A Google Business Profile is the listing that appears in the map and in the panel beside the results. Google says three things mainly decide where it ranks: how well it matches the search, how far you are from the person searching, and how well known your business is. Everything you can do on the profile works on the first and the third.

Most of that is filling in the profile completely and honestly, then keeping it the same as your website. The checklist below goes field by field, with Google's rule for each, and ends with the mistakes that get profiles suspended.

At a glance

Map rankings depend on
Relevance, distance and prominence (Google)
Categories
As few as possible, as specific as possible (Google)
Description
Up to 750 characters, no links, no offers (Google)
Never
A city or a keyword added to your business name

What Google ranks a profile on

Google's help page names three factors. Relevance is how well your profile matches what someone searched for. Distance is how far you are from them. Prominence is how well known you are, which Google judges partly from reviews and from what the rest of the web says about you.

Distance is fixed, but relevance comes mostly from your categories, your services and your description, and Google says plainly that the categories you choose affect your local ranking. Prominence takes longer: genuine reviews, a website that ranks, and mentions on other sites. Our article on local SEO for service businesses covers that side.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google; Google Business Profile Help: Tips to choose a business category.

Fill in the profile, field by field

  • Business name. Use your real name, the one on your shopfront, website and stationery. Google's guidelines say extra words such as a location or a service are not permitted and can get the profile suspended.
  • Primary category. Pick the most specific category that describes your main business. A clinic that only treats teeth should choose a dental category, not a general one, because Google matches searches to it.
  • Additional categories. Add one only for a real department or line of work. Google asks you not to pick a category for every product or service, and to use as few as you can.
  • Address or service area. If customers visit you, show the address. If you go to them, hide it and set a service area, which Google says should not stretch beyond about two hours' drive. Virtual offices and post boxes are not eligible.
  • Hours. Keep regular hours exact and add special hours for holidays and festivals, which Google lets you set day by day. Wrong hours send customers to a closed door, and customers tend to mention that in reviews.
  • Description. Up to 750 characters on what you do, who for and what makes you different. Google asks you to leave out links and to describe the business rather than offers, prices or sales. Write it in the same words your website uses.
  • Services and products. List each service under the name customers use, with a line on what it includes. Use the same names as the matching pages on your website, so Google sees one business, described one way.
  • Photos. Real photos of the premises, the team and the work. Google lists adding photos and videos among its tips, and a customer comparing three profiles trusts the one that shows the place.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google; Google Business Profile Help: Tips to choose a business category; Google Business Profile Help: Manage your Business Profile description.

Reviews: ask every customer, reply to every review

Google's help page says that replying to reviews shows customers you value their feedback. We reply to every review, good or bad, in a plain voice, and never argue in public.

Asking is the harder habit, and the best moment is right after the work is done, in the same chat, with a short link. Never pay for a review, offer a discount for one, or post reviews from accounts you control. Google's policy names all three as fake engagement.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Tips to improve your local ranking on Google; Google Maps: Prohibited and restricted content, fake engagement.

Make the profile and the website say the same thing

In our checks on a client's searches in August 2026, when Google showed a map, its AI answer named businesses from that map. So the profile now feeds AI answers too, and an AI answer repeats whatever it finds, right or wrong.

That is why consistency matters more than any single field. Your name, phone number, address, hours and the way you describe your service should match on the profile, on your website and in every directory. When one of our clients described her service two ways on her own site, Google's AI answer picked the wrong one until we fixed it. Our article on SEO for astrologers and tarot readers tells that story in full.

Mistakes that get a profile suspended or ignored

  • A keyword in the name. Adding "Best Dentist in Andheri" after a clinic's real name breaks the name rule. It is common, and it is one of the quickest ways to lose the profile.
  • An address you do not work from. Google's guidelines say a virtual office is not eligible. Neither is a post box, or a location that is not staffed during your hours.
  • More than one profile per location. Google asks for one profile for each location, in one account or across several. A duplicate breaks that rule and splits your reviews between two listings.
  • Reviews you paid for. Paid, swapped or invented reviews break Google's policy, and so does offering a discount in return for a review.
  • A service area the size of a state. Covering every city you would like to serve does not help. Google's limit is about two hours' drive from where you are based.

Sources: Google Business Profile Help: Guidelines for representing your business on Google; Google Maps: Prohibited and restricted content, fake engagement.

Check what changed

The profile's own performance view shows how many people found it and how many called, asked for directions or opened your website. Check it monthly, next to Search Console for the website, and note what you changed and when. Without dates, nobody can say which change worked. For the website, our guide shows how to check your website's SEO with Google's free tools.

What your first month with us looks like

  1. Week 1We take your website and start shippingWe read your Search Console and Analytics, fix whatever stops Google and AI tools reading your site, and start shipping changes. Your live dashboard is up the same week.
  2. Week 2We measure, then sharpenWe see what the first changes did and improve on them: pages named the way people search, pages that stop competing with each other, and a faster, clearer site that turns visits into enquiries.
  3. Week 3The first resultsFor the searches we started with, this is when we expect rankings to climb, and when we start checking Google's AI answers for your business.
  4. Week 4You see it, and we talk it throughYour DataPls dashboard shows every search, ranking and lead, updated daily. Every week we call you to go through it, and we message you the day something important changes.

Questions people ask

Can I add my city to my business name to rank better?

No. Google's guidelines say your name should be your real-world name, and adding a location or a service to it is not permitted. It can get the profile suspended, which removes it from the map altogether.

Should a home-based business show its address?

Only if customers come to you there. If you travel to customers, hide the address and set a service area. Google says that area should not reach beyond about two hours' drive from where you are based.

How many categories should I choose?

As few as describe your business. Choose the most specific primary category you can, then add others only for real departments or lines of work. Google asks you not to pick a category for every product or service.

Can I put offers or prices in the description?

Google's description rules ask you to describe the business itself rather than promotions, prices or sales, and not to include links. Up to 750 characters on what you do, who for and what makes you different works best.