For local searches, your Google Business Profile often appears before your website does: in the map results, in the panel beside the search results and increasingly in AI-generated answers about local businesses. A complete, accurate, active profile is one of the highest-value things a local business can maintain. These are the parts we focus on.
Business name: exactly your real name
Use your real-world business name, as it appears on your signage, website and paperwork. Adding keywords or locations to the name (“Smith Plumbing – Emergency Plumber Leeds”) is against Google’s guidelines and can lead to suspension. It is also one of the first things competitors report.
Categories: the most important choice
Your primary category tells Google what you are. Pick the most specific category that describes your main business, then add secondary categories only for services you genuinely offer. Review competitors that rank well for your main searches to see which categories they use, but choose what is true for you.
Address or service area
If customers visit your premises, show your address. If you travel to customers and do not receive them at your address, set a service area instead and hide the address. Do not use virtual offices or addresses where you are not staffed; they are a common cause of suspensions.
Services, products and description
- List your services using the names customers search for, with short descriptions.
- Add products if you sell specific items or packages.
- Write a description of what you do and where you do it. Keep it factual: no links, no prices that will go out of date, no keyword lists.
Hours, including special hours
Keep opening hours accurate and set special hours for holidays. Few things lose a customer faster than arriving at a closed door the profile said would be open.
Photos and videos
Real photos of your premises, team, vehicles and finished work help customers choose you. Add them regularly. Avoid stock images; they do nothing to build trust.
Reviews: ask, reply, never fake
- Ask every satisfied customer for a review, ideally soon after the job, with a direct link.
- Reply to every review, thanking positive reviewers and responding calmly and helpfully to negative ones.
- Never buy reviews, offer incentives for them or write them yourself. It breaks Google’s policies and, in many countries, consumer law.
Posts and updates
Posts let you share offers, news and events on your profile. They are a simple way to show the business is active and to highlight seasonal services.
Keep everything consistent
Your profile’s name, address, phone number, hours and services should match your website and your listings elsewhere. AI tools and search engines both compare sources, and inconsistent details reduce confidence in all of them.
Measure what the profile does
The Performance section shows how many people found your profile, and how many called, asked for directions or clicked through to your website. Track these monthly alongside your enquiries. Add UTM tags to the website link (our free UTM builder helps) so visits from the profile show up separately in Google Analytics.
Business Profile optimization is a core part of our Local SEO, GEO & AEO service, together with citations, local pages and authority building. You can see how we approach local work in our local SEO checklist.
