How do I optimize my Google Business Profile?

What should you set up first?

Verify the profile. Google says verifying "tells Google that you're authorized to represent the business, so it's more likely to show up in search results." Until it's verified, your photos won't even appear on the profile.

Use your real business name. Google's guidelines say your name "should reflect your business's real-world name," the one on your storefront, website, and paperwork. "Including unnecessary information in your business name isn't permitted," which rules out adding services or towns.

Pick the most specific primary category. Google says "the categories you select affect your local ranking on Google," and advises choosing a specific category: "instead of 'Salon,' choose 'Nail salon.'" A useful test from Google's guidelines is to finish the sentence "This business IS a," not "this business HAS a." Add a few additional categories only for real parts of your business; Google says "do not select a category for every product or service." In Whitespark's 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors survey, the primary category was the number one map pack factor out of 187, and additional categories ranked eighth.

Set up your location honestly. If you go to customers instead of having them come to you, Google says "you should hide your business address from customers" and list a service area instead. You can add up to 20 service areas, and the overall area "shouldn't be more than about 2 hours of driving time from where your business is based."

Which details should you fill in?

Services. Service businesses can list each service, with a description and price, either from Google's suggestions or as custom entries. Google says that when someone searches for something you offer, "that service may be highlighted on your profile."

Hours. Google asks for your "regular customer-facing hours of operation," plus special hours for holidays. Keep them accurate: being open at the time of a search ranked fifth among map pack factors in the Whitespark survey.

Description. Use it for the services you offer and the history of your business. Google's rules don't allow promotions, prices, or links in the description. Write it for customers, not for rankings. Keywords in the description placed 171st of 187 factors in the expert survey.

Do photos and posts help?

Photos mainly help customers decide. Google says photos "can also help make your business stand out on Google" and, for service businesses, recommends you "add at least three photos that are representative of the services you offer." They should be real: "in focus, well lit, and have no significant alterations or excessive use of filters or AI." For a trade, that means finished jobs, your truck, and your crew.

Posts let you share updates, offers, and events on your profile, and Google archives posts "older than 6 months" unless you set a date range. Experts don't rate them highly for ranking: post quantity and frequency placed between 148th and 168th in the Whitespark survey, and photo quantity placed 96th. Post anyway if you have real news, because customers see it.

One popular tactic is a myth. Adding GPS location data to photos, known as geo-tagging, placed last of all 187 factors in the survey.

How do reviews fit in?

Reviews are part of how Google judges prominence. It says "more reviews and positive ratings can help your business's local ranking," and that replying "shows that you value their feedback." Replies are public: once approved, a reply is "publicly posted under the customer's review," so write each one for the next customer who reads it. The most reliable way to build reviews is to ask every customer, right after the job. Our guide to how Google reviews affect ranking covers what Google allows and what gets profiles penalized.

What should you avoid?

The biggest trap is stuffing your business name. Keywords in the business name ranked third among map pack factors in the Whitespark survey, which is exactly why so many businesses try it. It also breaks Google's guidelines, and a profile that breaks them can be suspended. We don't do it for clients. If keywords in your name help you, it's because they're your real, registered business name.

Also skip anyone who promises a guaranteed spot. Google states, "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." The work that moves a profile is the work above: accurate details, real photos, and steady reviews. Our guide to the map pack explains how those profiles compete.