Google Business Profile: how to get on Google Maps

What a Google Business Profile is

It is your business's profile on Google: the card people see when they search for your name, and the pin on the map when they search “plumber Larissa” or “coffee near me”. It shows your phone number, directions, opening hours, photos and reviews.

According to Google, local results are based mainly on relevance (how well a profile matches the search), distance, and how well known the business is, which reviews also affect. Google itself says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking (October 2026).

Step by step

1. Go to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account that belongs to the business, not an employee's personal account.
2. Enter the business name exactly as it appears on your sign, your website and your stationery.
3. Choose a primary category, as specific as possible: “Dentist”, not “Health”.
4. Add an address if customers visit you. If you go to them, like an electrician, set service areas and hide the address.
5. Add a phone number the business itself answers, and your website address.
6. Complete verification with the method Google shows you.
7. Fill in opening hours, services, a description and photos.

Verification

Google picks the verification method automatically, based on your type of business, public information, region and opening hours, and you cannot change it. The methods listed on Google's help page (October 2026):

Once you complete the steps, the review takes up to 5 business days, according to the same page. Some profiles are verified instantly, for example when your website is already verified in Google Search Console.

Categories, description, photos

• Categories: Google's guidelines ask for as few categories as possible, as specific as possible, describing your core business.
• Description: say what you do, for whom and where. The guidelines do not allow promotions, prices or links in the description.
• Photos: real photos of your premises, your team and your work, not stock images.
• Opening hours: the hours you serve customers, plus special hours for holidays.
• Services and products: each service in a few words. It helps Google understand which searches you fit.

Reviews: how to collect them properly

Reviews are one of the first things people look at before they call you. Ask real customers, using the review link your profile gives you, right after a job that went well. Reply to all of them, negative ones included, calmly and with a solution.

Do not offer money, a discount or a gift for a review, and do not ask only the customers you know will give five stars: Google's policy for content on Maps prohibits both, and reviews collected that way are removed.

What customers look at, according to a BrightLocal survey of 1,002 US consumers:

Mistakes that cost you

• Keywords in the name. “Maria Hair Salon, the best hair salon in Patras” is not a name. Google's guidelines do not allow unnecessary information in the business name.
• A PO box or virtual office as the address. Google does not accept PO boxes, and virtual offices are not eligible for a profile.
• A call centre instead of the business's own number. Google asks for a number under the business's direct control, preferably a local one.
• Two profiles for the same business. They confuse Google and split your reviews.
• The profile on an employee's personal account. When the employee leaves, the access leaves with them.

The profile and the website work together

The profile sends people to your website, and the website helps the profile: a page for each service, the same contact details and a quick button to call or message. If you want us to set it up and connect it properly to your site, see SEO and Google Ads.