Home › Guides › Set up a Google Business Profile
How to set up a Google Business Profile, step by step
The free listing that puts your business on Google Maps and in search results — with your phone number, hours, reviews and website. If you do exactly one thing for your business online, do this.
A Google Business Profile costs nothing and it’s what makes your business show up when someone nearby searches for what you do. You’ll need a regular Google account (the same kind Gmail uses) and about fifteen minutes — plus a wait for Google to verify you’re real, which can take from minutes to a couple of weeks depending on the method Google offers you.
- Go to business.google.com and sign in Use the Google account you want to own the listing — if an employee sets it up on their personal account and later leaves, your listing leaves with them.
- Type your business name If Google suggests your business as you type, it may already have a listing — select it and claim it instead of creating a duplicate. Two listings for one business confuses Google and customers.
- Pick your business category Choose the closest match to what you do — “Plumber”, “Roofing contractor”, “House cleaning service”. This decides which searches you can show up for. You can change it later.
- Tell Google where you work If customers come to you (a shop, an office), enter that address. If you go to them — true for most service businesses — say so and list the towns or areas you serve. You don’t have to show your home address publicly.
- Add your phone number and website The two ways customers reach you. If you don’t have a website yet, you can add one later — here’s exactly how when you’re ready.
- Get verified Google has to confirm you’re really the owner before your listing goes public. Depending on your business it offers a phone call, an email, a video check, or a postcard mailed to your address. Follow whichever it gives you — you don’t get to pick.
After you’re verified
Three habits make the listing actually work for you. Ask happy customers for a review while you’re still on the job — a steady trickle of real reviews is the strongest signal you can send. Answer every review, including the bad ones, like a professional. And keep your hours honest, especially around holidays — nothing burns trust like “Open” on Google and a locked door in real life.
If something doesn’t match
Google changes these screens now and then. If a button is named slightly differently, look for the closest match — the order of the steps stays the same. If your business already appears on Maps but you’ve never touched it, search for it and look for the option to claim it — that’s normal, Google creates listings from public data all the time.
Step 5 easier: have a website worth linking
Speedy Sites builds one for local service businesses — $0 today, ready in under an hour, $99/month after a 30-day trial.
Build my website →Sources: Google’s own help pages — Add or claim your Business Profile and Verify your business.