How to set up your Google Business Profile so customers find you on the map

Why it matters more than almost anything else

When someone searches "plumber near me" or "roof repair Killeen," Google usually shows a map with three businesses before any regular results. Those three spots come from Google Business Profiles. They also feed Google Maps, Google’s AI answers and, increasingly, other AI assistants that pull business details from across the web.

Google says local ranking comes down to three things: relevance (does your profile match what they searched), distance (how close you are), and prominence (how well known and well reviewed you are). You can’t change distance. Everything in this guide improves the other two.

Before you start: get these ready

• Your exact business name, as it appears on your license, truck and invoices
• A phone number that a person answers (a local number is better than a toll-free one)
• Your website address, if you have one
• The towns or ZIP codes you serve
• Your hours, including whether you take emergency calls
• A list of every service you offer, in the words customers use
• 10 or more real photos: you, your team, your truck with logo, finished jobs, before-and-afters
• A phone that can record a short video, for verification

Step by step

1. Check whether a profile already exists. Search your business name and town on Google Maps. If a listing appears, click "Own this business?" and claim it rather than creating a duplicate. Duplicates split your reviews and can get both listings suspended.
2. Create or claim the profile at business.google.com with a Google account you will keep. Use a business email you control, not a personal account a former employee could own.
3. Pick your primary category carefully. It is the strongest relevance signal you control. Choose the most specific match ("Roofing contractor," not "Contractor"). Add secondary categories only for work you really do.
4. Choose how customers reach you. If customers come to your shop, add your address. If you go to them, set yourself up as a service-area business and hide your address. Home-based contractors should hide their home address.
5. Set your service area by town or ZIP code. Keep it realistic, roughly a drive of about two hours or less from your base, matching where you actually work.
6. Verify. Google will ask for a video, phone, text, email or postcard verification. Video is most common now: one continuous clip showing your location or vehicle signage, business tools or equipment, and proof you manage the business. Follow the on-screen checklist exactly.
7. Fill in every field. Hours, phone, website, services with short descriptions, opening date and a 750-character description written for customers (see below).
8. Add photos. Logo, cover photo, team, vehicles and real job photos. Add new ones monthly. Skip stock photos.
9. Turn on messaging only if someone will answer within a few hours. Slow replies look worse than no messaging.

Write a description that works

Use your 750 characters to answer what a customer is wondering: what you do, where you do it, how long you have done it, and why someone should call. Mention your main services and towns naturally, once. No links, no all-caps, no promotions.

Example: "Family-owned plumbing company serving Killeen, Harker Heights and Copperas Cove since 2012. We fix leaks, clogs and water heaters, and install new fixtures and tankless heaters. Licensed in Texas, upfront flat-rate pricing, and we answer our phone 7 days a week. Most repairs are done the same day."

Mistakes that get profiles suspended or buried

• Stuffing keywords into your name. "Bob’s Plumbing – Best Plumber Killeen TX" breaks Google’s guidelines and invites suspension. Use your real name only.
• Using a virtual office or P.O. box as your address. Not allowed. Use a service-area setup instead.
• Creating several profiles for the same business in nearby towns without real staffed locations.
• Buying reviews, or offering discounts for reviews. Against Google’s rules, and fake reviews are now illegal under an FTC rule that took effect in October 2024.
• Letting the profile go stale. Wrong hours or a disconnected number costs you calls and trust.

After it is live: the 15-minute monthly routine

• Ask every happy customer for a review, by text, the day you finish. Our reviews guide includes message templates.
• Reply to every review, good and bad, within a few days.
• Add 3 to 5 new job photos.
• Check that hours, phone and services are still right, especially around holidays.
• Post an update when you add a service or run a seasonal offer.
• Make sure your name, phone and website match everywhere else online, including your free Great Local Pros listing.

Want to know how you are doing overall? Take the 2-minute online visibility score.

Common questions