Google Business Profile: a guide for local businesses

When someone searches "barber" or "coffee" on their phone, the first results are usually the profiles on the map, not websites. This guide covers what to fill in, what decides your place on the map and how to ask for reviews without risking a suspension.

What a Google Business Profile is

A Google Business Profile is a business's listing on Google Maps and in Google Search. It shows your name, your address or the area you serve, opening hours, phone number, website, photos and reviews. Restaurants and cafés also get fields for a menu, bookings and online orders.

Any business with a location customers can visit, or that travels to its customers, can have one: a salon, an auto repair shop, a plumber, a dental practice. Online-only businesses aren't eligible, and Google says explicitly that a virtual office, rented only for its address, can't have a profile.

How to create and verify it

You create the profile for free from your business's Google account at business.google.com, with your name, category, address or service area, phone number and website.

Then comes verification, where Google confirms the business exists and that you represent it. The methods vary from one business to the next, and Google only shows you the ones available to you. One of them is a video recording: a clip filmed on the spot with your phone, in one continuous take, showing the location (the business, the street, landmarks), proof that it operates (equipment, products, branded materials) and that you have access to it (unlocking the door or a staff-only area, for example).

What to fill in, and how

Photos are uploaded as JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB; Google recommends 720 × 720 pixels, in focus, well lit and without heavy filters. Videos can be up to 30 seconds long.

How to rank higher on Google Maps

Google says local results are based mainly on three things:

• Relevance: how well the profile matches what someone is searching for. Your category, description, services and website content count here.
• Distance: how far the business is from the person searching. You can't change this one.
• Prominence: how well known the business is. Google looks at, among other things, how many websites link to the business and how many reviews it has. More reviews and good ratings can help.

Google also says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Its advice is simple: verify the profile, keep the information current, reply to reviews and add photos and videos.

Reviews: how to ask the right way

Reviews matter to customers as much as to Google. In BrightLocal's 2026 survey of US consumers, 97% said they read online reviews, 74% only pay attention to reviews from the last three months, and 47% won't use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.

What Google allows:

• A link or QR code from your profile that opens the review form directly. Put it on receipts, in confirmation emails or on a card at the counter.
• Asking every customer, not just the happy ones.

What Google prohibits:

• Incentives: discounts, free products or money in exchange for a review, or for removing a negative one.
• Selective asking: sending the link only to customers who seem satisfied.
• Pressure on the premises and targets for staff ("10 reviews a week").
• Reviews from employees, former employees or relatives, who have a conflict of interest.

Reviews that break these rules are removed, and repeated violations can get the account suspended. The law adds its own rules. In the US, the FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials, in effect since 21 October 2024, bans fake reviews (including AI-generated ones), incentives tied to a positive or negative review, undisclosed reviews from insiders and suppressing negative reviews through threats; courts can impose civil penalties for knowing violations. The FTC rule doesn't ban every incentive, but Google does, so on Google the answer is simply no. In the EU, fake reviews presented as coming from consumers are an unfair commercial practice under the Omnibus Directive. A ready-made request message, where to put the QR code and what to do about a fake review are in How to get Google reviews.

How to reply to reviews

In BrightLocal's survey, 89% of consumers expect owners to respond to reviews, and half are put off by generic, copy-pasted replies. Google recommends the same:

• Short, honest replies, addressed to the person by name and signed with yours.
• No copy-pasted thank-yous; reply where you have something to add.
• No promotions in your reply.
• For negative reviews: no personal details and no personal attacks, an apology where it's due, and complicated issues moved to the phone or email.

What has changed in recent years

• Websites made from profiles are gone. Google shut them down in March 2024. The details are in do I need a website for my business.
• Profile chat was switched off on 31 July 2024, along with call history. Customers can only call or visit your website.
• AI answers in Google Maps. In March 2026, Google launched Ask Maps in the US and India, a Gemini feature that answers questions about places using profiles and reviews. A complete profile means accurate answers about your business. How to show up in ChatGPT as well is covered in the guide to AI answers.

The profile and the website work together

The profile is your shop window on the map; the website is where customers find the details: prices, services, menu, booking. The profile's fields for website, menu and bookings need pages to point to, and sites linking to your business count toward how well known Google considers it. That's why the details have to match in both places: same name, same address, same phone number, same hours.

The checklist

1. The profile is claimed and verified, with only one profile per location.
2. The name is the one on your sign, with nothing added.
3. The primary category is the most specific one, with few extra categories.
4. Hours are correct, including holidays.
5. Website, menu and bookings link to your own pages.
6. Photos are current: storefront, interior, products, team.
7. You ask every customer for a review, with the link or QR code from your profile.
8. You reply to reviews within a few days.

A website built for local search, with the same details as your profile, is part of every web design project we take on.