Search “furnace repair near me” and Google often answers with a map and a short list of businesses before the regular links. That list is built from Business Profiles, and Google says (opens in a new tab) complete, accurate profiles are more likely to appear in it.
There’s no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google.
The Google Business Profile checklist at a glance
Good news for a small shop: what helps is care, not budget. Here’s the whole job on one screen.
- Add, claim or request your profile, then verify it
- Keep ownership in a Google account the business controls
- Use the name on your sign, with nothing added
- Show your address, or hide it and list service areas
- One specific primary category
- Services in your customers’ words
- Regular, holiday and special hours kept current
- Real photos of outside, inside and your work
- Website, booking and menu links to your own pages
- UTM tags on those links
- A post whenever something changes
- A review link offered to every customer
- A short, specific reply to every review
- A monthly look at your numbers
How to get your business on Google
Search Google for your business name and city. One of three things happens.
Nothing shows up
Go to business.google.com/add (opens in a new tab), sign in and follow the prompts. Adding or claiming a profile is free.
A listing exists, but nobody has claimed it
Open it in Google Maps and choose Claim this business, then Manage now.
Someone else already verified it
Maybe a former employee, a previous owner or an old marketing company. If you’re authorized to manage the business, you can request ownership.
Verification lets you edit the profile and reply to reviews. Google picks your options (opens in a new tab), which can include a phone call or text, email, video or a postcard; it recommends video when offered. Be ready to show your signage, tools or branded gear, and a space only staff can open. Google’s review can take up to 5 business days after you finish.
Waiting on a postcard?
Don’t edit your name, address or category until the code arrives, or the code stops working. Codes usually arrive within 14 days. And never read a code to someone who calls asking for it: Google says it will never ask.
Keep the profile under a Google account the business controls. Stay the primary owner and add staff or an outside company as managers, each with their own login; managers can edit, post and reply, but can’t add or remove people or delete the profile.
Your name, address and service area
Use the name on your sign and invoices, nothing more. Google’s guidelines (opens in a new tab) rule out adding a city, services, hours or a phone number to it, and doing so can get a profile suspended. Then tell Google how customers reach you:
| If customers… | Google calls it | Your address |
|---|---|---|
| Come to you: a shop, café or salon | Storefront | Shown, with permanent signage there |
| Only see you at their place: plumbers, cleaners, mobile detailers | Service-area business | Hidden, with service areas instead |
| Do both, like a garage that also takes roadside calls | Hybrid | Shown, plus service areas |
Service areas are cities or ZIP codes, not a radius, and you can list up to 20 (opens in a new tab), all within about two hours’ drive of your base. List the places you really work: a home-based electrician in Farmington might name Farmington, Lakeville, Rosemount, Apple Valley and Hastings, not the whole metro. P.O. boxes and virtual offices don’t count as an address. Your website should name the same towns; that’s what city pages in our local SEO work are for, especially for home service businesses.
Categories: the choice that matters most
Categories help decide which searches you show up for, and Google says (opens in a new tab) they affect local ranking. Choose one primary category, the most specific one that’s true: Google’s example is Nail salon rather than Salon. Its test: “This business IS a…”, not “HAS a…”. Add others only for a truly separate part of the business, the way a grocery store adds Bakery and Deli.
| If you run a… | Primary category | Add only if true |
|---|---|---|
| Barbershop | Barber shop | Hair salon |
| Brunch café | Brunch restaurant | Coffee shop |
| Roofing company | Roofing contractor | Siding contractor |
| Repair garage | Auto repair shop | Tire shop |
You can’t invent a category, and changing one can send you back through verification. Google also reads your website for clues about what you do, so the site and the profile should agree. Our pages on barbershops and salons and restaurants and cafés cover what those trades need online.
Services, description and hours
Start with Google’s suggested services, then add your own in your customers’ words, each with a description and a price. Keep prices and phone numbers out of the service names; Google rejects custom names (opens in a new tab) that include them. The description gets 750 characters: what you do, for whom, where and for how long. No links, and no sale pitch.
Hours are where a Minnesota business gets tested:
- Special hours cover holidays and weather closures of up to 6 days in a row. Google suggests (opens in a new tab) confirming holiday hours even when they don’t change.
- Temporarily closed is for 7 days or more, like a remodel or the off-season.
- Restaurants list the hours diners can sit down; appointment-only businesses leave hours off.
Phantom Fades’ site has a live “Open Now” badge we built from the shop’s real hours, a reminder that the site and the profile must show the same ones.
Photos that look like the real place
Photos go live only after you’re verified, and each is reviewed first. Google recommends (opens in a new tab) JPG or PNG files at 720 by 720 pixels, in focus and well lit; in its words, “the image should represent reality.” It also notes that an exterior photo helps customers recognize you.
