GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE SETUP FOR SMALL BUSINESS.
Who is eligible, who should own the profile, how verification works, what to fill in, how to ask for reviews within the rules, and what gets profiles suspended. Every rule below links to Google's or the FTC's own page.
WHAT CHANGED RECENTLY
- FTC sued over fake local home-repair listings — Invented local listings and addresses drew federal action.
- Google discontinued the Business Profile Q&A API — Tools can no longer post answers to your profile for you.
This guide covers what stays true. The blog tracks the changes as they land.
ARE YOU ELIGIBLE?
Google's guidelines say that if your business has a physical location customers can visit, or travels to customers where they are, you can create a Business Profile.1 That gives three shapes:
- Storefront. A permanent location with signage that customers visit during stated hours. Show the address.
- Service-area business. You travel to customers. Google asks for one profile for the central office or location, with a designated service area, and says the overall service area shouldn't extend farther than about 2 hours of driving time from where the business is based.1
- Hybrid. Customers visit you and you also travel to them. Show the address and set a service area.
Not eligible under the same guidelines:1
- Online-only businesses with no in-person contact.
- Virtual offices: a rented mailing address where you don't actually operate.
- P.O. boxes and remote mailboxes.
- Certain age-restricted products or services as a service-area business without a storefront.
If your business doesn't fit, don't try to make it fit. An ineligible profile is a suspension waiting to happen.
WHO SHOULD OWN THE PROFILE
Google Business Profile has three roles. A profile can have only one primary owner. Owners have full control, including adding or removing users and deleting the profile. Managers can do nearly everything an owner can, but can't add or remove users or remove the profile.2
Our recommendation:
- Create or claim the profile with a Google account the business controls, ideally on your own domain, with 2-Step Verification turned on.
- Add any agency or freelancer as a manager, from Business Profile settings > People and access.2 That includes us.
- Never let an outside company hold primary ownership. If you part ways, the profile stays with you.
VERIFICATION
Google verifies that the business is real before the profile is fully live. According to its help page:3
- Methods can include phone or text, email, a live video call, mail, or instant verification through Google Search Console.
- "Verification methods are automatically determined by Google and can't be changed." They depend on business type, location, public information and hours.
- Verification reviews can take up to 5 business days, occasionally longer.
- Google will never ask for your verification code. Don't share it with anyone, including people who manage the profile.
Before you start, make sure your name, address or service area, and hours match your signage, website and business records. Mismatches slow verification down.
WHAT TO FILL IN
- Business name exactly as it appears in the real world. Google's guidelines don't allow marketing taglines, phone numbers, URLs or added location or keyword text in the name.1
- Primary category that describes the business as a whole, plus only the additional categories that genuinely apply.
- Address or service area, chosen according to the eligibility rules above.
- Hours, including holiday and special hours.
- Phone and website that go directly to your business.
- Description, products or services, and photos of your real premises, work and team.
Google's own tips for local ranking include verifying, keeping information current and complete, responding to reviews and adding photos. It also says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.4 For the rest of the local picture, see the local SEO checklist.
REVIEWS: ASKING WITHIN THE RULES
Google's policy prohibits offering incentives, such as payment, discounts or free goods or services, in exchange for posting any review. It also prohibits discouraging negative reviews or selectively soliciting positive ones, the practice often called review gating.5
The FTC's Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule (16 CFR Part 465, effective October 21, 2024) applies in the U.S.67 Among other things it prohibits:
- Fake reviews or testimonials that misrepresent an actual experience.
- Incentives conditioned on a review expressing a particular sentiment.
- Suppressing reviews through false accusations, intimidation or unfounded legal threats.
- Undisclosed reviews by company insiders.
- Presenting a website you control as an independent review site.
In practice: ask every customer the same way, with a plain link, and offer nothing for it. Don't pre-screen for happy customers. Reply to reviews, good and bad, calmly and publicly. This guide is general information, not legal advice.
COMMON SUSPENSION TRIGGERS
Google says it may suspend or disable profiles that don't follow its guidelines.8 Based on those guidelines,1 the usual causes are:
- An ineligible address: virtual office, P.O. box or mailbox.
- Keywords, locations or taglines added to the business name.
- A service area far wider than the business really serves.
- More than one profile for the same business at the same location.
- Details that don't match your signage and records.
If a profile is suspended, fix the cause first, then use Google's appeals tool with evidence such as a business licence or utility bill that matches the profile's name and address. Google notes that once you open the evidence form you must submit it within 60 minutes, and that you shouldn't create a new profile while an appeal is under review.8
Already suspended? Our suspended profile guide walks through the appeal. New to the terms? See suspended profile and service-area business in the glossary.
WHERE WE COME IN
FAQ
Can a home-based business get a profile?
Yes, if it meets customers in person. If customers don't visit your home, set it up as a service-area business and hide the address.1
Can I pick my verification method?
No. Google determines the available methods automatically.3
Can I give a discount for leaving a review?
Not for Google reviews. Google's policy prohibits incentives for posting any review.5
SOURCES
- Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google.
- Google Business Profile Help, Manage owners and managers of your Business Profile.
- Google Business Profile Help, Verify your business on Google.
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google.
- Maps User Contributed Content Policy Help, Fake engagement.
- Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule: Questions and Answers.
- Federal Trade Commission, 16 CFR Part 465: Trade Regulation Rule on the Use of Consumer Reviews and Testimonials (Final Rule).
- Google Business Profile Help, Suspended or disabled Business Profiles.
KEEP READING
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BOOK A STRATEGY CALL
Tell us where your profile stands today. We will walk through eligibility, ownership and what setup would involve.