Google Business Profile: how to set it up and run it well
Maybe Digital · 7 min read · Updated:
Short answer
A Google Business Profile is your business's free listing on Google Search and Google Maps, showing your address, opening hours, phone, photos and customer reviews in one place. A verified, complete and regularly updated profile is the most basic step to being found in local search and in AI answers.
Why the profile matters so much
When someone searches "dentist near me" or "print shop Kadıköy", Google often shows map results before any websites. The details in those results come from your Business Profile, not your site.
The profile is also a trust signal. Real photos, current hours and answered reviews tell a customer "this business is alive and cares". AI assistants can also draw on public records like this to judge whether a business is real.
Creating and verifying the profile
You create the profile at business.google.com with a Google account. That account should belong to the company, not to one employee; losing access when someone leaves is a common problem. Add your agency or colleagues as managers, not owners.
Google wants to confirm the business really exists there. The verification method depends on the business type and region: a short video, a phone call, an email or a postcard may be requested. Google decides which options you get, and the profile isn't fully live until verification is complete.
Categories, service area and NAP consistency
The primary category is one of the fields that most affects which searches the profile appears in. Pick the category that describes your business most precisely; use additional categories only for work you genuinely do. If you don't serve customers at your own address, you can hide it and list the areas you serve instead.
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone. These three details should be written identically on your website, your profile, your social accounts and directories. Inconsistent versions make it harder for search engines and AI to connect those records to the same business.
- Don't add keywords or a city to the business name; it breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended. Use your real name as it appears on your signage.
- Keep opening hours, public holidays and special hours current.
- Point the website link to the right page, ideally the relevant branch or service page.
- Fill in the services and products sections with short, concrete descriptions.
Photos: real and current
Alongside your logo and cover image, add real photos of the outside and inside of your premises, your team and your work. An exterior shot helps customers recognise you on the street.
Use your own photos instead of stock images; choose clear, well-lit shots that don't mislead. Refreshing photos now and then shows the profile is looked after.
Reviews: asking for them and replying
Reviews affect both a customer's decision and your local visibility. The healthiest approach is to ask a happy customer right after you deliver the work or the service. Sharing your profile's "ask for reviews" link by message, email or QR code makes it easy.
Reply to every review, especially negative ones, calmly and briefly. A polite, solution-focused reply to a bad review often matters more to the next customers reading it than the review itself. Never share a customer's personal details in a reply.
Buying reviews, posting fake ones or offering discounts in exchange for reviews breaks Google's policies. Such reviews can be removed and the profile restricted.
Posts, Q&A and ongoing care
You can publish updates, offers or events as posts on the profile. Posts keep it alive and are an easy way to tell customers something current. Keep them short, add a real photo and link to the relevant page.
Check the information on the profile now and then. Google and users can suggest edits to some fields, and a wrong time or phone number can go live quietly. A short monthly check prevents such surprises. It's one of the things Maybe Digital routinely reviews in SEO and GEO work.
Frequently asked questions
- Does a Google Business Profile cost money?
- No, creating and managing a profile is free. Advertising on Maps is a separate, optional service.
- Can I have a profile without a physical shop?
- Yes, if you serve customers at their location: you can hide your address and list service areas. Purely online businesses with no in-person contact are generally not eligible.
- Can I get a negative review removed?
- Only if it breaks Google's policies, for example if it's fake, abusive or off-topic, can you report it. Being negative alone isn't grounds for removal; the best response is a calm, solution-focused reply.
- Does the profile affect AI answers?
- There's no direct guarantee, but AI assistants look at public sources to learn about a business. A consistent, complete profile raises the odds your brand is understood correctly.