A starter photo set
- Your logo and a cover photo
- The building from the street, in summer and under snow
- The entrance, so first-timers find the right door
- The inside, as a customer sees it walking in
- Your team at work, with their OK
- Real jobs, dishes or cuts, in good light
Website, booking and menu links
The website button should open your own site, never someone else’s landing page, which Google’s guidelines don’t allow. No real site yet? Start with our guide on whether you need a website if you have a Facebook page and the small business website checklist.
Booking and ordering links must let customers finish the job. Google rejects (opens in a new tab) social media pages, messaging links, app store links and link shorteners there, and may remove links its crawler can’t load. A menu link should open the full menu on your site, not a delivery app, which Google’s guidelines rule out. The menu we built for Wishi Co., about 73 priced items with DoorDash on its own link, is that kind of page. Moving to a new site? Our redesign guide covers updating these links.
Tag your links so you can see what they bring in
Many apps don’t pass along where a visitor came from, so an untagged tap from your profile can show up in Google Analytics as “direct” traffic or blend into ordinary search. UTM tags, short labels on the end of a link, fix this, and Google’s Analytics help (opens in a new tab) says to always set source, medium and campaign.
| Tag | Website button | Booking link |
|---|---|---|
| utm_source | gbp | gbp |
| utm_medium | organic | organic |
| utm_campaign | website | booking |
Google’s free Campaign URL Builder (opens in a new tab) joins the tags onto your page address. Keep every tag lowercase, since Analytics treats Google and google as different sources. Reading those numbers every month is part of our analytics and reporting.
Posts and customer questions
Posts are updates, offers or events with a photo and a button like Book or Order; post when something changes, like patio season, winter hours or a new service. Posts older than 6 months (opens in a new tab) are archived unless you set a date range. Leave phone numbers out of post text, since Google may remove unverified contact details, and add a Call now button instead. Short on time? Posting is part of social media management.
Questions on Maps are changing, too. In December 2025, Google announced in its Business Profile help forum (opens in a new tab) that customers can ask their question in Maps and get an instant answer based on the business’s answers and relevant reviews. Owners can still answer questions in the profile’s Q&A section, so keep those answers factual and repeat them in your website’s FAQ.
How to get more Google reviews
Google says more reviews and positive ratings can help your local ranking, and they help strangers choose you. The method is habit: ask every customer and make it one tap. Your review link and QR code (opens in a new tab) are under Read reviews, then Get more reviews (the QR code needs a computer); put them on receipts, in thank-you emails and on a card at the counter.
When V the Barber, an independent barber who cuts in Burnsville, had one Google review, we printed him a QR card that opens his review form. It went out June 16, 2026; on June 22 his profile showed 8 reviews averaging 4.9 stars. His customers wrote them. The card just made the form easy to find.
The review rules Google enforces
- No incentives: no discount, freebie or drawing in exchange for a review.
- Ask everyone, not just the customers you expect to be happy.
- No scripts: don’t tell customers what to write, including which staff member to name.
- No quotas for staff, and no reviews from employees or family.
When soliciting reviews, merchants should not require or pressure users to leave ratings or write reviews while on the premises, nor should they request that specific content be included.
If asking keeps slipping, review requests by text can go to every customer after each visit. Scripts and the FTC’s side of the rules are in how to get more Google reviews.
Replying to reviews, including the bad ones
Replies are public, so write for the next customer too. Google advises (opens in a new tab) against pasting the same thank-you everywhere and against pushing deals. Use the reviewer’s name, mention one detail they wrote and sign off with your name or initials.
For a bad review, wait until you’re calm. Apologize where it’s deserved, explain what was outside your control and offer to sort out anything complicated by phone. Never post private details. Google’s own example of an outside factor is bad weather canceling an event, familiar to any Minnesota business. Flag fake reviews or ones from competitors instead of arguing in public.
Check the profile once a month
The Performance section (opens in a new tab) shows the searches that found you and how many people called, clicked to your website, asked for directions or booked. Compare it with your tagged visits in Google Analytics. Then read the profile as a customer would; Google can update listings from other sources and suggested edits.
Want help with the profile, or the site it points to?
Profile setup and management is part of our local SEO work. Book a free 30-minute call and we’ll go through yours together, or see a free preview of your new homepage before you pay anything.
Questions
How do I get my business on Google for free?
Search Google for your business name and city. If nothing appears, add it at business.google.com/add (opens in a new tab); if an unclaimed listing appears, claim it. Then verify. A Business Profile costs nothing.
Can I list my business on Google if I work from home?
Yes, as a service-area business. Hide your home address and list up to 20 cities or ZIP codes you serve. Google’s own example is a plumber working from home.
Can I get a bad Google review removed?
You can’t delete a customer’s review. If it breaks Google’s policies, like a fake review or one from a competitor, flag it and Google decides. For honest criticism, a calm, specific reply helps the next reader more than silence.
Do you manage Google Business Profiles?
Yes, as part of our local SEO services. Our Starter package begins at $300/mo and includes your care plan and our CRM platform, month-to-month. Your business stays the owner of the profile; we work on it as a manager.
Written by Gramberg Media in Lakeville, Minnesota. More guides.