Before you create anything
Steps 1 and 2: search first, then pick the right account.
To set up a Google Business Profile, check that your business doesn’t already have one, sign in with a company-owned Google Account, enter your name, category, location type, service areas and contact details, verify with the method Google offers, then finish the profile before you promote it. Doing it in that order avoids most of the problems that stall new profiles.
Step 1. Search for an existing listing. Google often creates listings from public data, and past owners or agencies may have made one. Search your business name, phone number and address on Google Maps. If a listing exists, claim it or request access with our claim and edit guide . Creating a second one makes a duplicate, and duplicates get suspended.
Step 2. Choose the owner account. Use a Google Account the company controls, ideally tied to a business email. Not an employee’s personal Gmail, and not your agency’s account. You’ll add other people later as managers, each with their own login.
Before you start typing, gather the facts and have the owner approve them: the exact business name, the main service, where you work, your hours and the phone number customers should call. Google’s verification guide starts with adding or claiming the profile for the same reason: get the right record first.
The setup screens
Steps 3 to 7: create the profile.
Step 3. Enter the business name. Start from Google’s Business Profile site and add your business. Type the name exactly as it appears on your signs, trucks and paperwork. No cities, no services, no slogans.
Step 4. Pick the primary category. Choose the one category that describes what the business is, such as Plumber, Electrician or Roofing contractor. You can add secondary categories after verification.
Step 5. Answer the location question. Google asks whether you want to add a location customers can visit. Say yes only if customers come to you during posted hours, with signage and staff on site. If you travel to customers, say no. Our service area guide explains the three setups.
Step 6. Add service areas. If you go to customers, list up to 20 cities or postal codes you serve. There is no radius option. Read the service-area instructions before you pick.
Step 7. Add your phone and website. Use a number your business owns and answers with the business name, and link to your website’s homepage or the page that best matches the profile.
Google then asks for an address to verify the business, even for service-area businesses. Enter the real place you operate from. A home address is fine and stays hidden; a P.O. box, mailbox store or virtual office is not. If you plan to use a coworking space, it needs clear signage, staff and customer reception during business hours.
Know the limits before you write
The Business Profile description limit is 750 characters.
A Google Business Profile description can be up to 750 characters, with no links or HTML. Google wants it to describe the business, not run a promotion or list prices. Cover what you do, who you do it for, where you work and one thing that sets you apart. A clear 500-character description beats a padded 750.
Each field has its own rules. Google’s profile editing guidance covers the description, and its representation guidelines cover names, categories and contact details. Here is the short version:
Business name
- Rule or limit
- The name the business uses in the real world.
- Owner check
- Match your signs and paperwork; add nothing.
Business description
- Rule or limit
- Up to 750 characters; no URLs or HTML.
- Owner check
- Describe the business, not a sale or price list.
Categories
- Rule or limit
- The fewest categories that describe the core business.
- Owner check
- Pick what the business is, then add only the major lines of work.
Service areas
- Rule or limit
- Up to 20 supported areas, such as cities or postal codes; no radius.
- Owner check
- List the places you serve, not every slot available.
Website or phone
- Rule or limit
- Your own website and a phone number the business controls.
- Owner check
- Call the number and click the link before you publish.
Getting approved
Steps 8 and 9: verify, then check the result.
Step 8. Verify with the method Google offers. Google decides which methods you get: phone, text, email, a recorded video, a live video call or a postcard, and some businesses need more than one. You can’t pick a different method by starting over. Keep every code private.
If you’re offered video, plan it before you press record with our video verification script . Businesses without a storefront should also read our guide to verifying a service-area business .
Step 9. Check the result. A manual review can take several business days, sometimes longer, and Google’s verification guide gives the current window. Don’t edit the name, address or category while you wait. If Google sends back a list of problems, fix what it lists and try again. If nothing changes after the review window, follow our guide to a profile stuck in processing .
Give the reviewer as little to question as possible: the same name on the profile, the license and the truck, an eligible address and a phone that is answered with the business name.
Your first 30 days
Step 10: finish the profile before you promote it.
A verified profile with three fields filled in won’t win many calls. Use the first month to finish it:
- Write the description and add secondary categories for major lines of work.
- List every service you sell, with a short line about each one.
- Set regular hours and add special hours for upcoming holidays.
- Upload your logo, a cover photo, team photos and ten or more real job photos.
- Add your office manager and your agency as managers, never as owners.
- Send review requests to your recent customers with your direct review link.
- Publish your first post: a recent job with a photo.
- Add tracking to the website link so you can see profile visits in your analytics.
Our Business Profile optimization guide goes field by field, and the review request guide has scripts for asking. Business Profile setup and upkeep are part of Lithium’s SEO service . No one can promise Google’s approval or a ranking; what we guarantee is the work.
