How to create a Google Business Profile: Step-by-step guide

Formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), a Google Business Profile is the listing that appears on Google searches and Google Maps. It shows customers your phone number, hours, service area, reviews, and photos before they ever click through to your website.

For a homeowner dealing with a burst pipe or a broken AC, those details can make it easier to decide who to call. Google Business Profiles are available for both storefront businesses and businesses that travel to customers. This guide covers how to set up a profile for a home service business and what to add once it’s verified.

Quick answer: How do you create a Google Business Profile?

To create a Google Business Profile , start by searching Google Maps for an existing listing. Google may already have an unverified profile for your business even if you never set one up. If you find one, claim it instead of creating a second listing. If not, use Google’s add-or-claim option and enter your real business name, primary category, and contact details.

Next, choose a storefront or service-area setup. Service-area businesses travel to customers, like residential electricians or plumbers. Storefronts serve customers at a fixed address. If you do both, you can set up a hybrid profile.

Finally, complete the verification steps Google offers for your business. Available methods vary, so follow the directions shown on your profile. Once you’re verified, add accurate services, photos, and hours, and keep those details up to date.

Table of contents

Who is eligible for a Google Business Profile?

Your business generally needs to serve customers in person, either at a location they can visit or at their property. That includes home service businesses such as:

• A plumbing company working out of a truck
• An HVAC contractor with a shop and a fleet
• An electrician running solo from home

Mobile businesses still qualify for Google Business Profile listings, but they must be set up as a service-area business. Hide your home address from the public and list the cities or ZIP codes you travel to instead.

Online-only businesses and lead-generation businesses aren’t eligible. A P.O. box or remote mailbox doesn’t count as a business location, either.

Check the full requirements: Google business eligibility and ownership guidelines

Storefront vs. service-area business

Your setup depends on where you meet customers. If you serve customers at a physical location and travel to their properties, Google calls that a hybrid business.

	Storefront	Service-area business
Where customers are served	At your business address	At the customer’s property
Does the address appear publicly?	Yes; permanent signage is required	No; the address is hidden
Service-area setting	Optional if you also travel to customers	Required; list the areas you serve
Home service example	An appliance repair shop with a counter and a showroom	A plumber based at home who works at customer properties

Storefront businesses have publicly viewable addresses. If you only work at customer properties, hide your address so customers see your service areas instead.

You may still need to give Google the address where your business is based during setup or verification. Hiding it from customers doesn’t mean leaving it out of the information you provide to Google.

Pro tip: A service area isn’t the same as a radius. Google asks you to select cities, postal codes, or other defined areas instead.

What do you need before adding your business to Google?

Gather your business details before you start so you can work through setup without stopping to look up hours, service areas, or contact information. You can add more details after verification, too.

You’ll need:

• A Google Account (you can use Gmail or another email address)
• Your real business name, exactly as it appears on signage, invoices, and your website
• Your primary category
• Your business address, service areas, or both
• A phone number customers can use to reach your business
• Your website URL, if you have one
• Regular hours, plus any special or holiday hours
• A list of the services you book
• A short business description
• Photos you have permission to use, such as your logo, team, branded vehicles, and completed work

How to create a Google Business Profile step by step

Google may change the labels or screens you see during setup. Use the options shown in your account if they differ from an online guide or screenshot.

Step 1: Sign in and search for your business

Sign in to the Google Account you want to own the profile, then open Google’s add or claim your Business Profile flow and type your business name.

If your business appears, select the option to claim it. If someone else has verified the profile, follow Google’s request access process.

If nothing appears, continue creating a new profile.

Step 2: Enter your real business name

Enter the business name you use on your signage, website, and invoices. If you operate under a DBA, use the business name customers see in the real world, provided it follows Google’s naming guidelines.

Don’t add a tagline, extra services, or city names to try to appear in more searches. Google’s guidelines say the name field should reflect your real-world business name.

For example, “Miller Plumbing” fits if that’s the name the business uses. “Miller Plumbing—Best Emergency Drain Cleaning Fort Worth” adds claims and services that don’t belong in the name field.

Include legal terms such as LLC or Inc. only if they’re part of the business name you consistently use.

Step 3: Choose the most accurate primary category

Choose the category that best describes your core business. For Miller Plumbing, that’s “Plumber” rather than the broader “contractor” category.

Add secondary categories only when they describe other work your business actually does. You can list individual jobs, such as drain cleaning or water heater installation, in the services section.

Step 4: Choose a storefront or service-area setup

Tell Google where you serve customers so your profile reflects how your business operates.

If customers visit your business address, enter it and keep it visible. The location needs permanent signage with your business name. If you also travel to customers, add a service area.

If you only work at customer properties, hide your address and add the areas you serve. You can set up to 20 areas by city, postal code, or region, per Google’s service-area guidelines. Google recommends that your overall service area stay within about two hours’ driving time of your base.

Avoid listing places you don’t serve or using a mailbox as your storefront address. If you use an office, check Google’s requirements for signage, staffing, and receiving customers before showing its address.

Step 5: Add contact details and hours

Use a phone number you control that reaches your business directly. Add your website, your regular business hours, and special hours for holidays or events. If Google offers additional hours for a service you provide, such as emergency work, set those separately.

