How to Create a Google Business Profile: Step-by-Step Guide

To create a Google Business Profile, sign in to a Google account the business will keep long term, go to business.google.com/create (or open Google Maps and choose 'Add your business'), enter your real business name and primary category, decide whether customers visit you or you visit them, add your phone and website, and complete verification. The form itself is short; verification and the cleanup afterwards are where most people get stuck.

This guide is for owners and agencies setting up a new listing anywhere Google Maps operates, whether that's a Toronto dentist with a front desk or a Pune home-cleaning service that never receives visitors. It covers who is eligible, how to avoid creating a duplicate, the storefront versus service-area decision, each verification option, and what to do in the first 30 days.

Check eligibility before you start

Google Business Profile is for businesses that make in-person contact with customers during their stated hours. Either customers come to you (a storefront, office, or clinic) or you go to them (a plumber, mobile groomer, or caterer). If you only sell online, you aren't eligible; the same applies to rental or for-sale properties, and to classes or meetings held at a venue you don't own or manage.

• Eligible: a Manchester plumber who visits homes, a Sydney café with seating, a Dubai law office that sees clients by appointment.
• Usually not eligible: an ecommerce store with no pickup point, a holiday rental listing, a weekly yoga class held in a rented community hall.
• Address rules: no PO boxes or mailbox services. A coworking or virtual office only qualifies if it is staffed, with your signage, during your business hours.
• Name rules: use the name on your signage, stationery, and legal documents. Adding city names or keywords ('Smith Plumbing Manchester Emergency Boiler Repair') breaks the guidelines and is a common cause of suspensions.

Search for an existing or duplicate profile first

Many businesses already have a listing, created by Google from public data, a former employee, or a previous agency. Creating a second one splits reviews and often ends with one of them being suspended. Spend a few minutes checking before you fill in any form.

• Search Google Maps for your business name, then your phone number, then your street address. Duplicates often hide under an old name or a misspelling.
• If you find a listing with no owner, open it and choose 'Claim this business' or 'Own this business?' to verify that listing instead of creating a new one.
• If someone else already manages it, the claim flow lets you request access. The current owner is notified and gets time to respond before Google offers you other options.
• If two listings exist for the same location, keep the one with more reviews and accurate details, and ask Google support to merge or remove the other once you control it.

Step-by-step: create the profile

• Step 1: Sign in with a Google account the business will own permanently, ideally a shared admin address rather than a staff member's personal Gmail.
• Step 2: Go to business.google.com/create, or in Google Maps tap your profile picture and choose 'Add your business'.
• Step 3: Type the business name exactly as customers see it on your signage and website.
• Step 4: Choose a primary category that describes what you are, not everything you do: 'Dentist', not 'Teeth whitening service'. Secondary categories can be added later.
• Step 5: Answer 'Do you want to add a location customers can visit?' This is the storefront versus service-area decision covered below.
• Step 6: Add the areas you serve if you travel to customers, then your phone number and website URL.
• Step 7: Choose a verification method from the options Google shows you and complete it. Google may ask for extra details before options appear.
• Step 8: After verification, add hours, a description (up to 750 characters), photos, services or products, and attributes.

Storefront, service-area, or hybrid?

The address question shapes how your profile appears. If customers visit, show the address. If you serve customers at their location and don't receive visitors, enter the address for verification but keep it hidden, and list service areas instead. If you do both, such as a bakery that also delivers cakes, show the address and add service areas.

Service areas can be cities, postal codes, or regions, and Google lets you add up to 20. Pick areas you genuinely serve within a reasonable drive; listing a whole country doesn't widen where you rank, because ranking still depends heavily on distance from the searcher. Our comparison of service-area and physical-address businesses covers the trade-offs in more detail.

Verification options and how to pass them

Google decides which methods you see based on your category, location, and account history. You can't choose a method that isn't offered, but you can improve your chances by making sure every detail matches your real-world business before you start.

• Phone or text: a code sent to the business number. Fastest when offered, so make sure the number rings at the business, not an answering service.
• Email: a code sent to an address, often one on your website domain.
• Video recording: one continuous clip showing your street or signage, your equipment or branded vehicle, and proof you manage the business, such as opening the front door with your key or opening the till or tool storage.
• Live video call: the same proof shown to a Google support agent at a scheduled time.
• Postcard: a mailed code, now offered less often. Don't edit the name, address, or category while you wait.

Most failures come from mismatched details: a profile name that differs from the signage, an address that doesn't match a utility bill, or a video that cuts between shots. For edge cases and what to do after a rejection, see our Google Business Profile verification guide.

Common setup mistakes

• Creating the profile from an agency's or employee's account, then losing access when they leave.
• Choosing a broad category like 'Contractor' when a precise one such as 'Roofing contractor' exists.
• Showing a home address for a service-area business that doesn't receive customers.
• Using a call-tracking number as the primary phone without listing the main line as an additional number.
• Editing core fields repeatedly during verification, which can trigger another review.

Your first 30 days after verification

A verified profile with only a name and category rarely competes. Use the first month to fill every relevant field and build a routine you can keep up.

• Week 1: confirm regular and special hours, write the description, add secondary categories, and upload a logo, cover photo, exterior, interior, and team or work photos.
• Week 2: add services or products with short plain-language descriptions, set attributes that are true (accessibility, payment options), and add a second owner or manager.
• Week 3: copy your review link from 'Ask for reviews', send it to recent customers, and reply to every review you receive.
• Week 4: publish your first update with 'Add update', check 'Performance' for searches and calls, and accept or reject any Google-suggested edits.

Check visibility from where customers actually are. Searching from your own premises overstates how well you rank; a geo-grid check across your service area shows where you appear and where you don't. GBP Local Ranker runs that kind of grid scan, and free alternatives are compared in our roundup of free local rank tracking tools.

Next steps

Once the profile is live, work through the GBP optimization checklist to close any gaps, then set a monthly reminder to review hours, photos, and new reviews. If you later hit a verification block or suspension, treat it as its own problem. Don't create a replacement profile, because that usually makes recovery harder.