What is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows your business on Google Search and Google Maps, with your name, hours, phone number, address or service area, photos and reviews. Once you verify it, you can keep those details current, reply to reviews, post updates and see how customers find you.
For most local businesses, a Google Business Profile is the first thing a new customer sees. Before they visit your website, before they call, they see your star rating, your hours and a photo of your work. Google describes the profile as a way to manage how your business shows up on Maps and Search at no charge. It used to be called Google My Business.
What shows on a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile shows the details a customer needs to decide whether to call you. Each part does a specific job.
| Part of the profile | What customers see | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | Your real-world business name | Must match your signs and paperwork, per Google's guidelines |
| Primary category | What kind of business you are, such as "Plumber" | Helps Google match your profile to the right searches |
| Address or service area | Your location, or the towns you serve | Decides where you can appear on the map |
| Hours | When you are open, including special hours | Customers skip businesses that look closed |
| Phone and website | A call button and a link to your site | Where the lead actually happens |
| Photos and videos | Your work, team, vehicles and location | Shows you are real and gives a feel for your work |
| Reviews and ratings | Stars, review count and your replies | A major factor in who customers choose |
| Posts | Updates, offers and events you publish | Keeps the profile current and shows you are active |
Reviews carry a lot of weight with customers. BrightLocal's 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey found 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 47% will not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews.
Who can have a Google Business Profile?
A business can have a Google Business Profile if it meets customers in person. Google's guidelines say eligible businesses have a location customers can visit, or travel to customers where they are. Google also says Business Profiles are not for online-only businesses.
That covers three setups:
- Storefront businesses, like a dental office or auto repair shop, show their address.
- Service-area businesses, like a roofer or a carpet cleaner, hide their address and list up to 20 service areas instead. Google suggests keeping the whole area within about 2 hours of driving from your base.
- Hybrid businesses show an address and also list the areas they travel to.
Some setups are not allowed. Google's guidelines say virtual offices are not eligible, and P.O. boxes or remote mailboxes are not acceptable addresses.
What can you do with a Google Business Profile?
A verified Google Business Profile lets you control your listing and see what it is doing for you. Here is what owners typically do with it, in the order most of them start:
- Keep your details accurate. Update hours, holiday hours, phone number, website and services so customers do not call a closed shop.
- Add photos and videos. Show real jobs, your team and your location.
- Reply to reviews. Google says replying to reviews shows you value your customers, and positive reviews with helpful replies can help your business stand out.
- Publish posts. Google offers three types: updates, offers and events.
- Check your performance. See views, the search terms people used to find you, calls, website clicks and direction requests.
- Add managers. Give staff or an agency access without giving away ownership.
For example, a landscaping company might post spring cleanup availability in March, add before-and-after photos from a recent job, and check in April whether "lawn care near me" appears among the searches that found its profile.
How does a Google Business Profile help you get calls?
A Google Business Profile helps you get calls by putting you in the map pack, the group of local businesses Google shows with a map for searches like "electrician near me." Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that a complete, verified profile is more likely to show up.
Google also says verification matters directly: customers can only find a new profile on Google after it is verified. Once it is live, the call button, the directions button and the website link turn a search into a lead. Your performance report shows how many people used each one.
Google Business Profile vs your website: do you need both?
Yes, most businesses need both, because they do different jobs.
| Google Business Profile | Your website | |
|---|---|---|
| Where it shows | Map pack, Google Maps, the profile panel in Search | Regular search results, and wherever you share the link |
| Who controls the layout | You | |
| Best for | Quick decisions: call, directions, reviews | Detail: services, areas, photos, answers to questions |
| Who owns it | You, as the primary owner | You, including the domain name |
The profile gets you found and called. The website answers the questions that stop people from calling, and gives Google more to understand about your business. Our guide on what local SEO is explains how the two work together.
What Google Business Profile mistakes should you avoid?
Most profile problems come from a few avoidable mistakes:
- Adding keywords to the business name. Google's guidelines say the name should reflect the real-world name, and extra information is not permitted.
- Creating duplicate profiles. Google warns that multiple profiles for the same business in the same metro area can get your account suspended. If yours is suspended, see Google Business Profile suspended.
- Using a call center number. Google asks for a phone number that connects to your individual business location.
- Letting an agency own the profile. You should be the owner. Agencies only need manager access.
- Setting it and forgetting it. Old hours, no new photos and unanswered reviews tell customers you might not answer either.
How to get started
If you do not have a profile yet, follow our step-by-step guide on how to create a Google Business Profile. If you already have one, how to optimize your Google Business Profile shows how to make it work harder. Profile setup, reviews and map rankings are core parts of our local SEO work, and automated review requests can keep new reviews coming in after every job.
Want to know how your profile compares with the top three competitors in your area? Request the Free Missed-Lead Audit for a recorded walkthrough within 2 business days.