What a Google Business Profile is, and what it is not
Search "mechanic Geelong" or "Thai restaurant Darwin" and Google usually leads with a map and three or so businesses, each showing a star rating, opening hours and a button to ring them. Each of those is a Google Business Profile. For a lot of local searches, a customer has already judged you on that listing before your website gets a look in.
Google charges nothing for a profile, and it is not advertising. Money spent on Google Ads has no bearing on where you sit in the unpaid map results. Older articles and tools still call it Google My Business, its former name. Today you manage it mostly from within Google Search and Google Maps, signed in with the account that owns the listing.
Is your business eligible?
The rules sit in Google's guidelines for representing your business on Google. In short, a profile is meant for a business that meets its customers in person, whether at its own premises or at the customer's home or site. Read the latest version before you set anything up, because Google measures every profile against it.
- Premises open to customers, for instance a dental clinic in Brisbane or a hotel in Hobart: the address is displayed.
- Businesses that travel to customers, for instance a plumber covering the Sunshine Coast or a mobile dog groomer in Canberra: keep the address hidden and nominate the suburbs or regions you cover.
- A mix of both, for instance a nursery where people browse plants but which also delivers and plants out gardens: display the address and nominate a service area as well.
A business that only trades online generally does not qualify. An online store should only have a profile if there is a physical place where people can visit, pick up orders or meet you, and the category should reflect what happens there. Using a virtual office, a PO box or a rented mail address where no one actually works is also outside the rules.
Name, categories and address: the three settings that matter most
Business name
Enter the name customers see on your signage, invoices and website, in line with the business name registered against your ABN. Tacking on suburbs or service words ("Smith Electrical Emergency Electrician Gold Coast") is against Google's rules and ranks among the leading triggers for a suspension. The exception is a keyword that genuinely forms part of your registered trading name.
Primary category
Few settings tell Google more about the searches you deserve to appear for. Pick the narrowest category that still describes the bulk of your work, rather than a broad catch-all. Secondary categories belong only to services you really offer, and Google says plainly that categories are not for keywords. A practice doing mostly general dentistry should not lead with a specialist category for a treatment it provides now and then.
Address or service area
Type the street address in the same format you use on your website and directories, unit or shop number included. For a service area, name the suburbs, cities or regions you can genuinely reach, not the whole of New South Wales.
Verification
Until Google has confirmed that you are the business owner or manager, your listing may not show in full and some management features stay locked. Which verification route you are offered is Google's call, and it differs between profiles: a recorded video, a call or SMS, or an email are among the possibilities, with video now a frequent request.
Get ready beforehand. A video check can ask you to film the street sign or shopfront, a branded ute or equipment, and proof of your connection to the business, such as tools or paperwork. Whatever appears on camera should match the name and address you entered; when it does not, verification often fails.
Completing the profile, field by field
Every field you fill in gives Google more to match against searches and gives customers more reason to pick you. Work through the table below.
| Field | What to enter | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Business name | Your real trading name, as on signage and website | Adding suburbs, services or slogans |
| Primary category | The most specific category for your core business | A broad category, or one describing a single minor service |
| Additional categories | Only services you genuinely provide | Adding every loosely related category |
| Address or service area | Exact address, or realistic suburbs and regions | Virtual offices, or claiming a whole state |
| Hours and special hours | Regular hours plus public holidays and closures | Forgetting Christmas, Easter and state public holidays |
| Phone and website | A local or mobile number answered in business hours; the most relevant page on your site | Linking every location to the home page |
| Services or products | Each service with a short, plain description | Leaving the section empty |
| Description | What you do, for whom and where, in plain language | Keyword lists, links or promotional claims |
| Photos | Real photos of premises, team and work | Stock images or a single logo |
Reviews and how to respond
Google treats reviews as one sign of how well regarded you are locally, and for many searchers they settle the choice between you and the business next door. Make asking a routine: send each real customer your profile's review link as soon as the job wraps up, by text, email or a QR code on the invoice.
Never pick and choose who you ask. Under Google's prohibited and restricted content policy, steering unhappy customers away, inviting only the satisfied ones, rewarding people for reviews and posting reviews from yourself, staff or friends are all off limits. In Australia, fake or misleading reviews also fall within the ACCC's remit under consumer law.
Answer each review yourself, in a sentence or two. When someone complains, stay measured, recognise what they went through and invite them to call or email so you can sort it out. Leave personal details out of every reply. Health practices need to be especially careful, since even confirming that someone attended can breach their privacy. Dentists and other registered health practitioners should also read Ahpra's guidance before quoting reviews on their website or in ads.
Why your business is not showing on the map
"Why can't I find my business on Google Maps?" comes up constantly. Rule out these causes one by one:
- Verification is unfinished. A profile that has not been verified may stay out of search. Your profile dashboard shows the status.
- Suspension or restriction. Google normally notifies the owner; see the section on suspensions below.
- Hidden address. Service-area businesses get no map pin, yet the listing can still show in local results across the areas you nominated.
- Duplicates. A leftover listing at a previous address, or one a former staff member set up, can divide your visibility. Ask Google to remove or merge it.
- Edits awaiting review. Changing the name, category or address can put the profile into a review period.
- Relevance and distance. The listing may be live but not rank for that phrase, or from that spot. Search from your customers' suburbs, using their wording.
Linking your profile to Google Ads
Advertisers can connect their Business Profile to Google Ads, which lets ads display the business address, how far away it is and opening hours. Google calls these location assets. They suit businesses where being close matters, such as clinics, restaurants and showrooms, and they make it possible to advertise inside Google Maps.
Keep two things in mind. The connection does nothing for your unpaid map position, because the two systems run separately. And the business, not the agency, should own both accounts, with the agency added as a user, so nothing is lost if you switch providers. Our Google Ads agency page explains how we set up local campaigns.
Suspensions, ownership and upkeep
The usual triggers for a suspension are a name padded with keywords, an address Google does not accept such as a virtual office, details that do not match how the business really operates, or a flurry of changes to core information. If it happens to you, correct the problem before anything else. Then collect proof that you trade where you say you do (photos of signage, a utility bill, your ABN and business name records) and lodge an appeal via Google's Business Profile help centre. Opening a fresh profile to sidestep the suspension tends to backfire.
Ownership should rest with the owner or a shared company account; staff and agencies get manager rights. Look over the listing monthly, because members of the public can propose changes to your hours, address or category, and Google does sometimes publish them. Upload recent photos, answer questions people post and share updates when you genuinely have news.
Your profile, your website and citations work together
Where competition is tight, say inner Melbourne or the Gold Coast, a well-kept profile is rarely enough by itself. Google also reads the page your listing points to, so that page needs to back the profile up: matching business name, address and number, a clear list of services and the suburbs you cover. Matching details across directories and industry listings (citations) repeat the same message.
Take "ranking checker" screenshots with a grain of salt. Map positions shift from one street to the next, so one search from your desk proves little. Grid tools that sample many points across your area are fairer, but enquiries are still the number to watch.
Tradies and dentists each have extra points to get right: realistic service areas and licence details for trades, category choice and Ahpra rules for dental practices. Our pages on SEO for tradies and dental SEO deal with them. For the broader strategy, see our local SEO tips, or how our local SEO service handles profile and website as one job.