Google Business Profile checklist for local businesses

The basics: get these exactly right

Google trusts profiles whose details match the real world and the rest of the web:

• Business name: the name on your signboard, nothing else. Adding keywords or a city, like “Best Café Nashik”, breaks Google's guidelines and can get the profile suspended.
• Main category: the single most specific one, such as “South Indian restaurant” rather than “Restaurant”. Add a few extra categories only if they're true.
• Address and map pin: check the pin sits on your door, not the middle of the road.
• Phone number that someone actually answers during opening hours.
• Opening hours, plus special hours for festivals and holidays, so nobody arrives to a shutter.

Verify the profile

An unverified profile can be edited by others and won't show all your details. Google verifies by video, phone, SMS or email depending on the business; a short video showing your signboard, the inside and proof you manage the place is the most common route now. Keep your signboard visible in it.

Photos and description

Profiles with real, recent photos get more clicks and calls:

• Your logo and a cover photo.
• The outside, so people recognise the place from the street.
• The inside, at a busy and well-lit time.
• Your best products or dishes, and your team at work.
• A description of up to 750 characters: what you sell, who for, and what makes you different, in plain words. No links or prices.

Links that turn views into visits

Add your website. Restaurants and cafés can also add a menu link, and salons, clinics and other appointment businesses a booking link. If you don't have a website, your QR page works well as one: it shows your menu or services, offers and a way to contact you, and you can update it in a minute.

Reviews: ask, then reply to all of them

Reviews are among the strongest signals in local results, and the first thing people read. Ask every customer using the review link from your profile, never offer anything in return, and reply to every review, good or bad, within a day or two.

Mistakes that quietly hurt a profile

• Two profiles for the same place, often one made by a former owner or an old employee. Ask Google to merge or remove the duplicate.
• A different name, phone or address on your signboard, website, Justdial and Google. Keep them identical everywhere.
• Hours left unchanged during Diwali, Eid or a renovation, which brings people to a closed shutter and angry reviews.
• Stock photos, or photos of another branch.
• Letting the profile go quiet for months, with unanswered reviews at the top.

Keep it fresh every month

1. Add a few new photos.
2. Post an update or offer, such as a festival special or a new product.
3. Check your hours, especially before festivals.
4. Reply to any review you've missed.
5. Look at the Performance view to see how people found you and what they did next.