Google Business Profile Checklist for Local Businesses

Google says a business should have only one profile, because duplicates can affect how your information appears. So search first. Open Google Maps, search your business name and city, and look for Claim this business. If nothing exists, go to business.google.com/add. If a verified profile already exists, you need to request ownership from its current owner.

Verification comes next. Google picks the method for you: a phone or text code, an email, a live video call, a video recording or a postcard. Postcard codes expire after 30 days. While you wait, do not edit your name, address or category, and do not request a second code, because that invalidates the first. Google will never ask for your verification code, so do not share it with anyone.

Name: enter it exactly as it appears on your signboard, stationery and other branding. Google says unnecessary information in the name is not permitted and can lead to suspension, and it lists marketing taglines, store codes, hours, phone numbers, URLs and location details as things that do not belong there. So a clinic called Sri Lakshmi Dental Clinic should not become Best Dentist in Coimbatore.

Address: use a precise, real-world address. Google does not accept P.O. boxes or mailboxes at remote locations. Put the street address on line one and any suite number on line two. If you travel to customers, you can hide the address and set a service area. Hours: set your regular opening hours, then add special hours for festivals and holidays. Google says certain types of business, including schools and appointment-only businesses, should not provide hours, so read its guidance first if you run a school.

Phone and website: you can add up to two more numbers beyond the primary one, but not a fax number. For the website field, enter the full URL starting with https:// and make sure Googlebot is not blocked on your site.

Your first category is the primary category. Google asks for the fewest categories that describe your core business, as specific as possible, and you can add up to nine more. Describe what the business is, not everything it sells. Google also says not to use categories as keywords or to borrow one from a nearby or related business.

Services: if your category supports it, use Edit services to choose from suggested services or add a custom one, with a description and price for each. Google rejects custom service names that contain prices, phone numbers, personal information, profanity or gibberish. The description can run to 750 characters. Keep it about the business, with no URLs, HTML, promotions or prices.

Photos should be JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, ideally 720 by 720 pixels, and never smaller than 250 by 250. Google asks for sharp, well-lit images without heavy filters. Add your logo, a cover photo and an exterior shot so people can recognise the building, then photos of the inside, the work and the team. Videos can run to 30 seconds.

Posts let you share updates, offers and events. An offer needs a title, dates and times, and an event needs a title with start and end times. Google archives posts older than six months unless a date range is set, and it may reject posts with a phone number it cannot verify as yours. A post about festival timings, a new batch or an admissions window is a fair start.

Reviews: you can ask customers to review you with a Google link or QR code from your profile, and you can reply once you are verified. Keep replies short, polite and specific, share no private details, and do not push offers. Offering a discount, free item or any incentive for a review, or for changing or removing one, is prohibited. So is selectively asking only happy customers, pressuring people to post while they are in the shop, setting staff quotas, or discouraging negative reviews. Reviews from current or former staff or family fall under Google's conflict of interest rule. Flag reviews that break the content policies.

The website: Google says local ranking rests mainly on relevance, distance and prominence, and that you cannot pay for a better ranking. Prominence draws on links from other websites, review count and ratings, so a website that other sites link to supports the profile. Keep the name, address, phone number and hours identical in both places.

Google's guidelines name these suspension risks: unnecessary content in the name, inaccurate addresses or categories, virtual offices listed as physical locations, and duplicate profiles. A rented mailing address you do not operate from is a virtual office and is not eligible. A co-working office needs clear signage, customers received in business hours and your own staff present.