Make sure someone can answer the listed number if Google offers phone verification. An automated phone menu can’t receive a verification code. 

Step 6: Add services and a business description

List the services customers can book today. An HVAC contractor might list AC repair, AC installation, furnace repair, ductwork, and maintenance plans.

Add pricing or starting rates to individual services if you’re comfortable sharing them. Google’s services section supports per-service pricing, and a profile that answers “how much does this cost” up front often gets the call before a competitor without pricing does.

Also write a business description in plain language and keep it short. Include:

• What you do
• Who you serve
• How long you’ve been doing it

Keep the description natural. Put service details in the services section instead of repeating the same keywords throughout your description.

Step 7: Add real photos and brand assets

Upload your logo, a cover image, and photos of your team, branded vehicles, and completed work. Use real job photos over stock or AI-generated images. Choose clear photos that accurately represent your work.

Before you post any job photo, get the customer’s permission if it shows them, identifying details, or the inside of their property. Check for house numbers, faces, and personal belongings before uploading a photo.

Step 8: Verify your business

Google determines which verification methods are available for your profile. You may see:

• A video recording
• Phone call or SMS
• Email
• Live video call
• Postcard

Google may require more than one method. After you complete the steps, Google says its review can take up to five working days, though some profiles are verified sooner.

If Google offers postcard verification, most codes arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days. Follow the instructions on your profile, and don’t change your name, address, or category while waiting for a mailed code. Use our Google Business Profile verification guide for help with each method.

Step 9: Review how the profile appears on Search and Maps

Search your business name on Google Search and Maps and check how your profile appears to a customer.

Make sure your location or service area, hours, phone number, website, and services are accurate. If you’ve just made an edit, check again later: some changes need review before they appear. Once verified, most edits appear within about 10 minutes, per Google’s own guidance on profile edits, though Google says approved service-area edits may take up to 48 hours to show.

Read more: 12 marketing ideas for contractors to stay booked year-long

What should you do after your Google listing is live?

Once the listing is live, there are a few things you can do to increase your profile’s visibility over time.

Keep business details and hours accurate

Update your profile when your hours, phone number, services, or location change. Add holiday hours ahead of time so customers know when they can reach you.

A customer who calls an old number or arrives at a closed shop may move on to another business. If you need to close temporarily, update the profile rather than deleting it.

Make it easy for customers to book

Give customers a clear next step when they find your profile. Depending on your setup and eligibility, you may be able to add an online booking option.

If you don’t want to lose a job because a customer couldn’t reach you fast enough, connect booking through Housecall Pro’s Reserve with Google or use an online booking link where supported. Check the setup requirements, including whether your business details match across Google and Housecall Pro.

Ask for and respond to honest reviews

Reviews give customers a way to learn about other people’s experiences with your business. A homeowner comparing two nearby HVAC companies is more likely to call the one with recent, specific reviews than the one with none at all.

Ask for reviews consistently after completed jobs, and respond to feedback, including negative reviews, in a professional way.

Keep your request straightforward:

• Ask customers for an honest review without offering a reward.
• Give customers the same opportunity to leave feedback, regardless of whether you expect a positive review.

Google prohibits incentives for reviews and selectively asking only customers likely to leave positive feedback.

Read more: How to ask for Google reviews

Add owners and managers without sharing passwords

You can give managers and other key team members access to your Google Business Profile without sharing your password. Add each person with their own Google Account and assign a role that fits what they need to manage.

Keep primary ownership with someone who can make decisions for the business. If an agency or contractor helps manage the profile, give them the appropriate access through Google’s account settings.

Common Google Business Profile setup mistakes

Small errors can make your profile harder for customers to use and take time to fix. Check for these issues before and after verification:

• Duplicate profiles: Search Google and Maps before creating a new listing. Claim the existing listing or request ownership.
• Extra keywords in your business name: Use your real business name. Add services and service areas in their own fields.
• A visible address customers can’t visit: If you only work at customer properties, hide the address and set service areas instead.
• A mailbox listed as your location: Use your actual operating location and follow Google’s rules for displaying an address.
• A broad or inaccurate business category: Select the most specific accurate primary category, then add relevant secondary categories.
• Outdated contact details: Check that the number and website on your profile work and match what customers find on your site.
• Areas you don’t serve: List the places where you’ll actually take jobs.
• Missing details: Add your hours, services, and photos so customers can understand what you offer.

How to turn Google visibility into booked jobs

A complete profile helps customers find and contact you. What happens after they decide to book matters, too: they should know their appointment went through, when to expect your team, and how to reach you if plans change.

Housecall Pro helps you carry that experience through the job. Online booking gives customers a way to schedule without calling. When they confirm an online booking, Housecall Pro can automatically send the appointment details by text and email. You can also set up reminders and “On My Way” updates, so customers know what’s happening without your office sending each message by hand. Housecall Pro Help Center

After the work is done, review management can send a review request automatically. That helps you keep asking for feedback as you complete jobs, while your team manages booking, scheduling, and customer communication in one place

See how it works with a free 14-day trial of Housecall Pro.

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