What is Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile is Google's official platform for managing how your business appears in Google Search and on Google Maps. You can think of it as your business's digital shopfront, where you control the visibility of information such as your address, phone number, opening hours, products, services, photos and reviews. Google has gradually developed the platform from Google Places to Google My Business and, today, Google Business Profile. Its purpose is still the same: to give potential customers an accurate and trustworthy picture of who you are and what you offer.
The platform connects directly to Google's local search results, which show businesses near the user. When you optimise your profile correctly, you make sure your business becomes a natural part of the local search results that many users click on before they visit a physical shop or make a call. That makes Google Business Profile an important piece of your local SEO strategy and a natural complement to, for example, Google Ads campaigns and social media activity.
How do you use Google Business Profile?
You create a Google Business Profile by signing in with your Google account, adding your business information and then completing a verification process. Verification confirms that you are the owner or a representative of the business, and once it's approved, you can edit every part of the profile.
The key is to keep your NAP details — name, address and phone number — consistent across all platforms. This strengthens your visibility to Google's algorithms and helps build trust with customers who find your details. You can also add photos, descriptions, services and links to your website, so the profile works as an extended business card that catches both eyes and clicks.
You can also use the "Posts" feature to share news, events or specific offers. This gives you a way to create ongoing engagement and keep the profile up to date, much like on social media. At the same time, you can actively respond to reviews, which creates an open and trustworthy dialogue with your customers and contributes positively to the marketing of your brand.
Why you should use Google Business Profile
You should use Google Business Profile because it's one of the most effective tools for local visibility. When a user searches for a product or service in your area, Google pulls data directly from profiles like yours to present relevant results. If you don't have an up-to-date profile, you risk competitors being shown in Google's Local Pack instead — the box with a map, photos and contact details that takes up a lot of space in the search results.
The profile also gives you insight into how customers find you and how they interact with your business. You can see which keywords lead users to your profile, how many call directly from the search result and how many click through to your website. You can use that data to adjust both your local SEO and your overall marketing strategy. If, for example, you already run paid ads in Google Ads, your Business Profile insights can help you identify geographical areas or keywords that perform particularly well.
What types and variants are there?
Google Business Profile covers several types of business. Physical shops with a fixed address use the profile to attract customers searching for products or opening hours in the local area. Service businesses that deliver their services at the customer's location can set up their profile to cover specific service areas rather than a single physical address. Finally, larger businesses with several locations can use the Business Profile Manager tool to manage many profiles centrally. This gives control and consistency across all branches, which is especially relevant in branding and design work, where a consistent visual identity plays a central role.
However, only businesses with physical or personal customer contact are eligible for a profile. If you run a purely online business, you should instead focus on other channels such as SEO, content marketing and social media to strengthen your visibility.
How do you use Google Business Profile in practice?
To make the most of Google Business Profile, you first need to choose the right categories. The primary category describes your business's core activity, while up to nine secondary categories can add nuance to what you offer. Your choice directly affects which searches you appear in on Google Maps and in local search results.
Next, you need to write a business description that is both informative and search-friendly. It should describe your services and distinctive strengths without sounding too salesy. A good tip is to think like an SEO copywriter: use the words your customers actually search for, but make sure the copy still sounds natural.
Photos also play a big role. Quality photos of your shopfront, your team or your products signal professionalism and trust. If you work with content production in the form of video or drone footage, it can strengthen your profile visually even further and improve your click-through rate.
Finally, you should regularly analyse the data the platform provides. The Insights section shows, for example, how many customers find you via Google Maps and how many have contacted you directly. This gives you a solid starting point for optimising both your local keywords and your overall visibility in Google Search.
What should you watch out for?
The biggest pitfall is failing to keep the profile updated. Incomplete or outdated information can damage your credibility and give customers a poor experience if they arrive at a closed shop with no updated opening hours. You should also be aware that Google can gather information from other sources online. If your details differ, for example, from what's on your website or in online directories, Google may choose to overwrite your profile with alternative data.
That's why you should think of your Google Business Profile as an active part of your overall digital strategy. When you keep the profile updated, work on SEO for your website and use performance data to adjust campaigns, you create a whole where all channels strengthen each other. That's the very core of effective digital marketing: connecting your data, your content and your visibility so customers consistently get a joined-up experience — both on Google and across your other platforms.
