Google My Business is Google’s free tool that lets you control how your business appears in Google Search and Google Maps. You’ve seen it a thousand times — the box on the right side of a search result showing a business’s address, phone number, opening hours, photos, and reviews. That’s it. That’s what Google My Business (officially rebranded to Google Business Profile in 2022, though everyone still calls it GMB) gives you.
If you run any kind of local business and you haven’t set this up yet, stop what you’re doing. This is the single highest-leverage thing you can do for your local visibility. It’s free, it takes an afternoon to set up properly, and it directly affects whether you show up when someone nearby searches for what you do.
Why It Matters More Than Your Website for Local Search
When someone searches “plumber near me” or “coffee shop Bristol” on Google, what do they see first? Not organic website results. They see a map and three business listings — the local pack. Those three slots appear above everything else on the page and capture the majority of clicks for local searches.
Your Google Business Profile is what gets you into that local pack. Your website alone won’t do it. You need a claimed, optimised profile to be in the game.
Think about your own search behaviour. When you’re looking for somewhere to eat, a tradesperson, or a local service, how often do you scroll past the map? Rarely. Your customers don’t either.
Setting It Up: The Basics
Go to business.google.com and claim your listing. If your business already shows on Google Maps, you’ll claim the existing one. If not, you’ll create it from scratch. Google will verify you own the business — usually by sending a postcard to your address with a code, though phone and email verification are available for some businesses.
Once you’re in, fill in everything:
- Business name — your actual trading name, nothing else. Don’t stuff keywords in here (“Dave’s Plumbing | Emergency Plumber London”) — Google will suspend you for it.
- Category — pick the most accurate primary category. This is one of the strongest ranking signals. Add secondary categories where relevant.
- Address and service area — if you serve customers at their location rather than yours (tradespeople, mobile services), set a service area instead of or as well as an address.
- Phone number and website — use a local number if you have one. It’s a trust signal.
- Opening hours — keep these accurate. Wrong hours = bad reviews and frustrated customers.
- Business description — 750 characters. Write naturally about what you do and who you serve. Don’t just list keywords.
Photos: Do Not Skip This
Businesses with photos get significantly more direction requests and website clicks than those without. Google’s own data has put this at around 40% more requests and 35% more website clicks.
Upload at minimum:
- A clear, professional cover photo
- Your logo
- Photos of your premises (inside and outside if relevant)
- Photos of your work, products, or team
Real photos from real situations outperform stock imagery every time. Customers can tell, and so can Google. Aim for at least 10 photos to start. Keep adding them — Google rewards profiles that are regularly updated.
Reviews: The Part That Actually Wins You Business
Your review rating and volume directly affect both your local pack ranking and whether people choose you over a competitor. A business with 80 reviews at 4.4 stars will almost always outperform one with 12 reviews at 5.0 stars — in both rankings and conversions.
Build a simple system:
- After every job or transaction, send a follow-up message (email, text, WhatsApp — whatever fits your business)
- Thank them and include a direct link to your Google review page
- Keep the ask simple: “It would really help us if you could leave a quick Google review”
- Never offer incentives for reviews — it’s against Google’s policies and can get your listing suspended
Respond to every single review. Thank people for positive ones (briefly — don’t be sycophantic). For negative reviews, respond calmly, acknowledge the issue, and offer to resolve it. How you handle a bad review is often more persuasive to potential customers than the bad review itself.
Google Posts: The Feature Everyone Ignores
Inside your profile you can publish Posts — short updates that appear directly in your search listing. Think of them as mini social media posts that sit in Google Search. You can use them for:
- Promotions or offers
- New products or services
- Events
- General updates (“We’re now open on Sundays”)
Most businesses never touch this. Which means if you do, you stand out. Posts expire after 7 days for offers, so it needs to be a habit rather than a one-off. Even one post a fortnight keeps your profile looking active, which Google notices.
Q&A: The Hidden Minefield
There’s a Q&A section on your profile where anyone — not just customers — can ask questions, and anyone can answer them. Including strangers who might answer incorrectly.
Check this regularly. Answer every question yourself. You can also seed it with your own FAQs — ask a question from a personal Google account and answer it from your business account. This gives you control over the most common queries (opening hours, parking, payment methods) before someone else answers them wrong.
What Google Is Actually Measuring
Local pack rankings are influenced by three main factors:
- Relevance — how well your profile matches what someone searched for (categories, description, services listed)
- Distance — how close your business is to the searcher (you can’t change this, but setting accurate service areas helps)
- Prominence — how well-known and trusted your business is, based on reviews, links, mentions across the web, and profile activity
The businesses that dominate the local pack aren’t there by accident. They have complete profiles, consistent review streams, regular activity, and their information is consistent across the wider web.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Google Business Profile actually free?
Yes, entirely. Google doesn’t charge anything to create or maintain a profile. The only costs involved are your time to set it up and keep it updated, or paying someone to manage it for you.
What if someone else has already claimed my business?
This happens more than you’d think — sometimes a previous owner claimed it, sometimes Google auto-generates listings. You can request ownership through the profile itself. Google will contact the current owner and if they don’t respond within a set period, ownership transfers to you.
I have multiple locations. Do I need a separate profile for each?
Yes. Each physical location needs its own profile. Google has a bulk management tool for businesses with 10+ locations, which makes this manageable at scale.
My business is home-based. Can I still use this?
Yes, but you’ll want to hide your home address and set a service area instead. Google allows this for businesses that serve customers at their location rather than a commercial premises.
How long does it take to see results?
Verification can take a few days to a couple of weeks. Once verified, an optimised profile with good reviews can start appearing in local pack results within weeks. Building the review volume that gets you consistently into the top three takes longer — think 3–6 months of actively collecting reviews.
Do I need to post constantly to maintain my ranking?
Regular activity helps, but you don’t need to post daily. Consistent review responses, accurate information, and occasional posts (once a week or fortnight) is enough to signal an active, trustworthy business. Quality and consistency beat volume.
