Set up and verify
Create or claim the listing, confirm your business details and complete the verification Google requires. Use your real business name with no keyword stuffing.
Categories, services and description
The primary category carries the most weight. Add secondary categories only if they truly apply, list each service with a short description, and write a clear description of what you do and where.
Photos, posts and Q&A
Upload original photos regularly, post updates and offers, and answer questions customers ask. Fresh activity signals an active business.
Reviews
Share your review link after each job, respond to all reviews politely, and flag fake ones through Google instead of arguing publicly.
Common mistakes
Keyword-stuffed names, inconsistent phone numbers, wrong categories, duplicate listings and ignored reviews are the usual culprits.
A field-by-field walkthrough
Fill in everything. Complete profiles are more useful to customers and tend to perform better.
- Business name: your real name, exactly as on signage
- Primary category: the single most accurate option
- Secondary categories: only those that truly apply
- Address or service area: accurate and consistent with your website
- Phone and website: the same ones you use elsewhere
- Hours: regular, special and holiday hours kept current
- Services and products: each with a short description
- Attributes: accessibility, payment methods, amenities
- Description: what you do, for whom and where, in plain language
- Photos and video: original, recent and varied
Handling reviews well
Reply to every review within a day or two. Thank people by name where appropriate, mention the service they used and keep replies short and genuine. For criticism, acknowledge the problem, say what you will do and offer to continue offline. A calm reply is read by future customers as much as by the reviewer.
Never offer payment or discounts in exchange for reviews, and do not ask only happy customers in a way that breaks platform rules. A simple message after a job with a direct review link works well and stays within the guidelines.
Measuring what the profile delivers
The profile reports views, searches, calls, direction requests and website clicks. Track them monthly and compare with your website analytics and phone log. If views are high but calls are low, check the phone number, hours and first photos. If calls are high but conversions are low, look at how calls are answered and how quickly enquiries get a reply.
Photos and videos that help
Original photos build trust and improve engagement. Show the exterior so people can recognise the building, the interior, the team, the work and products. Add new ones regularly rather than all at once. Avoid heavily edited or stock images, which can mislead and may be removed.
Short videos of the premises or a service in action can also help, as long as they are genuine and follow the platform's rules on length and content.
Posts, offers and Q&A
Posts let you share news, offers and events directly on the profile. They are not a ranking shortcut, but they show activity and give visitors a reason to act. Keep them short, specific and dated, with a clear call to action.
Questions and answers appear on the profile too, so seed it with the questions customers really ask and answer them clearly. Check regularly for new questions from the public and reply promptly.
Problems and how to fix them
Profiles occasionally run into trouble.
- Suspended profile: check the guidelines, correct the issue and submit a reinstatement request
- Duplicate listing: report and request a merge or removal
- Wrong information added by users: edit it or suggest corrections
- Fake or abusive reviews: flag them with evidence and respond calmly
- Competitor spam: report listings that break the rules
- Verification problems: use the options offered and make sure details match your documents
Categories, services and attributes in more depth
Choose your primary category carefully, because it influences which searches you appear for more than anything else on the profile. Look at the categories used by the businesses ranking above you for your main searches and choose the one that matches what most of your customers want. Add secondary categories only when you genuinely provide those services.
List every service with a short, plain description, and add prices or price ranges where you can. Use attributes such as accessibility, payment methods or amenities to give customers the practical details they look for. The more complete and accurate the profile, the more questions it answers before anyone has to call.
Service-area businesses
If you travel to customers instead of receiving them, the setup differs slightly.
- Hide your address if customers do not visit you, as the guidelines allow
- List the areas you serve accurately, rather than every area within a long distance
- Describe the services you offer in each area on your website
- Create pages for the main areas with real local examples
- Make your phone number and response time prominent
- Collect reviews that mention the areas you serve
A monthly profile routine
Spend a short, regular time on the profile each month. Check the details are still correct, add fresh photos, publish a post or an offer, answer new reviews and new questions, review the performance figures and note what changed. Small, steady attention beats a big effort once a year.
If several people look after the profile, agree who is responsible for what, and keep a record of login details and changes. Many problems, such as suspended listings or wrong hours, begin when nobody is clearly in charge.
Using the profile together with your website
The profile and the website support each other. The profile gets people to notice you in the map results, and the website gives them the detail to decide. Link the profile to the most relevant page rather than always to the home page: a clinic's profile might link to the booking page, a restaurant's to the menu, a shop's to the store page.
Make sure the details match exactly: name, address, phone number, hours and services. Embed the map on the contact page, include the same opening hours in text and use LocalBusiness structured data that mirrors the profile. When search engines see the same facts in several trusted places, they trust each one more.
Use the profile's own tools where they fit your business: booking links, menus, product listings, messaging and Q&A. Each one shortens the path from search to customer, and each is a small signal that the business is active and well run.
What to do when your profile stops ranking
Rankings in the map results move for many reasons, and not all are within your control. Start by checking the basics: is the profile still verified, are the hours and category correct, has anyone suggested edits, and did a competitor add reviews or photos? Look at the profile's insights for a sudden drop in views and compare with the same period last year to allow for seasonality.
If nothing is wrong, work on the signals you can influence: add fresh photos, collect reviews, answer questions, link to the most relevant page and strengthen your website's local content. Rankings usually recover as these signals build. Avoid drastic changes, such as renaming the business or changing the category, unless you are sure they are correct.
Related services