Google My Business SEO means optimizing your Google Business Profile, the free listing that puts a business in Google Maps and local search results. Verify the profile, use your real-world name, pick the most specific primary category, keep the address or service area, hours and services accurate, add real photos, and earn and answer reviews within Google's rules.
This guide works through the profile field by field: verification (including video), the naming and address rules behind most suspensions, categories, hours, services, photos, posts and reviews, the features Google has retired, and how to read the performance report. Citations, location pages and local link building sit outside the profile, so they are covered in our local SEO guide instead.
What happened to Google My Business
Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile on November 4, 2021. In the announcement, Google recommended that small businesses manage their profiles directly in Google Search and the Google Maps app, said it would retire the Google My Business app in 2022, and renamed the old web dashboard Business Profile Manager, to serve mainly larger businesses with many locations. The listing itself stayed the same. People still search for the old name, so this guide uses it here once and the current name from now on.
A Business Profile is for businesses that meet customers face to face. Google's eligibility guidelines require in-person contact with customers during stated hours, either at a location they can visit or where the customers are. Seasonal businesses qualify if they keep permanent signage all year, and ATMs and mail drop boxes are allowed with contact details for help. Online-only businesses, lead-generation companies and rental or for-sale properties are not eligible; for select e-commerce retailers, Google offers a separate brand profile that appears when people search for the brand name.
How Google ranks Business Profiles
Google's help page on local ranking names three factors and states that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking:
| Factor | Google's definition | What you control in the profile |
|---|---|---|
| Relevance | How well a profile matches what someone searched for | Categories, services, description and attributes |
| Distance | How far the business is from the searcher, or from where Google thinks they are | An accurate address or service area, and nothing else |
| Prominence | How well known the business is, including links to it and how many reviews it has | Reviews and your replies; links and mentions elsewhere |
As of September 2026 the same page also calls the third factor "popularity" in its summary sentence, then defines it as prominence; they are one idea.
Google's own list of ways to improve local ranking is short: verify the business, keep the information complete and accurate (address, hours, category, and details such as parking or Wi-Fi), reply to reviews, add photos and videos, and, for eligible retailers, show in-store products. Two more details from its help pages matter. The categories you select affect local ranking, and a business marked temporarily closed can rank after open businesses for broad searches. Posts are not on the list: treat them as a way to convert people who have already found the profile. Distance is set by where you are, so the rest of this guide is about relevance and prominence, in the order you set them up.
Create, claim and verify your profile
- Use a Google Account the business controls. Any email address works, not only Gmail. Google's security advice is to keep owner access with the business, use an email alias for managers, turn on 2-Step Verification and remove former employees promptly.
- Check whether a profile already exists. Search Google Maps for the business name and city. An unverified profile shows "Claim this business"; select it, then Manage now (Google's steps). If Google says someone else has already verified it, request ownership instead of creating a second profile. Google also warns that unclaimed locations are more prone to hijacking, so claim every location you run.
- Otherwise, add the business at business.google.com/add and enter the name, category, address or service area, phone number and website, following the rules in the next sections.
- Verify it. Until you do, only some details can be edited, you cannot reply to reviews, your photos stay hidden, and the profile is less likely to show in results.
Verification methods
Google chooses which methods to offer from your business type, public information, region and business hours, and you cannot change them. Some businesses have to complete more than one.
| Method | How it works | Watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Phone or SMS | A code by call or text to the business number, entered on the profile | An interactive voice response (IVR) system cannot receive the code |
| A link sent to the address shown on the verification screen | You need access to that exact mailbox | |
| Live video call | A Google support representative joins a call while you show the location, equipment and proof you run it | Only available during the location's business hours |
| Video recording | A continuous recording made and uploaded from a phone inside the profile | Google's recommended method when you are offered it |
| Postcard | A 5-digit code mailed to the business address; most arrive within 14 days | Codes expire after 30 days, and editing the name, address or category voids them |
After you finish, Google reviews the submission for up to 5 business days. Two routes can be instant: a business website that is already verified in Google Search Console, and bulk verification for a business with 10 or more locations, which is not available to service-area businesses or to agencies holding several businesses in one account.
Warning
Google never asks for your verification code, and it never charges to verify or reinstate a profile. Do not share the code, even with people who manage the profile for you, and treat any call or email offering paid verification as a scam.
Verify with a video recording
When video is offered, Google recommends it, and its requirements are strict: one unedited recording of at least 30 seconds with no breaks, captured live in the Business Profile on a mobile device. A video recorded earlier cannot be uploaded. In that single take, a storefront or hybrid business shows its location (street signs, building numbers, neighbouring businesses), a permanent sign carrying the same name as the profile, and proof of management, such as opening the cash register, the kitchen or a storage room. A service-area business films landmarks near its base (for a home-based business, the immediate neighbourhood), its tools or branded vehicle, and a business permit, invoice or utility bill in the business's name. Keep ID and bank numbers and other people's faces out of the frame. A rejected video comes back with reasons, and the next recording must include everything from the first plus what was missing.
