complete, accurate information helps you match the right searches. You can read Google's own explanation in its guide to improving your local ranking.
- Reviews live there. Reviews are one of the things Google looks at for local ranking, and they're often what tips someone toward you.
- It's free. Google states that you can't pay for a better local ranking. Everyone starts on the same footing.
One more thing worth knowing: Google used to offer simple free websites through Business Profile, but it shut those down in 2024. Your profile is not a replacement for a website. It works best when it links to a real one.
Before you start
Have these ready:
- A Google account you'll keep long-term. Ideally a business account, not a staff member's personal one.
- Your exact business name, as it appears on your sign and website
- Your address, or the list of towns you serve if you go to customers
- Your phone number and website
- Your regular hours
- A few good photos: outside, inside, your products, your team
Check that you're eligible
Google's guidelines say a business needs either a real location customers can visit, or it has to travel to customers. P.O. boxes and virtual offices don't qualify. If you run from home and go to clients, like a mobile detailer or a house cleaner, you can still have a profile. You'll just hide your address and list a service area instead.
Step 1: See if your business already exists
Open Google Maps and search for your business name and town. Listings sometimes exist before an owner ever touches them, because a customer suggested the place, Google built it from public information, or a past owner or employee set one up.
- If you find it, look for an option like "Claim this business" or "Own this business?" on the listing.
- If you don't, you'll add it fresh in the next step.
- If someone else already manages it, Google has a process to request ownership from the current owner.
Google's help article on adding or claiming your profile walks through each case.
Step 2: Add or claim your business
To add a new one, go to business.google.com/add and follow the prompts. You'll be asked for:
- Your business name. Use your real name only. Don't add taglines, locations or keywords. Google's guidelines say extra information in the name can lead to suspension.
- Your primary category. Start typing and choose the most specific match, like "Mexican restaurant" rather than just "Restaurant." You can add a few more later, but Google recommends keeping them few and specific.
- Whether customers visit you. If yes, enter your address. If no, you'll set a service area.
- Your service area, if you have one. List the towns or regions you actually cover. Google's guidelines say it generally shouldn't stretch beyond about two hours' drive from your base.
- Your phone number and website.
Step 3: Verify
Verification proves to Google that you really run the business. Google decides which methods you're offered based on your business type, location and other details, and you can't choose freely. According to Google's verification help page, options can include:
- Phone or text: a code sent to your business number
- Email: a confirmation sent to an address shown on screen
- Video recording: a short video showing your location and proof you manage it
- Live video call: a guided call with Google support during your business hours
- Postcard: a code mailed to your address
Google says reviews for phone, text, email and video can take up to five business days. Postcards usually arrive within 14 days, and the code expires after 30, so watch your mail.
Tips for video verification
Google recommends video recording when it's offered to you, and it's where people tend to get stuck. Google's guidance is to film at your business and show things that prove it's yours. That can include:
- Your sign or the street outside
- Branded equipment, vehicles or products
- Employee-only areas or tools of your trade
- Your keys opening the door, or you at the register
If it's rejected, look for a message in your profile explaining what to fix, then try again.
Step 4: Fill in everything
Once you're verified, go through every section you see. The layout changes from time to time, so look for areas like "Edit profile," "Info" or "Business information."
- Hours, plus special hours for holidays. Mark yourself temporarily closed during an off-season instead of leaving the regular hours up.
- Description. A few plain sentences about what you do and who you serve. No keyword stuffing.
- Services, products or menu, if your category offers those sections.
- Attributes, like outdoor seating, wheelchair access or whether you take reservations.
- Photos. Add a logo, a cover photo and real pictures. Update them now and then.
- Website link and booking link, if you take appointments or reservations.
Step 5: Start collecting reviews
Look for an option like "Ask for reviews" or "Get more reviews." It gives you a short link you can text, email, print as a QR code or put on receipts.
Ask every customer who had a good experience. Reply to reviews, good and bad. Don't offer discounts or freebies in exchange, and don't ask only the happy customers. Both are against Google's review policies.
Step 6: Keep it current
You can usually manage your profile by searching your business name on Google while signed in, or through the Google Maps app. Put a reminder on your calendar to:
- Update holiday hours before each holiday
- Add a few new photos every month or two
- Reply to new reviews
- Check that your phone, website and hours are still right
Add people instead of sharing a password
If an employee or a web designer needs access, add them as a manager from the profile's settings rather than handing over your login. You stay the owner, and you can remove them any time.
Your profile and your website work together
Your profile gets you seen. Your website is where people go to look closer, book or buy. Make sure the name, address and phone on your site match your profile exactly, that the site loads quickly on a phone, and that it says clearly which towns you serve.
That last part is where I help. I design and build custom websites with business owners, not from prebuilt templates, and every one is set up to be fast and readable by Google from the start, with the details that connect it to your Business Profile. You can see what's included on my services page.
Want a second set of eyes?
If you'd like to know how your website is holding up, my free website audit shows how it performs on a phone in about 30 seconds, using Google's own testing tool. No call unless you ask for one.
And if you're thinking about a new site, you can tell me about your business here. No pressure either way.
