Google Business Profile: How to Create and Set It Up Step by Step

A Google Business Profile is a free listing for your business that appears on Google Maps and in search results, with your address, hours, reviews and a call button. For a local business it is often the most important page on the internet, because that is where a customer decides whether to call you or go to a competitor. In this guide I walk through the whole process in the order I follow for clients: from creating and verifying the profile to the settings that decide how often you appear.

If you already have a profile and want to know what most often goes wrong with it, also read 7 Google Business Profile Mistakes Costing You Clients. This article is a setup guide, while that one works as a checklist for an existing profile.

What a Google Business Profile is and why you need one

In the Croatian interface Google calls it “Google profil tvrtke”, and it used to be called Google My Business. It is the same thing: a profile you manage through your Google account, which Google uses when someone in your city searches for a service like “hairdresser Rijeka” or “car repair near me”.

Google itself lists three things it uses to choose which local businesses to show: how well the profile matches the search, how far the business is from the person searching, and how well known the business is, which includes reviews, ratings and mentions across the web. You cannot influence distance, but you can influence the other two, mostly through the profile itself. That is why a complete and accurate profile has much better chances than one created in five minutes and then forgotten.

Google My Business is now Google Business Profile

If you created your profile a few years ago, you probably remember it as Google My Business, or GMB for short. Google changed the name to Google Business Profile at the end of 2021 and retired the separate Google My Business app during 2022. The profile, reviews and photos stayed the same.

Today you manage the profile directly from Google Search and Google Maps. While signed in to the Google account you used to create the profile, type your business name or “my business” into Google and an editing panel appears above the results. Every step in this guide applies in the same way, whether you call it Google My Business or Google Business Profile.

Before you start: what to prepare

Setup goes much faster when all the information is in one place:

• the exact business name, as it appears on your sign, invoices and in the business register
• your address, if customers come to you, or a list of cities and areas you serve on location
• a phone number that is answered during business hours
• your website address, if you have one
• opening hours for every day of the week, including Saturday and Sunday
• around ten real photos: the entrance, the interior, you or your team at work, and finished work

Create the profile with a Google account that belongs to the business or to you as the owner. I often see profiles created on the email of a former employee or a relative who “sorted it out” once, so the owner has no access to their own profile for years. If someone else needs to edit the profile, add them later as a manager and keep ownership yourself.

Step 1: check whether a profile already exists

Before creating a new profile, type your business name into Google Maps. Google sometimes creates a listing on its own, based on information from the web or user suggestions, so your business may already be on the map without an owner. If you find it, open the listing and use the ownership link inside it. If someone else already manages the profile, Google offers a process to request access from the current owner.

Only create a new profile if no listing exists. Two profiles for the same business confuse both customers and Google, and merging or removing duplicates later takes longer than setting up the profile in the first place.

Step 2: create the profile and enter the basics

You can create a profile at business.google.com or directly from Google Maps through the option to add a business. Google then guides you through a few questions.

Business name. Enter it exactly as customers see it on your sign and invoices. Google’s guidelines forbid adding keywords, a city or a slogan to the name, so “Ana Hair Salon” stays exactly that, with no additions like the city or “best prices”. Profiles stuffed with keywords in the name are frequent candidates for suspension.

Category. Choose the most specific category that describes what the business is. A hair salon chooses hair salon, a plumber chooses plumber, a car repair shop chooses auto repair shop. Category is one of the strongest local ranking signals, so it is worth taking a few minutes to see which categories the businesses at the top in your city use. You add secondary categories later.

Location or service area. Google asks whether you have a location customers can visit. If you have a salon, workshop or office, answer yes, enter the address and check that the pin on the map sits exactly at the entrance. If you work at customers’ locations, like plumbers, electricians or mobile services, hide the address and enter the cities or areas you serve. Showing a home address for work that happens on location is against Google’s rules and a common reason for suspension.