Name, address and service area: the rules behind suspensions
Google's guidelines for representing your business are the rulebook, and they state plainly that unnecessary information in the name could get the profile suspended. The name must be the one the business uses consistently on its storefront, website and stationery; the city, services and hours each have their own field.
| Not allowed in the name | Example of the mistake |
|---|---|
| Marketing taglines | Example Physiotherapy, Feel Better Faster |
| Services, products or locations | Example Physiotherapy Sports Injuries Downtown |
| Hours or status | Example Physiotherapy (Open Sundays) |
| Phone numbers, website addresses or store codes | Example Physiotherapy #0412 |
| Full capitals, trademark signs and legal terms | EXAMPLE PHYSIOTHERAPY INC.® |
| The same name repeated in two languages or scripts | Example Physiotherapy / Physiothérapie Exemple |
In every row the correct name is simply Example Physiotherapy. Special characters and legal terms such as Ltd. are allowed only when you can show real-world proof, such as signage or invoices, that the business always uses them.
The address rules are just as specific:
- Use the precise address of a location you operate from, with the suite or unit on the second address line.
- P.O. boxes and mailboxes at remote locations are not accepted, and a virtual office (a rented mailing address you do not work from) is not eligible.
- An office in a co-working space counts only if it has clear signage, receives customers and is staffed by your team during business hours.
- A business that shows its address should keep permanent signage with its name there.
- Create one profile per location, whether in one account or several. Public-facing individual practitioners, such as doctors, lawyers and real estate agents, and distinct public-facing departments may have their own.
- If the address has no street number, or Google cannot find it, place the pin on the map yourself.
If you go to customers and do not serve them at your address, you are a service-area business: remove the address, keep one profile for the whole area, and list up to 20 cities, postal codes or other areas. You cannot draw a radius, the overall area should stay within about 2 hours' drive of your base, and approved edits can take up to 48 hours to appear. A hybrid business, such as a restaurant that also delivers, shows its staffed address and a service area. Businesses selling age-restricted products such as alcohol, cannabis or weapons need a storefront. A minor name change can be made on the existing profile; a genuinely new name means marking the old profile closed and creating a new one.
When a profile is suspended
Google may suspend or disable profiles that break these guidelines. The way back is the same in most cases:
- Fix the profile first. Google asks you to make sure it follows all the guidelines before you appeal.
- Open the Business Profile appeals tool, signed in to the account linked to the profile. It shows the restriction, the reason and a link to the policy.
- Submit the appeal, then add evidence: an official business registration, a business licence, tax certificates or a utility bill, with the name and address matching the profile. The evidence form must be sent within 60 minutes of opening it.
- Wait for the emailed decision. Google says appeal reviews can take up to 5 business days. Do not file a second appeal for the same issue, and do not create a new profile for the business while one is under review.
If the Google Account itself is restricted, every profile it manages is suspended and it cannot claim new ones. Appeal the account on the My accounts page first, then the profiles.
Choose your primary and additional categories
Google's category help says plainly that the categories you select affect your local ranking, and gives the example of a "Pizza restaurant" appearing for searches such as restaurants, Italian restaurants or pizza. The guidelines supply the test for choosing: a category should complete the sentence "this business IS a", not "this business HAS a".
- Primary category: the most specific category that still describes your core business, picked from Google's list ("Nail salon" rather than "Salon"). You cannot create your own, and Google adds the general categories behind a specific one by itself.
- Additional categories: up to 9, according to Google's bulk upload specification, for departments or other core lines of work. Not one per product or amenity, and never as keywords.
- Businesses inside yours: a café run independently inside a gym gets its own profile with its own primary category, not an extra category on the gym's profile.
- Timing: adding or changing a category can trigger re-verification, so settle categories early.
- Chains: every location that offers the same service uses the same category.
Google's own example is a grocery store with an in-house bakery and deli: "Grocery store" as the primary category, with "Bakery" and "Deli" added. The category also unlocks features. Hotels can show class ratings and amenities, restaurants can add menus and ordering or reservation links, and health and beauty businesses can add a booking button and a list of services.
Set hours, special hours and closures
Hours are part of what Google matches. Its explanation of local results uses the example of a salon appearing for "salons open now" because it provided its address and hours. Set them in this order:
- Regular hours: the customer-facing hours for a normal week. A lunch break is two entries for the same day. Some businesses should not list hours at all: hotels, schools, cinemas, transport services, event venues and businesses that work only by appointment.
