Fearless teamA Google Business Profile is the small card that shows up on Google Maps and beside search results when someone looks for your business or a service nearby. For many local businesses it is a bigger first impression than the website. It is free, and you can get it in shape in an afternoon.
What is a Google Business Profile?
It is Google’s free business listing. It holds your name, services, opening hours, contact details and service area, plus photos and customer reviews. It used to be called Google My Business, and that name still turns up in older guides.
How to create your profile
1. Check whether it already exists
Search for your business name. If a card appears on the right, a profile already exists, even if you never made it. Then you claim it rather than create a new one. A duplicate profile confuses Google and makes everything harder later.
2. Create or claim the profile
Sign in with a Google account and pick your business. Use your real business name exactly, with no keywords or city added. Stuffing the name, like “Plumber London cheap”, can get a profile suspended.
3. Choose the primary category
The primary category is one of the most important choices. Pick what you really do most, such as “Electrician” rather than “Construction company”. You can add secondary categories afterwards.
4. Say how customers reach you
- If customers come to you, add the address and opening hours.
- If you visit customers, set a service area and hide your own address.
- Add the phone number and website exactly as they appear everywhere else online.
5. Verify the profile
Google checks the business is really yours. Verification can happen by phone, text, email, video or postcard. Without it the profile will not show properly.
How to optimise it
Creating the profile is only the start. These things set you apart:
- Fill in every field: services, description, hours and special hours.
- Add real photos: the team, job sites, the van, the premises and finished work. Avoid stock images.
- List services as separate lines, each with one clear sentence.
- Ask every happy customer for a review right after the job, with a link by text message.
- Reply to every review, including bad ones, calmly and politely.
- Post an update or photo now and then so the profile looks alive.
- Keep details identical on your website and in directories. Conflicting information hurts rankings.
The most common mistakes
- Keywords or a city in the business name.
- A wrong or too broad primary category.
- The profile is unverified, or there is a duplicate.
- Reviews go unanswered and the latest is a year old.
How it connects to AI search
AI assistants build local recommendations from the same public sources as search engines, and the Business Profile is one of the strongest. A clear, current profile with consistent details elsewhere makes it easier for AI to name your business. Nobody can guarantee a recommendation, but the foundation should be in place.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a Google Business Profile cost?
Nothing. Creating and maintaining one is free.
Do I need a website if I have a profile?
The profile is enough to begin with, but a website strengthens it. Google understands a business more easily when the profile and the site tell the same story.
How quickly do results show?
Verification can take from a few days to a few weeks. Rankings improve over months as reviews and activity build up.
Want us to handle it for you?
In our Local SEO service we look after the profile, photos, details and reviews, and track what happens. Book a call and we will go through where your profile stands today.
Patrik Romunen