Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows up in Google Maps and the map pack when someone searches for what you do near them. To get it working, fill in every field accurately, pick the right categories, list every service you offer, keep your hours and photos current, and earn a steady flow of reviews. Then keep it that way, because a profile that was set up once and left alone slowly loses ground to competitors who keep theirs active.
This guide covers how Google decides which businesses to show, a field-by-field checklist, the mistakes that get profiles suspended or buried, and how to keep the profile current. It’s written for owner-led service businesses: contractors, auto repair shops, law firms, accounting firms and similar.
How Google decides which businesses to show
Google says local results are based mainly on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. Understanding them tells you where your effort pays off.
- Relevance is how well your profile matches the search. It comes from your categories, services, description and the content on your website. A plumbing company with “Plumber” as its primary category and every service listed is more relevant to “water heater replacement” than one with a bare profile.
- Distance is how far you are from the searcher, or from the place named in the search. You can’t change where your office is, but you can set an accurate service area if you travel to customers.
- Prominence is how well known and trusted your business is. Google looks at reviews (how many and how good), links and mentions across the web, and your overall presence online.
Distance is mostly fixed. Relevance is something you can fix in an afternoon by completing the profile properly. Prominence is where ongoing work adds up over time, and it’s why a business a few miles farther away with strong reviews and a complete profile often outranks a closer competitor with a thin one.
The Google Business Profile checklist
Work through these fields in order. The first four matter most.
Business name
Use your real business name, exactly as it appears on your signage, paperwork and website. Don’t add towns or keywords (“Smith Roofing – Best Roof Repair Woodbridge VA”). Google’s guidelines prohibit it, competitors report it, and it’s one of the most common reasons profiles get suspended.
Categories
Your primary category is the single most important relevance signal on the profile. Choose the one that describes your core business, then add secondary categories for other services you genuinely offer. Some examples:
- A roofing company: “Roofing contractor” as primary, with “Gutter cleaning service” or “Siding contractor” only if you do that work.
- An HVAC company: “HVAC contractor” or “Air conditioning contractor”, plus “Furnace repair service” or “Heating contractor”.
- A law firm: the category for your main practice area, such as “Personal injury attorney”, “Estate planning attorney” or “Family law attorney”, rather than the generic “Lawyer”.
- An accounting firm: “Accountant” or “Certified public accountant”, plus “Tax preparation service” if you do returns.
- An auto repair shop: “Auto repair shop”, plus specific categories like “Brake shop” or “Transmission shop” if they apply.
Look at the top three businesses in the map pack for your main service. Their primary categories tell you what Google associates with that search.
Address or service area
If customers come to you (a law office, an accounting firm, an auto shop), show your address. If you go to customers and don’t serve them at your location (most roofers, HVAC and plumbing companies), set a service area and hide the address. Use real towns or counties you serve, not a huge radius. Virtual offices and mailbox addresses violate Google’s guidelines and can get a profile removed.
Phone number and website
Use a local phone number that’s answered during your listed hours. Link to your homepage or, if you have several locations, to the location page for this office. If you use call tracking, put the tracking number in the primary field and your main number as an additional phone, so your listings stay consistent.
Hours
List accurate regular hours and update special hours for holidays and closures. A customer who drives to a closed shop leaves a bad review, and Google uses signals like that to judge whether your hours can be trusted.
Services
List every service you offer, with a short plain-language description of each. This is free relevance. A remodeler should list kitchen remodeling, bathroom remodeling, basement finishing and so on, not just “remodeling”. Match these to the service pages on your website.
Description
You get 750 characters. Say what you do, who you do it for and where, in plain language. No links, no promotions, no keyword lists.
Photos and videos
Add real photos: your team, your trucks or office, finished jobs, before-and-after shots. Add new ones every month or two. Stock photos add nothing and are easy to spot.
Attributes and links
Fill in the attributes Google offers for your category, such as online appointments, languages spoken, or accessibility features. Add your booking or contact link if you have one.
Updates (posts)
Posts don’t drive rankings much on their own, but they show the profile is active and give searchers something current to read: a seasonal tip, a recent project, an announcement. Two to four a month is plenty.
Mistakes that get profiles buried or suspended
- Keywords in the business name. The fastest way to a suspension.
- The wrong primary category, or a long list of categories for services you don’t really offer.
- Showing a home address for a service-area business, or using a virtual office.
- Duplicate listings from an old address, a previous owner or an agency that created a second profile. Duplicates split your reviews and confuse Google about which listing is real. Find them and ask Google to merge or remove them.
- Information that doesn’t match your website and directory listings. See local citations and NAP consistency.
- Set it and forget it. A complete profile from three years ago with no new photos, posts or review replies looks inactive next to a competitor who updates every week.
Keeping the profile current
A short monthly routine keeps the profile healthy:
- Reply to every new review. See building a review system.
- Add a few new photos from recent work.
- Publish two to four updates.
- Check hours, especially before holidays.
- Look for suggested edits from Google or the public, and correct any that are wrong.
- Add any new services and make sure each one has a matching page on your website.
If you have more than one location
Each location needs its own verified profile with its own address, local phone number, hours and photos. Give one person clear ownership of all of them and use the same checklist for each. The most common problems with several locations are duplicate listings, inconsistent categories, the same description pasted everywhere, and a main office that’s well maintained while the others are forgotten. Each location’s profile should link to its own location page on your website.
What to do when Google changes something
Google adjusts local results often, and every change brings a wave of articles about what it means. You don’t need to react to each one. A profile that’s complete, accurate, active and backed by real reviews is what holds up through changes. If your calls or rankings drop suddenly, check for a suspension, a duplicate listing or an edit someone else made before assuming it was an update.
How to tell if it’s working
Your profile’s performance report in Google shows calls, direction requests, website clicks and the searches people used to find you. Watch those monthly. To see where you actually rank, use a geo-grid scan, which checks your map position from dozens of points across your service area rather than only from your office. You’ll usually find you rank well near your location and drop off a few miles out, which tells you which towns need work.
Ronin’s geo-grid audit is free. It shows where you rank across your service area and how your profile compares with the businesses outranking you.
FAQ
What’s the most important part of a Google Business Profile?
Your primary category, followed by accurate business information, a complete list of services and a steady flow of reviews.
Can I put keywords in my business name?
No. Use your real business name only. Adding keywords breaks Google’s guidelines and can get your profile suspended.
Should a service-area business show its address?
No. If you don’t serve customers at your location, hide the address and set a service area of the towns or counties you actually serve.
How often should I update my profile?
Check it monthly: reply to reviews, add photos, post updates and confirm your hours. Update special hours before every holiday.
Further reading
- How to get more Google reviews and respond to them
- Local citations and NAP consistency
- Location page SEO: what every page needs
- Local SEO audit vs. ongoing management
For how this fits into a full local program, see local SEO services.
About the author
Justin Smith is the founder of Ronin Communications, a fractional CMO practice for owner-led businesses. He spent more than 20 years writing and leading strategic communications for the federal government and holds an M.A. in Strategic Communications from American University.