Set up your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is the box with your name, hours, map pin, photos and reviews that shows up in Google Search and Maps. Once it's added and verified, customers can find you there, and you control what it says. It's free.

We explain how Google picks which local businesses to show in Get found on Google. This guide is the hands-on part: getting your profile set up properly.

Search Google Maps for your business's name and city. You'll find one of three things:

• You're not there. Create a new profile.
• You're there, with a "Claim this business" option. Claim it.
• You're there, but someone else already verified it. You can request ownership from the current owner.

To create a new profile:

1. Go to business.google.com/add.
2. Select Add your business to Google.
3. Follow the on-screen steps to add your details. Use your real-world business name, exactly as it appears on your sign and your website.
4. Choose a verification option (more on that below).

To claim an existing one:

1. On a computer, open Google Maps and search for your business's name and city.
2. Select Claim this business, then Manage now. If Google suggests the wrong business, choose I own or manage another business.
3. Choose a verification option and follow the steps.

Verification proves to Google that you really run the business. Until you're verified, you can't fully edit your profile or reply to reviews.

Google decides which options you get, based on things like your business type, region and hours, and you can't change them. Some businesses need more than one. The options are:

• Phone or text. Google calls or texts a code. Answer your business phone yourself: automated phone menus won't get the code.
• Email. Follow the steps in the email Google sends.
• Video recording. Google recommends this one if you're offered it. You record one continuous video on your phone, through your profile, showing where you are (street signs, nearby businesses), that the business exists (your sign, or for a service business, your tools and equipment), and that you run it (opening the register or a back room, or unlocking your branded work van). Google's video checklist has the details.
• Live video call. A Google support representative walks you through it on a video call, during your business hours.
• Postcard. Google mails a code to your address. Most codes arrive within 14 days, and they expire after 30 days.

After you finish, Google reviews what you sent, which takes up to 5 business days. Sometimes it's instant, for example when your website is already verified in Google Search Console. You'll get an email when you're verified.

Your categories tell Google what you do. Google says they affect your local ranking, so they're worth a minute of thought.

1. Go to your Business Profile. The easy way: while signed in, search Google for "my business."
2. Select Edit profile. Next to Business category, select Edit.
3. In Primary category, start typing and pick the most specific match from the list. Google's example: choose "Nail salon," not "Salon."
4. Add extra categories only for real parts of your business, like a bakery counter inside a grocery store. Don't add one for every product, and don't use categories as keywords.
5. Select Save.

Changing a category can mean verifying again, so choose carefully.

1. Select Edit profile, then Hours, and set your regular hours.
2. For a holiday or a short change, add special hours instead of changing your regular hours.
3. If you'll be closed for 7 or more days in a row, or you don't know when you'll reopen, Google says to mark the business Temporarily closed.

Google also suggests confirming your hours for official holidays, even when they're the same as usual. It tells customers your hours are accurate.

1. On Google Search or Maps, find your profile and select Photos, then Add photos.
2. Add a logo and a cover photo too, from the same place.

Google's guidelines: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, and 720 by 720 pixels is the recommended size. Photos should be in focus, well lit and true to life, without heavy filters. An outside photo helps customers recognize you when they arrive.

New photos can take up to 24 to 48 hours to show, and they only appear once you're verified.

Reply to reviews. Go to your profile, select Read reviews, and select Reply next to a review. Replies are public, show up as your business (not your personal name), and the customer is told you replied.

Ask for reviews. Select Read reviews, then Get more reviews, to copy your review link or download a QR code (on a computer). Google suggests putting it on receipts, in thank-you emails, or on a sign at the counter.

If someone helps with your marketing or website, add them as a manager instead of sharing your password. There are two roles:

• Owner: full control, including adding and removing people and deleting the profile.
• Manager: almost the same, except managers can't add or remove people or remove the profile.

1. Go to your Business Profile.
2. Select More, then Business Profile settings, then People and access.
3. Select Add and enter their email address.
4. Under Access, choose Manager, then select Invite.

They can start as soon as they accept, and you'll get an email when they do. Pending invites show on the People and access page, where you can cancel them.

• The "Get verified" button came back. Google couldn't fully verify you. Try again, or try another option if you have one.
• Your video wasn't accepted. Select Review issues on your profile to see why, then record a new video that shows everything from the first one plus what was missing.
• Your postcard code doesn't work. Check you haven't edited your name, address or category since requesting it, and that it's less than 30 days old.
• Your changes aren't showing. Google reviews edits before they go live on your profile.
• Someone else controls your profile. Request ownership from them through Google.

Now copy your profile to Bing with our guide to setting up Bing Places, and claim your spot on Apple Maps with Apple Business.

This guide is free for everyone. It's also one of the step-by-step setup guides included with our SEO and AI-search audit, so every fix in your report comes with instructions you can follow.