The short answer
A Business Profile is a free Google listing for businesses that meet customers in person or travel to them. Use your real business name, accurate hours, the fewest and most specific categories, genuine photos and your website link, then verify. Never buy or incentivize reviews. Google ranks local results by relevance, distance and prominence.
What a Business Profile is
A Google Business Profile is the listing that powers your business panel in Google Search and Google Maps. It shows your name, address or service area, phone, hours, photos, reviews and a link to your website. It is a core part of local SEO.
It is managed in your Google account, not on your website, so changing the site does not change the profile. The two should agree, especially on name, address and phone, which together are called NAP. Inconsistent details confuse customers and weaken trust.
Who is eligible
Google's guidelines say a business can have a profile if it has a physical location customers can visit, or if it travels to customers. Each business should have only one profile. Virtual offices are not eligible.
Service-area businesses, such as a plumber or a mobile groomer, should have one profile for the central office and set a service area. If you have a staffed storefront, you can show the address and also set a service area. If you have no storefront, you should hide your address. Google says the service area should generally not extend more than about two hours of driving from the base.
If you only sell online with no location and no travel to customers, you are generally not eligible.
Filling it in properly
Photos matter more than most people expect. Use real pictures of your premises, team and work, not stock images. Add new ones regularly so the profile looks alive. Photos also help customers recognize your place when they arrive.
| Field | What Google's guidelines say | Practical tip |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Use the real-world name from your signage and branding. No taglines, hours, phone numbers, URLs, location details or service descriptions. | Do not add keywords such as "Best Plumber Leeds". It breaks the rules and risks suspension. |
| Categories | Use the fewest categories needed to describe the core business, as specific as possible. | Choose one primary category carefully. Add secondary ones only if they are truly separate services. |
| Hours | List regular, customer-facing hours. Some types, such as appointment-only businesses, generally should not list hours. | Update special hours before holidays. See update business hours. |
| Description | No links, promotions, prices or sales offers, and no gibberish. | Write a plain summary of what you do and who you serve. |
| Phone | Must be under the business's direct control. Premium-rate numbers are not allowed. | Use a number you answer, and keep it the same as on your site. |
| Website | Link to your site. | Link to the most relevant page, usually the home page or a location page. |
Verification
Verification proves you are authorized to represent the business. Google decides which methods you see based on your business type and region, and you cannot choose them freely. The options include phone or text, email, a live video call and a postcard.
For postcards, Google mails a five-digit code to your listed address. It usually arrives within 14 days and expires after 30. While you wait, do not edit your name, address or category and do not request a new code, because either can invalidate it. Google says reviews of verification usually take up to five business days. Video verification is the method Google recommends if you are eligible, and verification can be instant if you already verified through Search Console.
Use an email address that belongs to the business, not a personal inbox of someone who may leave. Read who owns your accounts for why this matters.
Reviews: what is allowed
Reviews are a major signal of prominence. Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. You may remind customers to leave a review by sharing a Google link or QR code, and customers need a Google account to post.
What you must not do is offer anything in return. Google says offering free or discounted goods or services in exchange for reviews is prohibited, as are offers to change a review or remove a negative one. Reviews must reflect a genuine experience. Buying reviews, writing your own and asking staff to post are all risky.
- Ask every customer, not just happy ones. Selecting only the people you expect to be positive can look like manipulation.
- Reply to every review, politely and briefly. Google recommends replying constructively instead of trying to have negative reviews removed.
- Do not share private details about the reviewer. Offer to resolve complex issues by phone or email.
- Flag a review that breaks the rules instead of arguing with it in public.
How local ranking works
Google says local results are based mainly on three factors. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search, so complete and detailed information helps. Distance is how far you are from the searcher, which you cannot change. Prominence is how well known you are, influenced by links from other websites and by the number and rating of reviews.
This is why two businesses with identical profiles can rank differently for different people: distance changes with every searcher.
Common suspensions and how to recover
Google may suspend or disable a profile that does not follow its guidelines. The usual causes we see are keyword-stuffed business names, a virtual office or a mailbox as the address, a hidden-address rule broken, duplicate profiles for one business and fake or incentivized reviews. A restriction on your account for a violation can also suspend every profile you manage.
If it happens, first check your profile against the guidelines and fix what is wrong. Gather evidence where relevant, such as registration papers, licenses or utility bills, making sure the name and address match the profile. Then submit an appeal through Google's appeals tool. Google says each appeal can be submitted only once, so prepare it well, and do not create a new profile for the same business.
Do not create a second profile to get around a suspension. Google says not to, and it usually makes the situation worse.
Worked example: the helpful keyword that was not
Example: The renamed listing
A cleaning company called "Fresh Home Cleaning" renames its profile to "Fresh Home Cleaning, Best Cleaners in Manchester, Call Now". Within weeks the profile is suspended for breaking the name rules. The owner opens a second profile, which gets suspended as well. The recovery: restore the real name from the shop sign, remove the extra profile, appeal the original once with a photo of the signage and a utility bill that matches the address. The lesson: Google's name rule is firm, and a tagline is never worth the risk.
When to ask us
Send a request through the support form if your profile is suspended, if the details are wrong and you cannot change them, or if you need help deciding between a storefront and a service area. We do not need passwords, and you should not send them.
- The exact business name and address as on your signage.
- The message Google showed, copied as text.
- A screenshot link of the profile and any suspension notice.
- Which Google account owns the profile.
