Your Google Business Profile is your listing on Google Search and Maps. Get it right the first time and you skip a lot of pain later: suspensions, re-verification, duplicate listings. We'll go through it section by section, in the order Google asks.
Step 1: Create or claim, but don't duplicate
Before you create anything, search Google Maps for your business name and city. You may already have an unverified profile. Google sometimes builds one from public data, and customers can add one too.
- If a profile exists, open it, choose the claim option and then "Manage now". Google's help page says that if an unverified profile already exists, "you can claim the Business Profile."
- If none exists, go to business.google.com/add and add your business.
Don't create a second profile if one already exists. You'd end up with two listings, and any reviews on the old one stay stuck there.
Step 2: Your business name
Enter your real-world name exactly as it appears on your sign, your truck, your invoices and your website. Lesson 1 covers why adding keywords or cities is against the guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
Step 3: Categories
Your primary category is the single most important description of your business. Google's advice:
- "Select a primary category that best describes your business."
- Be specific where you can. Google's example: choose "Nail salon" instead of "Salon".
- You "can't create your own category", so pick the closest one from the list.
Secondary categories are optional. Google says to use "a few categories from the provided list" and "do not select a category for every product or service." The guidelines suggest a simple test: the category should complete the sentence "This business is a…", not "This business has a…".
Google also notes that some categories switch on extra features, such as booking buttons for health and beauty businesses or menus for restaurants. Changing a category may trigger re-verification, so settle it early.
Step 4: Address, service area, or both
Trade businesses get this wrong all the time. There are three types of business, and each has its own rules.
| Your business | What to enter | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Storefront: customers come to you | Your address. No service area needed. | Dental office, restaurant, med spa |
| Service-area business: you go to customers and don't serve them at your address | A service area. Hide or remove the address. | Plumber, mobile pet groomer, house cleaner |
| Hybrid: customers visit you and you travel to them | Address plus service area | Tire shop with mobile service |
Google's guidelines say: "If you're a service-area business, you should hide your business address from customers." The service-area help page puts it the same way: "If you don't serve customers at your business address, remove your address from your Business Profile." You still enter an address during setup so Google can verify you, but you don't show it.
A few rules for service areas:
- You can set "up to 20 service areas based on the cities, postal codes, or other areas you serve."
- You can't use a radius around your business.
- Google's guidelines say the overall area "shouldn't extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based," though larger areas may be appropriate for some businesses.
Some address rules apply to everyone. P.O. boxes and mailboxes at remote locations aren't acceptable, and a "virtual office" where you don't actually operate "isn't eligible for a Business Profile."
Step 5: Phone and website
- Use a phone number "under the direct control of the business", ideally a local number rather than a central call center.
- Link to your own website. If you have several locations, link each profile to the page for that location. Google says not to use URLs that redirect people to other landing pages.
Step 6: Hours
Enter your "regular customer-facing hours of operation." Then use special hours for holidays and one-off changes, so your regular hours stay intact. Google recommends confirming hours for official holidays even when they're the same as usual, so customers know they're accurate. For closures of seven days or more, Google suggests marking the business "Temporarily closed" instead.
If you offer separate hours for something specific (for example, emergency call-outs or a pharmacy counter), use More hours instead of changing your main hours.
Step 7: Attributes
Attributes are the extra details shown on your profile, such as wheelchair accessibility, payment options, or "women-owned" and "veteran-owned" under Business identity. Some you set yourself; others "may be populated based on inputs from customers."
Take them literally. Google's accessibility attributes come with definitions. For example, select "Yes" for an accessible entrance only if it is at least three feet (one meter) wide with no steps. Google says attribute updates usually take about 10 minutes to review but can take up to 30 days.
Step 8: Verification
Verification is how Google confirms you're authorized to represent the business. Unverified profiles can't reply to reviews, and Google says verification makes you more likely to appear in results.
Google documents these methods:
| Method | How it works |
|---|---|
| Phone or text | A code by call or SMS. Automated phone menus (IVR) won't receive it. |
| Steps sent to an email address shown on screen. | |
| Video recording | You record a short video showing your location, equipment or proof of management. Google recommends it if you're eligible. |
| Live video call | A Google support rep checks things with you live, during your business hours. |
| Postcard | A 5-digit code mailed to your address. Not available for all businesses. |
What to know going in:
- "Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed." You can't pick postcard if Google offers only video.
- Some businesses need more than one method.
- After you finish, review usually takes up to 5 business days. Postcards mostly arrive within 14 days, and codes expire after 30 days.
- Some businesses are verified instantly, for example if the website is already verified in Google Search Console (lesson 6).
Video verification, per Google's video help page: record live, in one "unedited, unique, and complete recording with no breaks" of at least 30 seconds. Show your location (street signs or nearby landmarks), your tools or a branded vehicle, and proof you manage the business, such as a permit, invoice or utility bill in the business name. Keep bank, tax or ID numbers and other people's faces out of the shot.
A local example
An illustrative example, not a real company. Desert Line Plumbing is a two-van plumbing company in Mesa, Arizona, run out of the owner's home. Here's how the setup goes:
- Search Maps for "Desert Line Plumbing Mesa" and find an old unverified listing showing the home address. Claim it rather than creating a new one.
- Primary category: "Plumber". One secondary: a water heater category, if Google offers a matching one, because they do that work every week. No "Bathroom remodeler", since they don't.
- Remove the address from the profile and add service areas: Mesa, Gilbert, Chandler, Tempe and Queen Creek.
- Phone: the business mobile the owner answers. Website: the home page.
- Hours: 7 am to 6 pm weekdays; emergency hours under More hours.
- Verify by video in one live take: the street sign, the branded van, the tool racks, and the city business license.
Do this now
Should a plumber or HVAC company show their home address on Google?
No. Google's guidelines say service-area businesses should hide their business address. Enter it for verification, then remove it from the profile and add service areas instead.
How many service areas can I add?
Up to 20, by city, ZIP code or other area. Google says the area generally shouldn't extend beyond about two hours' driving from your base.
Can I choose how Google verifies my business?
No. Google decides which methods are available based on your business type, region and other information, and you can't change them.
How long does Google Business Profile verification take?
Google says reviews usually take up to 5 business days after you complete verification. Postcards mostly arrive within 14 days.
Sources
- Add or claim your Business Profile, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Guidelines for representing your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Manage your business category, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- How to set Special hours, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Manage your business attributes, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Verify your business on Google, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
- Verify your business with a video recording, Google Business Profile Help (checked Oct 2026)
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