How to Set Up a Google Business Profile, Step by Step

To set up a Google business page, sign in to Google Business Profile with a Google account, enter your business name, choose a primary category, add your address or service area and your phone number and website, then verify that you run the business. Creating the profile is free. After verification, fill in your hours, services, photos and description so the profile is complete when customers find it on Google Search and Maps.

The official name is Google Business Profile, but most people still call it a Google business page or listing. It’s the panel that shows your hours, reviews, photos and directions when someone searches for your business, and for many local businesses it gets seen more often than the website.

Before you start

A few minutes of preparation saves problems later:

• Check whether a profile already exists. Search your business name and city on Google Maps. Google creates some listings from public data, and a previous owner or employee may have set one up. If one exists, claim it or request access rather than making a new one, so you don’t create a duplicate.
• Use a Google account the business controls. A shared business account is safer than a staff member’s personal Gmail. You can add other people as managers later.
• Decide how customers reach you. Do they come to your location, do you go to them, or both? This decides whether you show an address, a service area or both.
• Have your details ready. Your real business name as customers see it on signage and paperwork, a phone number, your website, and your hours.

How to create a free Google business listing

Google adjusts the setup screens regularly, so the wording you see may differ. The information it asks for has stayed much the same.

1. Go to Google Business Profile and sign in. Choose the option to add or manage a business.
2. Enter your business name. If Google suggests an existing listing that matches, select it and follow the prompts to claim it or request access.
3. Choose your primary category. Pick the category that best describes your main business, such as “Dentist” or “Plumber”. It affects which searches you appear for, so choose the most specific accurate option. You can add secondary categories later.
4. Add a location, if customers visit you. Enter the address where you serve customers in person. It must be a real, staffed location, not a PO box or a virtual office you don’t operate from.
5. Add a service area, if you go to customers. List the cities, ZIP codes or regions you serve.
6. Add your phone number and website. Use a number customers can actually reach you on during business hours.
7. Verify the business. See the next section.

How verification works

Verification is how Google confirms you’re the real business at the location or in the area you listed. Until you verify, the profile may not appear publicly and you can’t manage everything on it.

Google decides which verification methods to offer, and they vary by business type, category, location and the profile’s history. Methods Google may offer include:

• Video recording. A short, continuous video showing your location or equipment, signage, and proof you manage the business, such as tools of the trade or access to a staff area.
• Phone call or text. A code sent to the business phone number.
• Email. A code sent to a business email address.
• Live video call. A call with a Google support representative, for some businesses.
• Mail. A postcard with a code, in some cases.

You may be offered only one option, and it may not be the one you’d prefer. Follow the instructions exactly. For video verification, Google’s help pages explain what the recording should show, and a rushed or incomplete video is a common reason verification fails. Verification can take several days to review, and Google may ask for more information.

What to fill in after verification

A verified but empty profile looks unattended. Work through these in order:

1. Hours and special hours. Set regular hours, then add holiday hours ahead of time. Wrong hours are an easy way to lose a customer and gain a bad review.
2. Secondary categories. Add only the ones that describe services you actually offer.
3. Services or products. List what you do in plain terms customers use, such as “drain cleaning” or “teeth whitening”.
4. Description. A factual summary of what you do, who you serve and what sets you apart. Google’s guidelines say it shouldn’t include links or promotional gimmicks, and stuffing it with keywords won’t help.
5. Photos. Your logo, storefront (so people recognize it on arrival), interior, team at work and typical products or jobs. Real photos beat stock images.
6. Attributes. Accessibility, payment methods, amenities and similar options Google offers for your category.
7. Booking or appointment links, if you use an online scheduler.
8. Other managers. Add a second owner or manager so access doesn’t depend on one person.

You can edit most of this directly from Google Search or Maps when you’re signed in to the managing account. Some edits go through a quick review before they appear publicly.

Service-area businesses: hiding your address

If you serve customers at their location and don’t welcome them at yours, Google’s guidelines say you shouldn’t show your address. Plumbers, cleaners, mobile groomers and many contractors fall into this group. You still enter an address during setup so Google can verify you, but you choose not to display it and list your service areas instead.

If you do both, such as a landscaping company with a garden center customers visit, show the address and add a service area. What you shouldn’t do is show a home address as a storefront, or list an address you don’t operate from to appear in a different city. Our guide to why a business isn’t showing on Google Maps explains how service-area settings affect where you appear.

A worked example

This is an illustrative scenario, not a real business.

An electrician works from home and serves three nearby towns. He searches Maps and finds no existing listing, so he starts a new profile with a shared business Gmail. He enters his registered business name, “Harper Electric”, rather than “Harper Electric Best Emergency Electrician”, chooses “Electrician” as the primary category, and adds his three towns as a service area. He chooses not to show his home address.

Google offers video verification. He records one continuous clip showing his work van with the business name, his tools, and him opening the business account on his phone. A few days later the profile is verified. He adds his hours, lists services like panel upgrades and EV charger installation, uploads photos of real jobs, and writes a two-sentence description. Then he starts asking every customer for a review at the end of each job.

How to avoid a suspension

Google suspends profiles that appear to break its guidelines, and getting reinstated can take time. Most suspensions trace back to a handful of avoidable issues:

Do	Don’t
Use your real-world business name, as on signage and paperwork	Add keywords, locations or taglines to the name
Use a real address where you operate, or hide it if you’re service-area only	Use a PO box, virtual office or a friend’s address
Create one profile per real location	Create extra profiles for each service or nearby town
Choose categories that match what you do	Pick categories just because they get more searches
Update the existing profile when you move or rebrand	Create a new profile and abandon the old one

Reviews are part of this too. Google prohibits fake reviews, reviews from staff, incentives for reviews and selectively asking only happy customers. Breaking those rules can lead to removed reviews and restrictions on the profile.

Common mistakes

• Making a duplicate. If a profile already exists, claim it. Two profiles for one business confuse customers and split your reviews.
• Letting one person own everything. Staff leave. Make sure the business owner holds owner access.
• Setting it and forgetting it. Customers can suggest edits to your profile. Check it regularly so unwanted changes don’t stick.
• Ignoring reviews. Replying shows readers someone is paying attention.
• Buying “verification services”. Nobody outside Google can verify your profile for you or skip the process.

Next steps: reviews and upkeep

Once the profile is live, reviews do most of the work of convincing people. Unlike Yelp, Google allows you to ask every customer for a review, as long as you don’t offer incentives or ask only the happy ones. Our guide to getting more Google reviews covers how to build a steady flow, and a Google review QR code makes asking in person easy.

After that, keep the profile current: holiday hours, new photos a few times a year, occasional Business Profile posts, and replies to every review. If you’d rather hand the whole thing over, our Google Business Profile management service covers setup, upkeep and review handling for you.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Google business listing free?

Yes. Creating and managing a Google Business Profile costs nothing. Google offers paid advertising separately, but you don’t need it to have a profile, and ads don’t affect your reviews.

How long does it take to set up a Google business page?

Entering your details takes a short time. Verification is what varies: some methods confirm you quickly, while others, such as video review, can take several days, and Google may ask for more information.

Can I choose how Google verifies my business?

Not fully. Google decides which methods to offer based on your business type, location and other factors. You may be offered video, phone or text, email or another method, and sometimes only one.

Can I set up a Google business page without a storefront?

Yes. Service-area businesses can create a profile, list the areas they serve, and hide their address. You still provide an address privately for verification.

What should I do if my business already has a Google listing I didn't create?

Claim it or request ownership rather than creating a new one. If someone else controls it, Google has a process for requesting access. Our guide on removing a Google business listing covers duplicates and old listings.