How do I verify my Google Business Profile?

Google decides which methods you can use, based on your business type, region and public info. Options include phone or text, email, a live video call, a postcard, or a video recording, and you can't pick a method Google doesn't offer you.

Can I put keywords in my Google Business Profile name?

No. Google's guidelines say the name must match your real-world business name, without taglines, locations or service details. Stuffing keywords into the name breaks the guidelines and can get the profile suspended.

Should I hide my address on Google Business Profile?

If you serve customers at their location and don't receive them at your address, Google says you should hide your address and set a service area instead. Storefronts and offices where customers visit should show the address.

Can I offer a discount for Google reviews?

No. Google prohibits offering payment, discounts, or free goods or services in exchange for reviews, or for changing or removing a negative one.

What do I do if someone else already manages my Business Profile?

Request access through business.google.com/add. The current owner gets 3 days to respond, and if they don't, you may be able to claim the profile through the link in your confirmation email.

Google Business Profile Setup Checklist (2026)

A good Google Business Profile comes down to three things: it's verified under a Google account your business controls, every detail matches the real world, and you keep it current. The work that causes trouble, like keyword-stuffed names or fake addresses, is also what gets profiles suspended. Here's the checklist, in order.

1. Use the right Google account

Create or use a Google account that belongs to the business, not to an employee or your web designer. If one person leaves, the profile shouldn't leave with them.
Turn on two-step verification on that account.
Add other people as managers from the profile's settings rather than sharing the password.

Same principle as your domain: if it's not in your name, you don't really own it. See how to own your domain for that side.

2. Create or claim the profile

First search Google Maps for your business name and city. There may already be a profile, built from public info.

No profile exists: go to business.google.com/add, click Add your business to Google, and follow the prompts.
Profile exists, unverified: open it in Google Maps, select Claim this business, then Manage now.
Profile exists and someone else verified it (an old employee, a previous agency): go to business.google.com/add, find the business, and select Request access. The current owner gets an email and has 3 days to respond. If there's no answer, you may be able to claim it through the link in your confirmation email, though Google says that option isn't always available.

Don't create a second profile for the same location to get around an old one. Google's guidelines allow one profile per location.

3. Get verified

Google decides which verification methods you see, and you can't change that. Depending on your business, you may get:

Phone or text to your business number (phone trees can't receive the code).
Email.
Live video call with a Google support rep, during your business hours, at your location.
Postcard with a code. It typically arrives within 14 days and expires after 30. While you wait, don't edit your name, address or category, and don't request a new code, because that cancels the first one.
Video recording, which Google recommends when you're eligible.

For a video recording, plan it before you hit record. It must be one continuous, unedited take of at least 30 seconds, recorded live from a phone through your profile. Google wants to see three things:

Where you are: street signs, building number or nearby businesses that match Google Maps.
That the business exists: permanent signage with your name for a storefront; tools, equipment, branded clothing or a branded vehicle for a service business.
That you manage it: an employee-only area, the register or point-of-sale system, or you unlocking the van or doing the work.

Keep bank details, tax IDs and other people's faces out of the shot. Reviews can take up to 5 business days. If Google rejects the video, it lists the reasons. Record a new one with everything from the first plus what was missing.

4. Fill in the basics correctly

Business name. Use your real name, exactly as it appears on your sign, website and invoices. No taglines, no city, no "Best Plumber Orlando," no phone numbers, no ® symbols. Legal suffixes like LLC are only allowed if they appear in your real-world branding. Breaking this rule is an easy way to get the profile suspended.

Storefront or service area. Pick honestly:

Customers come to you (shop, office, clinic): show your address.
You go to customers (contractors, cleaners, mobile services): hide your address and set a service area. Google says the service area shouldn't extend farther than about 2 hours of driving from your base.
Both: show the address and add a service area.

No P.O. boxes, no mailbox-store addresses, and no virtual offices where you don't actually work. Those locations aren't eligible.

Categories. Choose one primary category that finishes the sentence "This business is a ___." Add as few extra categories as you need to cover your core business. Categories are not a place for keywords.

Hours. List customer-facing hours. Add special hours for holidays before each one, not after customers show up to a locked door. If you're seasonal, mark the profile temporarily closed in the off-season.

Phone and website. Use a local number the business controls directly, not a call-center number. Link to your own website, the page for that location if you have several. Don't link to a social media page or a redirect.

5. Add services, photos and a description

Services: list what you actually sell, using your customers' words. Add short descriptions and prices only if you keep them current.
Photos: your exterior (so people recognize the place), the inside, your team at work, your vehicles, finished jobs. Real photos beat stock images, and they help with video verification too.
Description: two or three plain sentences on what you do, who for, and where. No links, no hype.

6. Reviews: ask everyone, reply to everyone

To get your review link: on business.google.com, go to Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and copy the link or save the QR code (QR codes need a computer browser).

What Google allows and doesn't:

Do ask every customer, by text or email after the job, with the link.
Don't offer discounts, freebies or payment for a review, or for changing or removing a negative one.
Don't ask only happy customers, or discourage unhappy ones. Selective asking is against Google's policy.
Don't pressure people to review while they're still at your counter, and don't give staff review quotas.

When you reply, keep it short and specific. Use the person's name, answer what they actually said, and sign it. For a bad review, stay calm, own real mistakes, don't share private details, and take the details offline. Skip copy-paste thank-yous; they read as fake.

7. Post updates

From your profile, select Posts, then Add post, and choose Update, Offer or Event. You can schedule posts and set them to repeat. Posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range, so a light, steady rhythm beats a burst. Avoid putting a phone number in a post's text; Google may reject it if it can't verify the number.

8. Keep your name, address and phone consistent

Your name, address and phone number (often called NAP) should match exactly everywhere: your website footer, Google, Apple Maps, Yelp, Facebook, industry directories and your invoices. When you move or change numbers, update Google first, then work through the list. Keep that list in a shared document so the next person knows where to look.

9. If you get suspended

Don't make a new profile. Open Google's appeals tool, signed in to the account that manages the profile. It shows the reason and whether you can appeal. Fix the problem first (usually the name, address or category), gather proof like a business license or utility bill with a matching name and address, then submit. Google says appeals can only be submitted once, so get it right the first time.

Closing

Set it up honestly once, then spend ten minutes a week on reviews and a post. That keeps it working. If you'd rather have it done, write to [email protected] or see our websites service, where the profile gets set up under your account alongside your site. Planning a new site too? Here's what drives website cost.

Google Business Profile setup checklist