- Special hours for holidays, events and other exceptions, set in advance. Google suggests confirming your hours for official holidays even when they match the usual ones, so customers can trust them. Special hours only show when the profile is set to "Open with main hours".
- More hours for specific services, such as delivery, takeout, drive-through or senior hours. They appear only once regular hours exist, and should be a subset of the main hours.
- Closures: a closure of six days or fewer belongs in special hours. For anything longer than a week, an off-season or an unknown period, mark the business Temporarily closed, and use Permanently closed when it is gone for good.
Where a business has several sets of hours, Google's guidelines pick one: restaurants use dine-in hours, banks use lobby hours and gas stations use the hours of the pumps.
Complete the description, services, products and attributes
These fields feed relevance, and they answer the questions a customer would otherwise call about.
- Description: up to 750 characters on what you offer, what sets you apart and your history. No links of any kind, no prices or promotions, and no gimmicky characters. In some regions Google can suggest an AI-written description; check it before saving. Most edits are reviewed within about 10 minutes, and some take up to 30 days.
- Services: the services editor suggests services for your category, such as "Repair toilet" for a plumber. Add custom ones, group them and give them descriptions and prices. Custom service names containing prices or phone numbers are rejected automatically. When customers review a service business, they may be asked to pick the service they received, from this list or from common job types.
- Products: retailers in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland can show in-store products, entered in the Product Editor or synced from the point-of-sale system through the Local Inventory app. Products must meet Google's Shopping ads policy, and a violation can remove the whole product list.
- Attributes: yes-or-no facts such as Wi-Fi, payment options or accessibility, some set by you and some from customers who visit. They can make the business appear in searches for those features, and each has a definition: Google's attributes help counts an entrance as wheelchair-accessible when it is about 1 metre (3 feet) wide with no steps, or has a ramp.
Booking and ordering links meet your hosting
Links for appointments, reservations and orders must go to a page for that specific location where the action can actually be completed; social media, messaging, app store and shortened links are not accepted. Google checks them with a crawler that identifies itself as Google-BusinessLinkVerification, visits at most daily and, to enforce the policy, ignores robots.txt (business links policy). If a CAPTCHA, rate limit, IP block, user-agent rule or geoblock stops that crawler, or the page returns 403, 404, 500 or 503, the link can be removed. If the site sits behind bot protection in a CDN or firewall, check that it lets this crawler reach those landing pages.
Add photos, videos and posts
Photos and videos appear only after verification, and Google's photo guidelines set the limits:
| Photos | Videos | |
|---|---|---|
| Format and size | JPG or PNG, 10 KB to 5 MB | Up to 75 MB |
| Resolution | 720 × 720 px recommended, 250 × 250 px minimum | 720p or higher |
| Length | Not applicable | Up to 30 seconds |
Start with an exterior photo, which Google says helps customers recognize the business when they arrive, then the interior, products, the team at work and completed jobs. Images should be in focus, well lit and free of heavy filters. Google reviews each upload, which can take 24 to 48 hours. The cover photo you choose is not guaranteed to appear first, and a low-quality one may be replaced by a customer's photo. The logo shows only once the name, a street address, categories, phone number and hours are complete.
Posts come in three types:
- Updates: news with a description, photo or video, and an optional button such as Book or Order online.
- Offers: a title and a date range, with an automatic "View offer" button, plus an optional coupon code and terms.
- Events: a title with start and end dates; without times, the event shows as lasting 24 hours on each date.
Posts can be scheduled, repeated weekly or monthly, and published to several profiles at once. A post older than 6 months is archived unless it has a date range. The posts content policy removes posts with contact details Google cannot verify, so use the Call now button instead of typing a phone number, and hotels cannot publish offers at all.
Get and answer reviews within Google's rules
Reviews are the part of prominence you can work on inside the profile. In the profile, choose Read reviews, then Get more reviews, to copy a review link or download a QR code; the QR code can only be generated in a computer browser, not on a phone. Put the link on receipts and in thank-you emails, and the QR code at the counter. Customers need a Google Account to post, though it does not have to be Gmail. Google's own review tips note that a mix of positive and negative reviews often reads as more trustworthy, which is a good reason not to chase only five-star ones.
What you may not do is set out in Google's fake engagement and rating manipulation policies. Merchants must not:
- Offer payment, discounts or free goods or services for posting a review, or for changing or removing a negative one.
- Discourage negative reviews, or selectively ask happy customers for positive ones.
- Pressure customers to review while on the premises, or ask them to include specific content.
- Set staff quotas for reviews, or ask for reviews that name a staff member.