Contact. Enter your phone number and website. Use a number that actually gets answered, and link to your homepage or the service page that best matches the profile.

Step 3: verify the profile

Until the profile is verified, it does not display properly and you cannot fully manage it. Google chooses the verification method based on the type of business and the information you entered. Most often it is a call or SMS with a code, an email or a short video, and less often a postcard with a code sent by mail.

For video verification Google asks for one continuous recording that shows where the business is (the street, the sign or neighbouring buildings), that you actually operate at that location (equipment, tools, customer area) and that you have the right to manage the business (unlocking the entrance, a till or official documents). Prepare this before recording, because an unclear video means a new attempt and more waiting.

After verification, do not change the name, address and category all at once. Larger edits on a freshly verified profile can trigger another review, so with clients I make them gradually and note the date of every change.

Step 4: categories, services and description

Once the profile is verified, the work that most affects visibility begins.

Secondary categories. Google allows up to ten categories in total, one primary and nine secondary. That does not mean you need to use all ten. Add only the ones that describe real activities of the business, for example a hair salon that also has a beauty section can add beauty salon. With most clients I end up with two to four secondary categories, aligned with what the best ranked businesses in the same city use.

Services. In the services section, list everything you do, using the names customers actually search for. For the most important services, write a short description of up to 300 characters that naturally mentions what the service includes and where you offer it. Keep the list of services consistent with your website. Every now and then, check the services Google adds on its own, because some of them may be things you do not offer.

Business description. You have up to 750 characters. Write who you are, what you do, for whom and where, the way you would explain it to a customer on the phone. Mention your city and main activity naturally, once or twice. Google does not allow links or promotional offers in the description, and text stuffed with keywords hurts more than it helps.

Hours and attributes. Enter accurate hours and add special hours for holidays as soon as you know them. Attributes like parking, wheelchair access or card payments help customers decide and give Google more information about the business.

Step 5: photos that sell

Photos are the first thing customers look at after the rating. Add real shots: the entrance from the street so people find you more easily, the interior, you or your team at work, finished work and products. For the logo and cover photo, choose something that reads well on a small phone screen.

Avoid photos from the internet and AI generated images. Customers notice right away that the place does not look like that, and local SEO experts list such images as a risk factor for profile suspension. It is better to add new photos gradually, every week or two, than to upload thirty images on day one and then nothing for a whole year.

Step 6: reviews and posts

A verified and complete profile is only the beginning. Google tracks how alive a profile is, and the two most visible signs of that are reviews and posts.

Reviews. Ask satisfied customers for a review right after the job, while the impression is fresh. You can copy the review link from your profile and send it by message or print it on your invoice as a QR code. Reply to every review, positive or negative, briefly and personally. I explain how to ask for reviews without risk in How to Get More Google Reviews Without Risking a Penalty.

Posts. The profile has posts similar to those on social media: an update, an offer or an event, with a photo and a button. Google archives posts without a date range after six months, so they need to be added regularly. For my clients I publish two posts a week, with topics tied to their service and city.

The most common setup mistakes

With new clients I usually find the same issues: a primary category that is too broad, hours that do not match reality, an address written differently than on the website and in the register, and a profile nobody has added anything to since the day it was created. Each of these is a small thing on its own, but together they push the profile toward the bottom of the map. A detailed list with fixes is in 7 Google Business Profile Mistakes Costing You Clients.

If the business still does not appear on the map after setup, the reason is usually verification, distance or a duplicate listing. I cover that in the guide How to Appear on Google Maps.

When to hand the setup to someone else

You can do everything above yourself, with a few evenings of work and regular upkeep. If you do not have the time, or you want to get into the top three results in your city, that is the work I do every day through my local SEO and Google optimization service. All I need from you is access to the profile, and you get a weekly report with rankings, views and calls. I explain the path from a well set up profile to the top three in Ranking on Google: How a Local Business Reaches the Top 3. If you are not sure where your profile stands today, get in touch for a free review.