- Post or solicit reviews from people with a conflict of interest, such as employees, former employees, contractors, family members or competitors, or post from several accounts.
The same request, sent the same way, to every customer keeps you inside those rules. The moment a satisfaction survey or a staff member decides who receives the link, the request becomes review gating.
Breaking the policy costs more than the removed reviews. Google can restrict the profile so it cannot receive new reviews for a set period, unpublish its existing reviews for a time, or show customers a warning that fake reviews were removed. It notifies the owner by email and accepts appeals. The consumer-protection law on fake reviews in the US, UK, Canada and Australia is summarized in our local SEO guide.
Replying is where the profile shows how the business behaves. Replies are checked against Google's content policies, usually within 10 minutes and occasionally up to 30 days, then posted under the review in the business's name, and the reviewer is notified and can update their review. Keep replies short, specific and free of promotions, answer the reviews where you can add something rather than pasting the same thank-you everywhere, and never reveal a reviewer's private information. Take anything complex to phone or email. Flag a review only when it breaks the content policies; if Google decides it does not, you get one appeal.
Important
A sudden wave of one- and two-star reviews followed by a demand for money to remove them is an extortion scam. Do not pay or negotiate. Save screenshots of every message with dates and sender details, collect links to the reviews, and report it through Google's merchant extortion form.
Features Google retired, and what replaced them
Old guides still recommend features that no longer exist. As of September 2026:
| Feature | What happened | What to use instead |
|---|---|---|
| Google My Business name and app | Renamed Google Business Profile on November 4, 2021; Google said the app would be retired in 2022 | The profile in Search or Maps, or Business Profile Manager |
| Websites made with Business Profile (business.site) | Turned off on March 5, 2024; visitors were redirected to the profile until June 10, 2024 | Your own website in the profile's website field |
| Chat, chat FAQs and quote requests | Ended July 31, 2024; chat records could be exported with Google Takeout until August 30, 2024 | WhatsApp or text message links, where offered in your region |
| Call history | Ended July 31, 2024; Google forwarding numbers on profiles were replaced with the business's own number | The Calls metric in the performance report |
| Short names (g.page links) | Can no longer be created or edited; existing links still work but are not shown on profiles | The review link, or a link to the profile from Maps |
| Q&A API | Discontinued on November 3, 2025, with its question and answer notifications | Common answers in the description, services and your website |
The direction of travel is answers generated from profile data. On March 12, 2026 Google introduced Ask Maps, a Gemini-powered conversational feature in Google Maps, first in the U.S. and India, which analyzes information from over 300 million places, including reviews from more than 500 million contributors. It draws on the same place information that Business Profiles feed, reviews included, so a complete and accurate profile is what such answers have to work with. For spoken questions to assistants, see voice search optimization.
Measure the profile and keep it secure
Read the performance report
Open Performance from the profile. It is available only for verified profiles and counts activity from both organic results and Google Ads. The metrics that apply to your business appear: interactions, the search terms that showed the profile, views, direction requests, calls, website clicks and, depending on the category, bookings, menu views, product views and offers. Two details keep the numbers honest: a person is counted as a view at most once a day, and the search-terms list updates at the start of each month and can take up to 5 days to appear. If you run several locations, download them together from Business Profile Manager and compare them in one spreadsheet. Linking the profile to Google Analytics 4 and tagging its website link are covered in the local SEO guide.
Two newer tools sit alongside the report. The Profile Strength indicator, shown only on verified profiles, walks you through missing details such as the description, hours and photos. And as of September 2026, Google is gradually rolling out a Business Profile connection in the Gemini web app that can update hours, draft review replies, create posts and summarize performance and search terms. It works only for someone who owns or manages a single verified profile, with a personal Google Account, outside the European Economic Area and the United Kingdom.
Owners, managers and Google's own edits
A profile can have several owners but only one primary owner. Managers can do almost everything owners can, except add or remove people or delete the profile. Give each person their own Google Account rather than a shared password, and when an agency manages the profile, Google's eligibility guidelines require it to transfer ownership to the business owner immediately on request.
Google also edits profiles itself, using user reports and licensed data. Information Google has changed appears in blue in the profile editor. When a user's suggested edit needs your review, you have 4 days to accept or reject it, after which Google may publish it if other public information, such as your website, supports it. That is one more reason to keep the website and the profile saying the same thing, and to read Google's notifications instead of filtering them away.
A Business Profile rewards routine: correct facts, special hours before every holiday, a steady flow of genuine reviews and prompt replies. Our SEO service covers local search for businesses that serve an area, including the Google Business Profile, consistent name, address and phone, location and service-area pages, and guidance on collecting reviews. For how Google finds and ranks web pages in general, see how the Google search engine works.
